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This chapter features special guest
BRINUS HELIOS
from CRIMINAL TO HERO
A novel by Admiral Fisher
https://www.inkitt.com/admiral7
Greener Junction was a small deciduous planet with pine, maple, and oak trees being its primary choice of foliage. It must have been at the end of its summer phase with its more ellipse orbit; the leaves were yellow, orange, red, brown, and dead. Ships and carriers were filled with families with their meager possessions headed for parts unknown where they were safe from attack. An orbiting military fleet of 10 ships had been stationed and remained on high alert for any attacking Namina. Their long-range sensors were pinging the Aerios’ new sensors giving feedback and readings unheard of, albeit strange to have sensors that could sense sensors.
Junne switched his heads-up display to cycle through the different scan types; he was unsure which ones the Namina would appear to first and wanted to be extra cautious. He put the ship into standby mode then turned around and spoke to the crew.
“Ok, we’re here, and I want to mention that all the landing pads are taken up with ships evacuating people. It could be absolute chaos down there so let’s make it a brief visit.” Everyone agreed.
Quayl suggested as he hoisted his satchel over his shoulder. “I’ll take the Seahawk down. I can park it on the street and it won’t take up space for those evacuating.”
“Hold on a second,” Rob said. “The Puuqpu gave us some communicators, they’re tiny and fit in your ear. Use it if you need anything and we’ll do our best to help from here.” He tossed him the little ear-shaped device, it was tiny and technologically advanced. It appeared to have a small microphone attached to it and was significantly smaller than human communicators which needed to be the size of a brick to be able to transmit through the water.
Rob gave one to Junne and Stevero as well and everyone admired them. “We keep in contact with each other at all times, ok?” There was concern in his voice, he was more worried than he showed for the crew’s safety. He and Quayl exited the bridge and moved through the halls down to the equipment bay. Rob let him out from the main door riding the Seahawk.
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The town was writhing with people moving about. Frantic and panicked families tried to move themselves and their belongings to the nearest cruiser with available space and hoped to board and escape the threat of the Namina. The crowd was intimidating, and Quayl was glad to be hovering over them on the Seahawk. Frankly, he wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible, he didn’t like having to find someone he didn’t know or knew what they looked like. In the current state of Greener Junction, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. He observed the crowd the best he could, seeing that they flowed in and out of buildings with arms full of stuff in attempts to move their business with them, and some saying to themselves that it wasn’t worth it and choosing their safety over the well-being of their business. Those who chose the latter cast their products aside in the streets.
Quayl pressed his finger into the communicator’s button and spoke over it to the crew.
“I hope we don’t need supplies right now because it’s a madhouse down here.”
Stevero reassured him. “We’re ok for now. Hermes restocked us pretty well. Any idea who this person is or how to find them?”
“No. I think she’ll find me… hold on.” Quayl came to what appeared to be the town square. There were five large holo screens displaying the names of all of the worlds in human territory. Most were listed in red as opposed to green. “They’ve posted a list of the planets that have been destroyed in the town’s center. Hundreds of planets are listed in the red. Now would be a good time to figure out what’s happened to our home worlds.” Quayl suggested. “Where is everyone from?” He parked the Seahawk outside the gathering of people and walked through them to the boards.
Junne answered. “I’m from a farm on Dakota 2.” Quayl looked at the displays and saw where it was listed.
“Still there.”
“Thank goodness.” He sighed in relief.
Rob spoke up next. “I’m from a mining colony between Santiago and Vegas.”
Quayl looked. “Santiago is still there, Vegas… is not.” Stevero was left to his imagination for what had happened to the colony. “How about you, Stevero?”
“Lobora.” He said, and nothing else was needed to be said about it.
“Ok, I gotta get moving. I’m going to try the post office. That’s where I’d be if…” Quayl interrupted himself when he noticed it. “The Seahawk… it’s missing! Someone stole it!”
Stevero yelled out. “That’s impossible! Someone must’ve hacked it!” Quayl looked around, but it wasn’t in the air or visible in any direction.
“How am I supposed to get back to the ship now?” It was indeed a dilemma, and once again, the Namina could be on their way. Nobody felt like watching another world be destroyed before their very eyes.
Rob was already trying to help, tapping away at the sensor console. “I’ll see if I can get a ping on the Seahawk’s transceiver. One of these fancy scanners might be able to find it. I’ll work on it.”
Quayl agreed. “Ok. I’ll be on standby for when you do. Gotta run to the post office and see what’s there.” He headed for it with great haste, wishing he was on the Seahawk above the frantic crowd.
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Rob was busy scanning when Stevero had a message come through on the communications console. “We have a call from a military battle cruiser, the Kingfisher.” Junne looked shocked and turned to his console.
“I wonder what they want, put them through.” A screen appeared on the heads-up display and Junne answered courteously. “This is Captain Junne of the Aerios, what can I do for you?”
“I am Captain Brinus Helios. Your ship is capable of holding a large number of passengers and we are evacuating Greener Junction to the inner worlds — London, Horusa, and Hanpool to name a few. I’m commanding you to land and begin boarding passengers immediately.” There was a pause before Junne responded.
“Please hold.” He pressed a button and the screen displayed the holding signal. He turned around to Rob and Stevero for advice. “What do you think?”
Stevero spoke first. “It’s the right thing to do. We could do it at least once.”
Rob scoffed with distrust. “They won’t let us do it just once. We’re lucky we haven’t been scanned yet. They’ll see the tech we have and want to take our ship for themselves so they can have it. We can’t let them — can’t let anyone — see what we have.”
Junne voiced a curious thought. “Did the Puuqpu say anything about sharing the tech?” There was a hanging moment.
“No?” Rob seemed unsure though.
“We’ll hold onto the idea, but for now, we shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks.” Junne then resumed the call with Captain Brinus. “Request denied.”
“That wasn’t a request. Prepare to be boarded.” Brinus demanded.
Before the communication could end, Rob spun around in his chair. “Captain, we’ve got a Namina scout ship on long-range radar! Approaching from 320 mark 50!”
Captain Brinus checked his sensors but was skeptical. “I don’t see any ships out there… but we’re no longer receiving a signal from a recon ship in that sector. This better not be a trick!” He cut the transmission and gave the order for his fleet to move to a defensive posture off the shoulder of Greener Junction. It wasn’t the kind of time to take such warnings carelessly.
Junne sighed. “We better help if we can, but we’re laying back behind the fleet, don’t want to scratch the new paint.” Junne piloted the Aerios behind and off to the side of the fleet. He hoped he wouldn’t have to show their hand of firepower just yet. The military had plenty of their own, he was sure of it. Junne spoke over the communicator with evident concern. “Quayl, you better hurry up and get off that planet. We’ve got company.”
“Crap!” Quayl responded.
He was at the post office talking to the man at the front desk. He was getting frustrated, no one had come by that matched any sort of description or information he had, for what little he had.
“Are you sure no one here knows a guy named Hermes?” The man shook his head with a short temper.
“No! I’m sorry. Now, I have to pack up and get to a transport. I suggest you do the same, my friend.” The man walked by and didn’t even bother to acknowledge him any further or bother locking the door for what good it would do. Quayl was at a loss and had to get off the planet somehow and fast. He saw a map posted on the wall and glanced over it, seeing that dock 6 was close by.
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“Guys, I’m going to get on a transport.”
“Roger that,” Junne responded, and Quayl got moving, once again dodging through people all rushing to dock 6.
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The approaching Namina ship must have finally come within the military’s sensor range. They all began charging their weapons and scrambling for an immediate attack. According to Rob, the Namina ship was approaching fast at a speed similar to what the Aerios could travel at now.
Stevero chuckled nervously at the military fleet’s response. “Looks like they finally caught on, perhaps we should head down and grab Quayl ourselves, take on a few passengers while we’re at it?”
Junne was turning the ship about to head for him when the Namina scout ship dropped out of light speed. The clever bastard dropped out behind the military line and was aimed straight at Greener Junction. The military vessels were still adjusting themselves when the Namina ship quickly began to charge its main weapon. A large sun-like ball of pure plasma was beginning to grow off the tip of its nose, it was some kind of special energy weapon.
Rob was instantly frightened, he knew what it meant. “If that thing hits the planet, it’ll set the whole atmosphere on fire!” The entirety of the fleet, without hesitation, opened fire on the scout ship all at once. Enormous bullets, devastating torpedos, and even particle beams all hit the ship in a fury of chaos. Smoke and explosions enveloped the ship entirely, and the sun at the peak of the ship remained regardless. Everyone had hoped the sun would stop growing once the scout ship was destroyed, but when the smoke cleared, the ship was surrounded by a bubble of plasma shielding. It remained untouched.
Rob yelled out. “Not a single scratch!” The ship fired its amassing sun at the planet and it rolled slowly down directly towards Greener Junction. The Kingfisher zipped itself in front of the sun and physically blocked it, it was a suicide move until the ship’s shielded armor pressed against it, slowing it down significantly as it pressed against the ship. The Namina ship was summoning another sun to shoot, they couldn’t deal with two of them, so action needed to happen.
Junne reacted and pulled the trigger on the trident gun. “Maybe this will scratch it!” He yelled, and in a flashing blink, a trident crashed into the scout ship. It sent a shockwave through the water that punched into the hulls of every ship present. However, the ship wasn’t obliterated like the planet that had been its previous victim, rather it looked like a fish that had been speared through. The remnants of its plasma shielding flickered out and sparked from its broken parts. The sun that the Kingfisher had withstood had shrunk and began to fizzle out as well, and in a moment more, it discharged and disappeared. It was no longer a threat, though it left a smoldering charred imprint on the front of the Kingfisher.
“Haha! Got’em!” Junne gaining a victory against a single Namina ship elated him with success and excitement.
Captain Brinus called the Aerios, he looked exhausted and sweaty like he grappled with the sun itself. He was out of breath and wiped his forehead of perspiration.
Junne spoke first, seeing he had the superior hand compared to the entire military fleet, but his need to care surpassed his behavior for the moment. “Brinus, is everyone alright over there?” Brinus didn’t return the care that Junne had shown him. The military fleet then locked its weapons on the Aerios.
“Prepare to be goddamn boarded.” He spat out. It was then that Rob’s sensors detected the Kingfisher’s sensors had activated.
“We’re being scanned!” Rob yelled out, and that caused Junne to start giggling. This gave him quite the opportunity to be silly.
“Watch this!” He stepped up onto his chair and dropped his trousers, exposed his butt to the front window, then proceeded to moon the battle cruiser. “Scan this lily-white ass!” Rob was hysterically laughing, his sides splitting and stealing his breath with absurdity.
“Oh my god! They might have to scan that twice!” That got Junne laughing as well.
Stevero was having none of it. He pinched the bridge of his nose in utter disbelief for the crew. “Children. You’re both children.” He tapped the communicator in his ear. “Quayl, it’s all good up here, everyone is safe and unharmed. What’s your status?”
“I just saw the Seahawk fly overhead toward dock 6, I’m in pursuit.”
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Quayl rushed and weaved himself through the crowd gathering around the dock while a fresh vacant transport had just landed. As the people gathered around the dock, Quayl spotted the Seahawk just beyond the crowd. He pushed and swam his way through the shifting crowd and came up upon the thief as they dismounted from the seat.
It was a young woman who looked to be about Quayl’s age, dark-skinned, decorated in strings of beads and scarves, and had elaborate makeup, sitting on the Seahawk. Behind her in the second seat sat an older woman. She looked grateful and glad that she was able to make it safely to the transport with the help of the Seahawk. The young woman sighed in relief and spoke softly to her. “We’re here mama, it’ll be safe where you’re going, now hurry up and get aboard.” She grabbed a wheelchair that was available for her and positioned it so she could sit. Quayl stepped in to help them, the young woman didn’t look like she would be able to lift her mama.
“I’ll assist you.” He said as he strongly lifted her from the seat of the Seahawk and sat her in the wheelchair.
The young woman kissed her mama on the cheek and a tight hug. “Be careful and keep your head about you, I’ll write to you when I can.” A transport crew member took her away to be boarded with the others. It was a large transport, and there was certainly enough space to fit everyone in the crowd, and no one would be left behind. The young woman smiled and was glad she could care for her mama.
She sighed, put her hands on her hips, and turned to Quayl. “I suppose you want your scooter back.”
Quayl shrugged “Well, I’m not so mad about it now. Seems that everything is ok now that the Namina in orbit was destroyed.” He went over and sat on the Seahawk and the young woman joined him by inviting herself to the second seat.
“Hermes sent you, didn’t he? I’m Gem, you must be Quayl.” He nodded, she was indeed the contact. “Well, let’s go. The Namina will be here in full force after everyone has safely evacuated. However, we do need to put a wiggle on it.” Quayl started and revved the Seahawk once and hovered it up for takeoff, he felt better knowing that the crowd he was leaving behind would be safe.
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Captain Brinus and a few of his soldiers marched into the equipment bay of the Aerios. He sternly approached Junne with a bitter distaste broadcasting quietly across his face. Junne couldn’t help but imagine the results of their scan. “Captain Junne, our scans indicate you have foreign technology unknown to us. Your little display of… power… was impressive, where did you get such weaponry?”
Junne snidely remarked. “From a friend, nobody you would know. Why do you ask?”
“This kind of firepower could turn this war in our favor. We have captured the Namina ship and we’re analyzing it now. That… spear, however, has dissipated as it was physically unstable. Whatever it was made of was highly dense for a long enough moment to be effective.”
Junne smiled. “That’s a special little something isn’t it?” Junne’s nonchalance was irritating and Brinus cut right to the chase. The trident gun was too important to pass up, and he was right, it could turn the war.
“We’re commandeering your ship. Surrender your crew and weapons now.” Brinus demanded that there was no more playing, and certainly no negotiating.
Junne was backed into a corner. “Can we talk about this?” He pleaded, unsure what the right thing to do was.
Just then, Quayl and Gem hovered into the bay on the Seahawk. He parked it to the side in its place and was wondering what was happening. “Captain, who’s our guest?” He asked.
Brinus took the opportunity to introduce himself. “I am Captain Brinus of the battleship Kingfisher. You wear the courier’s uniform.” His observation was accurate and Quayl nodded. “Good. I request that you deliver a message to the central command that…”
Quayl raised his palm and interrupted. “Request denied. Our employer has our commission.” He boldly stated. “Now I think I can assume that you want our ship?”
“Correct,” Brinus said.
“You don’t want the ship itself, you want what the ship has. It’s weapons and tech? Right?” Brinus nodded to confirm. Quayl looked at the crew and the situation they were in and made the decision. “So give it to him. Let them deep-scan the systems and have a copy of the design specs. Our employer said nothing about sharing it. If it saves lives, it’s all good in my book. He just can’t take the ship itself, we kinda need it. That’s a good compromise, isn’t it? Besides, this is just a trawler, whatever the military has will be much better.” The crew smiled and was happy to have a compromise, as it also relieved a whole mess of tension. Brinus raised an eyebrow at the offer.
“Fine.” He said unflapped and accepting the compromise.
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The data finished transferring to the Kingfisher while its science crew finished deep-scanning the bridge and the pilot console — including the sexy lady figurines across Junne’s dashboard.
Junne sighed impatiently, wanting to get back to their job and to have these military goons off his ship. “Done yet?” He asked and sat down in his chair to sway back and forth mockingly.
Brinus checked the pad that his chief science officer handed to him. After a glance he replied. “We’re done here. We can improvise and work out the rest.”
“Good,” Junne said in a smiling manner.
Brinus remarked, impressed by what he had found. “I hope we can be allies in the future, you can be a great asset to us.”
Junne scoffed at the offer, waving his hand in dismissal. “Allies are political and transactional. I’d rather be friends if you can manage that.”
“Hm.” Brinus hummed and he didn’t say another word. He pulled a medical cigarette from his pocket and it lit. Junne didn’t see any lighter, but something lit the cigarette. He took a long drag on it and set the smoke free, standing dominantly and letting the odor permeate the bridge. “We’ll be in touch.” He said smoothly. As he exited the bridge, he gave Junne the middle finger over his shoulder, and a small sun hovered off the tip of his finger.
“What an asshole,” Junne complained as he waved the smoke away from his face. Quayl and Gem entered the bridge and coughed once from the odor. Quayl then introduced their new crew member with a relieving smile.
“Everyone, this is Hermes’ contact, Gem. She’ll help us get some letters delivered.” She gave a subtle wave of her hand with a curtsy, then noticed the figurines on the dashboard. She marched up to one immediately and exclaimed.
“Oh, no way! You have Starbuster Navy Henrietta!? That’s so awesome!” Gem adored the figures Junne had collected, and he was enjoying the compliments for his hard work and investment. “Deluxe Hanna Lopper too! Oh my god, you and I are going to get along splendidly!” She cheered.
Quayl cleared his throat and got their attention. After all, their business with Greener Junction was now finished. “We should probably get the hell out of here. You said more Namina were coming?” Gem snapped out of her fandom mode and got right down to business after a quick breath.
“Ah, right.” She pulled a small stack of special letters from an interior pocket and selected one. “Here’s a good one, it’s not far from here either. We can start with it.” Junne took the envelope and began entering the coordinates listed into the pilot console. While he did so, she was eyeballing that Henrietta figure and Junne caught her gaze.
“Here.” He said, picking up Henrietta. “You can have her.”
“Really? Oh, thank you!” She shrieked and hugged Junne tightly, he was stunned for a moment and bathed in her affection.
Stevero walked in spraying everything down with an air freshener and expressed his discomfort. “Captain asshole smoked the whole way out. I can’t believe that guy.” He sat the spray down and sniffed the air. “That’s a little better. Now, let’s give our new crew member her quarters so she can settle in. We do have a job to do, places to be.”
“I’ll show her.” Quayl insisted, and he and Gem left the bridge to the crew quarters.
In the bright hallway, Gem was examining and inspecting the intricate Henrietta figure in her hands. She was smiling and giggling with admiration that she had finally got one at last. She had made a good friend of Junne, and she was correct that they were going to get along perfectly. She was liking this new crew more and more by the minute, then Quayl stopped her at the door to a vacant room and looked her straight in the eye.
“I know what you are.”