Chapter XXVII: The Copperhead

"Please report to the main hanger bay, Rick," came Helen's voice over the comm system. "Do you remember how to get to it?"

"Aye, I do. Be there in a minute."

"Okay. Meet you there."

Rick heard the distinct click that came indicating that the communication was over. He sat up on the bed for a moment and then stood up. He checked himself out in the mirror, straightening the ship suit that he wore that matched the rest of the crew. Sighing softly to himself, he took a moment to compose himself and then left his cabin.

Finding the hanger deck was not a chore, even if he hadn't been shown where it was earlier by Helen. The similarities between the layout of the Blood Fever to an SP heavy cruiser were uncanny.

Helen was waiting for him by the heavy duty hatch that led into the hanger bay. She smiled as he appeared, and he returned it with a mock salute. "Ms, O'Rorke, how may I be of service?"

"Got a job for you, Rick." She turned and placed her hand on the access pad. The hatch slid opened to reveal the cavernous bay. Most of the bay was filled with an old freighter Rick recognized as the Vegan Queen. It was a long, thick squat ship, with wide ten meter cargo doors on each side of the ship. It was hunched down on its landing gear, ramps down with all its doors open.

Crewmen and bots were working on the outside of the hull. There were several new holes in the hull in several spots and small domes were being installed over them. Others were repainting the ship with new designs and registration symbols.

On one side of the bay were racks of missiles, launchers and ray projectors. He noticed that the projectors and the ends of the missile launchers would fit in the new holes being cut into the freighters hull.

Helen noticed his expression. "What's the matter, Rick?"

He gestured at the freighter. "It figures that the one ship I find for Red to leave on, it turned out to be a pirate. She must have had a good laugh over that."

Helen laughed. "Not quite, Rick. The Vegan Queen wasn't a pirate ship then. I was the only pirate aboard. I joined the Queen during the layover before we got to Jameson III. Seems their former first mate got ill," she said with a grin.

Rick raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. So, what did you do with the rest of the Queen's crew?"

Helen's grin faded slightly and then she turned to the freighter. "Your job will be to recondition this ship. I understand you have some skill in this." She handed him a crystal. "Here are the new transponder and ship registration codes."

Rick took the crystal and looked it over. It appeared to be a standard federation issue license that was issued to all ships by the Federation Space Guard. "And where did you get this?"

"My, we are inquisitive today, aren't we?" Her grin was restored to its full brilliance. "Now don't worry your pretty little head about such a trivial manner. All you need to do is get that little beauty installed. Follow me." She headed towards the freighter, crooking her finger at him to follow.

He followed her through the ship. They paused in various areas to familiarize Rick with the layout of the ship. "So, why all the work on this ship?"

"You don't think we're just going to pull the Blood Fever into orbit of Solasia Two, do you? It's not exactly inconspicuous. Once we get the Queen overhauled and rebuilt, Red, you, and I, as well as a small crew, will head there in this ship."

"Surely we won't need all that armament for this, will we?"

Helen gave him a wry smile. "This is pirate territory, Rick. We're not going to go there unarmed, and the pea-shooters that were on the Queen are totally ineffective in repelling an attack."

"You're worried about being attacked by pirates?" exclaimed Rick, looking startled.

"We don't broadcast our activities to everyone, you know. And not all pirates work with us. Therefore we will be prepared in case someone has a lapse of judgment and thinks we're an easy target."

"Ah. Yes. I see. Of course. Quite sensible," nodded Rick.

"In addition to the extra weapons," continued Helen, "We're upgrading the engines as well. I'm hoping that you can assist with that as well. Red mentioned that you are quite… handy."

Rick felt a blush start to creep up his neck in response to the tone in Helen's voice. "Uhm, yeah, I know something about power systems and engines."

"Great! I'll give you access to the ship's technical manuals."

"Thanks. So, what are we renaming this ship to?" he asked, glancing at the crystal. There was only a serial number visible.

"The Copperhead."

"How appropriate."

Helen giggled as the hatch opened to the small bridge, and stood to one side to allow Rick to enter. "Here you go."

Rick took a look at the consoles. This tub was at least a hundred years old. Everything seemed to be in spec, just barely. He gave the consoles a closer look, and turned to Helen. "I'll need a tool kit."

Helen spoke into her wristcomm. Rick sat in one of the seats. "So, how did you get involved with Red and her people?"

"Her people?" She sat down on the seat next to him. "I am one of her people. Always have been."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "Why not?"

"Why won't you tell me anything?" he asked.

"Because, dear Rick, you might learn something. And we have strict orders not to tell you anything, for the moment at least."

"Ah," nodded Rick. "That's why everyone is avoiding me except you. I felt everyone staring at me when I was in the messhall."

"Try not to take it too personally, Rick. It's not often an outsider is treated with as much, uhm, tolerance as you have been. Red has issued strict orders that while you are not a prisoner, you are suspect, and are restricted to just common areas." Her perpetual grin faded and she cocked her head to one side. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how is our captain in the sack?"

This question caught Rick off guard, and this time his blush reached his face. "Uhm, well, ah," unsure of what to say.

Helen let out a peal of laughter. "Never mind, that tells me enough." At that moment, a crewman entered, and noticing Rick, gave him a dirty look, and offered a tool pack to Helen. She waved it towards Rick, who took it from the reluctant fellow. He gave Rick another dirty look, and hurried off.

Rick opened the kit, and pulling out the appropriate tools, he knelt down and started to work on the console. He opened the security hatch to reveal the old transponder and registration chip. He looked over the system and then looked up at Helen. "I'll need to shut down the system and reboot."

"Go ahead. It's all yours."

He nodded, and standing up, typed in the command to shut down the system, pausing when he got a request for the master system password. He looked over at Helen. "The command?"

"Computer," drawled Helen, "Confirmation voice print Helen O'Rorke to shut down and reinitialize systems."

The console indicated confirmation and acceptance of Helen's voice command to complete the shutdown. Once the system halted, Rick unlocked the transponder chip and removed it. It was a standard type. The new chip that Helen gave him shouldn't give him any problems. He slid the replacement transponder chip into place, and then started the initialization process to bring the computer up with the new identity.

While he was at it, he manually entered in a new access account under his name and a secure password while Helen was distracted with other crewmembers. He finished up and gave the final start code to the system as Helen checked back on him. Moments later, the new ship symbol, that of a red snake poised to strike, and the name Copperhead appeared on the consoles and main view screen.

"All set, Ms. O'Rorke." Rick packed up the tools and tried to give them back to Helen, but she held up her hand.

"Hang onto them, Rick. You'll probably need them. Hang on a minute." He watched as she created an access account and permissions for him, listing him as pilot, and third in the chain of command of the Copperhead, below Red and herself. "There. Now you have the access you'll need to continue your chores."

"I thought I wasn't allowed to have any access to anything."

"Only on the Blood Fever, Rick. There's nothing here on this ship that would give you any information." She started to head out, but paused in the hatchway. "Though I should let you know, that everything you do will be logged, of course."

"Of course," acknowledged Rick. "That doesn't surprise me at all."

"Good. Oh, one other thing. Red is expecting you for dinner tonight. Captain's table in the mess."

"Got it. I'll be there."

Helen smirked at him. "You better. The captain hasn't got patience for slowpokes." She left, and he sat back down in the seat, hoping that his creation of a secret account in the computer system wouldn't be noticed.

To Be Continued...