Published: 7 Mar 2019
Over the next 24 hours Chip and I did a full inventory of the sleeper ship’s cargo, reviewed the crew and passenger manifest, identified our guests and found a small cargo locker not on any of the lists. The good news was that there was no outstanding claim on the ship. The registry proved to be from a company that had not existed for almost 800 years. We did find one odd coincidence though. The boy’s name was ‘Ryan McFarlane’. This gave me a very creepy feeling. Was this truly just a coincidence or were the two of us somehow related? My ship is not equipped for genealogical search, nor does it have DNA testing equipment, so this question would have to wait until we got to Tau Seti Prime. However, the one thing I did know was that my great granddad’s name was Ryan.
This did give rise to the one piece of bad news we got out of the manifest. In the locker identified as belonging to Ryan’s father, I found an investor’s data pack which showed he had invested heavily in this ship and trip. In fact, on further search of the computer files we found a list of all the investors who held shares in this ship. It came down to one fact; Ryan was the sole heir to the entire ship, through his father’s holdings. There was no way around it. The galactic council would see Ryan as the owner without a doubt. Everything on the ship, except the personal possessions of the other two survivors, would go to him under whoever became his guardian, since the other two were not listed as investors.
The one small unlisted cargo locker we had discovered was another story altogether. It was most likely stowed on board by one of the now dead crew, probably the captain himself. As it was never logged on any list, I figured it was either illegal or personal, maybe both. I retrieved it from its hiding place and brought it aboard my own ship. It had its own power supply and was generating a stabilizing field inside the locker, which was puzzling. After carefully deactivating the field, I opened the locker. I almost passed out when I saw the contents. In front of my eyes were 150 bottles of Scotch Whiskey dated 2017! All in perfect condition thanks to the stabilizing field.
The only guess at an explanation I could come up with was that this would have been a surprise gift intended for each of the 150 passengers on the sleeper ship. It would have been given out upon arrival at their new home as a celebration. Ship captains sometimes did things like this and since the number of bottles matched the number of people on the ship, it was a safe bet. I, being a captain myself, and a sentimental one at that, felt it would only be fair and right to save this for my new guests. I closed the locker and reactivated the stability field. Then I placed the entire locker into my own personal cargo hold for safekeeping.
When we arrived at our destination, I carefully piloted the sleeper ship in and around the planetoids and asteroids, leaving Chip at their outer edge in our own ship as it was too large to navigate within this area. I made my way to one of the larger blobs of rock floating around out there.
“Dad?”
“Yes Chip?”
“Where’re you going to hide that thing? It’s too big to actually land down there isn’t it?
“You see the biggest chunk about half way in? The one I’ve got marked with the tracker?”
“Oh, yeah, I hadn’t seen that one. Are you going to set it down there?”
“No.”
“Then where’re you going to put it?”
“You just watch and see. And don’t get uptight or panic when you see me headed in. I know what I’m doing and I’ll be fine, okay?”
“Okay, I trust you pop.”
I laughed to myself as I gently guided the sleeper ship down towards the large planetoid. I could tell from my readings that my modifications were still there and functioning properly. Of course I knew what to look for and had the access codes, so I could see clearly what I was heading for. But to Chip it would look as if I was going to slam right into the thing. Then, at the last moment the whole ship would simply look to be vanishing right into the planetoid and would then just pop out of sight. Chip was going to blow a gasket when he saw this trick and I’d have a lot of explaining to do. Sure enough, just as I saw on the sensors that I was fully inside the holofield I could hear Chip going ballistic over the comlink.
“HEY! WHAT DID YOU DO? ARE YOU OKAY? DAD! DAD! TALK TO ME! PLEEEEASSEE!
“CHIP, SHUT UP!” I yelled to get his attention. “I told you not to panic didn’t I? Just hold on for a few minutes and I’ll be back to the ship. I’ll explain all this to you then.”
He finally stayed quiet and I set about getting the sleeper ship settled into its nest and shut down. It was a tight fit but it worked out nicely. Then I got Theta One and we slipped out the airlock tethered together. I had the bot use its thrusters to tow me, inside my enviro-suit, all the way back out to my ship. By the time we got there Chip was not at all happy. I really should have told him a little more about what I was going to do but I didn’t want it out over the comlink.
“Chip, check out your six o’clock position. You should be able to pick up Theta One and myself now.”
“Oh…Okay…I was getting worried.” Chip said in relief.
“I’ll talk to you about this when I’m back on board. For now, open up the main transfer bay for us please, we’re on final approach now.”
“You got it dad.”
Once back on board my ship I sent Theta One back to its own workstation for a total recharge cycle. Then I stripped out of my enviro-suit and placed it in its bay for a cleaning and recharge cycle. After almost thirty hours in that thing, I too needed a cleaning and recharge cycle. I decided to forgo it for a short time so Chip wouldn’t go any more nuts than he already was. As it was, by the time I got back to the bridge Chip was fuming.
“Sure, just leave me here to watch you run that ship into an asteroid! Don’t tell me nothing! Let me worry myself sick! You OWE me big!” Chip complained loudly as I walked in.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry kiddo. I thought you’d be impressed to see your old man still has a few tricks left. I couldn’t talk about this over the comlink. It’s a secret. But I did tell you twice not to panic or freak out didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did, but…I mean.. .boy!”
“Look…I’ll make it up to you later okay.”
“You BET you will! Now tell me how you did that!”
“Okay, it’s really quite simple. Years ago, when I still had The Desolation, I was being chased by space pirates. I chanced to fly through this area and found that huge cave down there. I hid in it for almost a week before they finally gave up and left. While I was there I decided it would make a great hide out if I improved it with a few additions. I came back later and added a holographic screening generator and a set of good shields. It looks just like the rest of the surface now. I’ve used it a few times over the years to store stuff I didn’t want a customer, or the authorities, seeing in my holds. I haven’t been back here in quite a few years now, but remembered it and thought it would make a good place to stash that ship until we can come back for it.”
“Okay, but why doesn’t it show up on any of my sensors?”
“There are two reasons. First, the holographic screen generator is inside the cave so it screens itself as well as the cave. Second, because the shields prevent anyone from seeing inside and if anyone should set down on it, they would make it solid as well. I just happen to have the access codes that allow passage through the shields and into the cave.”
“That must be one huge cave to get the whole ship into it.”
“Well, it’s big alright, but I still had to do some fancy and careful maneuvering to squeeze it in. It just barely fits.”
“Okay, I guess it is kind of a cool trick.”
“I’m forgiven then?” I asked meekly.
“Oh, don’t think I’m letting you off the hook that easy!” Chip belched.
“Darn. Well, I need a shower and we’d better get under way as soon as the Al gets our new course plotted. You can tell me what you want from me when we get to Tau Seti Prime. That’ll give you lots of time to think up something really good to get me back.” I said with a laugh.
It took about thirty minutes for the Al to get the new course up and take us to a safe distance for activation of the W.E.I.R.D. While it did so I got my shower and readied myself for hyper sleep. I also checked in on our guests and all was well there. Then I looked at the incoming message log. Kay-Lar was NOT pleased at our delay. His special cargo had to reach Kelvedian III on time or risk an interplanetary conflict. I sent a message off that assured him that all would be well. I didn’t tell him that I always set my appointments and time estimates a little long so I can keep my reputation as ‘One Damn Good Pilot’.
“Dad, the W.E.I.R.D. is up to power and we’re ready to engage. Do you want the Al to go ahead?”
“Hold on till I’m tucked into my sleeper bed will you? You know what the W.E.I.R.D. does to my stomach.”
“Okay pop. See you in about two months.”
“Night Chip.”
“Night dad.”
I lay down on my hyper sleep bed and attached the sleep inducer to my forehead. As I reached out to close the canopy I heard the deep drone of the W.E.I.R.D. kicking in. Immediately my stomach started to churn. As quickly as I could I activated the sleep sequence, but the last thing I heard as I drifted off to sleep was the sound of Chip laughing.
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