We arrived at the rendezvous point and no one was around to question us. So, we carefully floated over towards the space dock where the ship we were supposed to take possession of was docked. We called the station and they confirmed that someone would meet us at the docking ring next to our new ship and Rhubin docked us without incident. No customs officials were there to check us or the ship for contraband, and we all walked out into the hallway through the main hatch.
“Hello! Hey! I'm coming! Just a minute!” A man's voice yelled from down the hallway. We stood there and waited for him to come over to us. He was out of breath from running. “Hooo. HOO.” He panted and bent over. “I need... to exercise... more.”
“Or run slower.” I said and he laughed once and then coughed.
“The ship... is right there.” The man said and pointed to the next main hatch. “Pass... key.” He held up a key similar to the one that my ship had.
“Do you think you can make it?” Rhubin asked the man with a laugh.
“I just have to... catch my breath.”
“We're in no rush.” I said with a smile and we stayed there in the hallway for several minutes to let the man recover from his exertion. He stood up straight and thanked us for humoring him, then he led us over to the next hatch and opened it with the pass key and a numbered code.
“It's been reset to a generic code, so you'll have to give it a personal one when you take possession of it.” The man said and led us inside.
“Woo.” Rhubin said as he saw the inside was twice as big as our own entryway. “Is everything scaled up in this thing?”
The man chuckled. “It was intended as a small passenger transport and the hallways are all larger for moving people and luggage around.”
“Nice.” Rhubin said. “We could easily fit single cargo containers through here on a hover-lift.”
“Be careful of the corners!” The man joked and pointed to the curved shape of the long hallway. “Just kidding. Make sure if you do use a hover-lift to add a one foot clearance on the sides and top of the rectangle shipping containers.”
“Got it.” Rhubin said. “Are we starting the tour at the cockpit?”
“You know it!” The man said and waved for them to follow. “Like everything else on this ship, it's huge.” He said and then explained that it sat four people comfortably with two primary pilot seats and two secondary, then a pair of twin fold-down seats were mounted to the bulkhead at the back of the compartment on either side of the hatch. It would be tight if we actually had eight people in there at once, though. We arrived at the compartment and saw it for ourselves.
“I'll need a com set to talk to the co-pilot on this thing!” Rhubin laughed and jumped into the main seat. He could put his hand out to the side and touch the armrest of the other pilot seat.
Hector sat down in the other seat and looked at the controls. “You've got standard flight controls mounted in an alien outer casing?”
“It was quicker to do that than rip out the entire console.” The man said. “Everything's run in a bundle alongside the alien hardware, so it's easier to perform maintenance.”
“That's great!” Luxea exclaimed. “I was a little worried after studying the schematics you sent us.”
The man nodded. “I've got the updated schematics and the new control runs are marked.” He said and handed her a datapad. “We wanted to know how serious you were about buying before letting you know how extensive the changes were.”
“It's a relief.” I said. “We thought we would be stuck here for a week as we did all of that work.”
“You were going to do it yourselves?” The man asked, surprised. “This was done by the shipyard over the course of two months.”
“It wasn't going to look professionally done like this when we were finished.” I laughed. “Expediency and functionality would have prevailed.”
The man looked slightly disappointed. “I would have liked to have seen that.”
“Oh?” Luxea looked at him like a cat about to catch a bird. “Piqued your interest?”
“I like getting my hands dirty.” The man said and smiled.
“A friend and I installed a dedicated credit computer on our ship, with its own control and power runs, after crawling through thirty feet of two foot round maintenance access ways.”
The man's eyes lit up at her words. “I love doing systems integration!” He said and then he sighed. “Since this is mostly a repair facility, I don't get to do much of it.”
Luxea chuckled. “A lot of people don't like it when you change things on them, especially if they don't see it as necessary.”
“Tell me about it.” The man said. “Bunch of old women set in their ways!”
“I should be insulted by that, being a woman and all.” Luxea said and the man laughed.
“It's fine for women to be set in their ways.” He said. “Corporate heads? It's annoying as hell!”
That made her laugh and I smiled.
“Let's continue the tour.” The man said and waved for us to leave the cockpit. He showed us all of the rooms, then the huge kitchen, two large living and entertainment rooms, three small cargo areas that were fully pressurized and had access ports both inside and outside the ship, then we went down the stairs and he showed us a gigantic normal cargo hold that ran for pretty much the entire length of the underside of the ship. It could be pressurized or left to the vacuum of space.
“This is amazing.” Luxea said as she saw the size of the cargo bay. “You were right, Hunter. This thing has at least quadruple our storage capacity, not counting the internal spaces!”
“What about the shuttle?” I asked. “The sale included the shuttle, didn't it?”
“It did.” The man said with a grin. “Right this way.” He said and walked over to the end of the cargo bay and hit several buttons. The door hatch opened and revealed a small shuttle bay and an alien shuttle sat there. “The previous owner didn't want to deal with the small hatches and climbing ladders.”
“We have our own shuttle bay.” Rhubin said, his voice full of wonder. “We have our own SHUTTLE BAY!”
“I think someone is excited.” I said and everyone laughed.
“I hope the ship has at least a class four reactor.” Luxea said, because she knew the power requirements for running a ship this size.
“It's a class five, and it has a small secondary for running the incidentals like lights and the food processors.” The man said, a little smugly. “That was my idea.”
“It was a great idea.” Luxea said with a smile. “Can you show it to us?”
“I can show you the compartment; but, I can't let you in unless you're all in radiation suits.”
Luxea laughed. “We only want to see it, not take a bath in the rads!”
The man laughed, too. “That's a fair point.” He said and led us back up into the main part of the ship and into a small room near the back. “There they are.”
Luxea looked through the small observation window and saw the powerful reactors. “What's the half-life on the core materials?”
“Sadly, the previous owner wasn't fussy on wasting money on a long lasting power source, so the class five is only rated for four hundred years.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Luxea frowned. “Did they put the ship through its paces? What was the response time when there's a huge power draw?”
“The specs are in the main computer.” The man said, his voice without inflection.
“Well, now we know why we got it so cheaply.” I said.
Luxea nodded. “A class five reactor should have at least twelve hundred to fifteen hundred years on its core.” She said. “It's going to have the same restriction on power usage that we already have on your ship.”
“We'll deal with it.” I said and put my hand on her shoulder. “We should finish the tour and then complete the transaction.”
Half an hour later, the tour was done and the man had the remainder of the credits. We were now the new owners of another ship. All we had to do was decide who was going to be on it to fly it back to the Fogaris system.
“Hector's going to pilot it.” I said and looked at Luxea. “You need to start copying over the ship's programs and see what they left in the database.”
“I've been doing that since we visited the cockpit.” Luxea grinned and I chuckled.
“We'll need to change the call sign on the ship and maybe add different plating to change the obvious alien design.” Rhubin said.
“It will just be superficial, though. I doubt we could cut into the superstructure and not weaken the ship.” Luxea said and showed us the schematics. “It's designed to work as a whole. You can't change anything except for how it looks, unless you're looking for trouble.”
“Not changing the obvious look of the thing is also asking for trouble.” I said. “Rhubin, maybe you can stop at one of the Fogaris asteroid smelters and pick up a bunch of cheap metal sheeting and bring it back here.”
“Ha!” Rhubin barked a laugh. “That's a great idea!”
“We'll have to be careful of the deflector emitters on the ship's hull.” Luxea said. “We can't just put the sheeting down and hope for the best. It's going to take time to figure this all out and get it into place.” She thought about the problem. “I'm tempted to just change out the emitters and put them on the new hull, rather than worry about covering them.”
“We'll need some structural materials as well, then.” I said. “Luxea, can you get us some preliminary numbers to work with?”
“Maybe.” Luxea said, hesitantly.
I chuckled. “We'll double whatever you say, just in case.”
Luxea took a breath and let it out. “Okay. Give me half an hour to crunch some numbers.”
“Take an hour. They haven't kicked us off the dock yet.” I smiled. “When we leave, we'll jump out to the next empty system. We'll wait there with this ship and Rhubin will jump from there and go back to the Fogaris system to get the supplies we need.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Rhubin said.
“I'll go with him.” Simone said. “In case they need a hand loading the cargo bay.”
“They shouldn't, unless it's all automated. Thank you.” I said.
“I have to start earning my keep, right?” Simone said with a smile. “I can't just stand around looking pretty.”
Rhubin and I exchanged knowing looks and then looked back at her.
“I'm okay with that.” I said and smiled.
“Me, too.” Rhubin said with a grin.
“Oh, geez.” Luxea said and shook her head. “Get your asses over to the Udelis and gather enough supplies for a few weeks for three people and bring it back here.” She said. “I'll be in the cockpit working on what we'll need to do to make this ship look more like a normal ship.”
“Yes, ma'am.” I said and gave her a guard salute, as did Rhubin and Hector.
“Get out of here!” Luxea said and hit my shoulder. “Don't forget changes of clothes and towels and things!”
Rhubin, Hector, and I laughed as we left through the ship's main hatch to complete our assigned task.
*
Simone held in her own laughter until the hatch closed. “Are they always like that?”
“Not always.” Luxea said and motioned towards the cockpit and the two women walked down the long curved hallway. “Hunter does try to diffuse some situations with humor occasionally.”
“He's a good man.” Simone said. “He's got a lot of darkness in him, though.”
“He's been through a lot.” Luxea said and sat down on the co-pilot's seat. “I don't think I could have survived what he's been through.”
Simone gave Luxea a serious look. “He's told you everything?”
“Yes.” Luxea said and started working. “As much as he can, anyways.” She corrected. “He's not someone that will give you the details for the things he's experienced, especially if he knows you can't handle the full truth.”
Simone lost her serious look and smiled. “Yes, that's exactly the reading I get from him.”
“Have you... what's that word you used? Scanned him?” Luxea asked without looking up from the console.
“Only as much as he's let me.” Simone said and Luxea chuckled.
“He's got a soft spot in his heart for telepaths.” Luxea said. “It makes me envious sometimes.”
“Not jealous?” Simone asked, curious. “People usually confuse the two meanings.”
Luxea turned her head and smiled at her, then looked back at the console. “I'm not worried about you stealing him from me, even if he does eventually sleep with you.”
“Excuse me?” Simone asked, because she wasn't sure she heard her quite right.
“You can give him a mental satisfaction that I can't even compare to, let alone achieve with him myself.” Luxea said. “He's going to give in to the temptation eventually.”
“You're okay with that?” Simone asked, surprised.
Luxea thought back to what Hunter had told her about what he had called a 'one night stand'. When he explained what he meant, she understood that it was what she had been doing for years. She would meet an interesting man, share a nice time with him that most times would include sex, then they would never see each other again. She had been quite happy with her life being like that, especially since she didn't really want a relationship, or wanted to invest herself into a relationship... until she met Hunter.
Luxea's view of the whole 'date and have fun' thing started to shift slightly, then Hunter had that incident with Ohazith and her thoughts on the whole subject changed. She still liked having fun; but, its hollowness started to bother her. She knew it was always hollow and that was how she had liked it. Now, she couldn't help but think of how she would want to have someone like Hunter that would be devastated if anything happened to her. It was such an odd thought to have at the time, that she had cried for no reason for nearly half an hour.
Luxea's life changed after that little revelation. She eventually pushed her sexual urges aside and she started to see the value in companionship for companionship's sake. It didn't take her long to realize that friendships could be even more valuable, especially if they were actual friendships. That was how she discovered that she and Evelyn, the medical technician on the long haul transport, were real friends and that Cassie, the captain's daughter, was only an acquaintance and they only tolerated each other.
That was why it had been so easy for Luxea to leave the ship. The only friend she was leaving was Evelyn, who had understood why she had to leave. They still sent messages to each other occasionally to stay in touch.
“I can't hold it against him if he wants to sleep with another woman.” Luxea said, remembering her own sordid past. “I won't like it, especially if he decides to end our relationship if it happens.”
“He won't do that.” Simone said, sure of it. “He loves you.”
“Yes, he does.” Luxea said, her face slightly red. “He's loved a few women, and only once did he have two of them in his life at the same time.”
“Did they have a fight or break up or something?” Simone asked, curious.
“No, he...” Luxea wasn't sure how to explain it to someone else that didn't know all of the facts.
“How could he be with two people and love them both?” Simone prodded.
“It took him years to...” Luxea stopped and chuckled. “I guess it doesn't matter, because he left them behind and now he's with me.”
“What about Lashina?” Simone asked.
“He doesn't expect to meet her again for another decade, maybe two.” Luxea said.
“Excuse me?” Simone said, incredulous. “He's planning a relationship for a decade from now?!?”
Luxea laughed. “I know! It boggles the mind if I think about it too much.”
“Says the engineer that's figuring out how to make an alien ship look normal by adding a fake hull.” Simone said.
After a moment, they both burst out laughing.
Hunter and the two men had to make several trips to get the right supplies transferred over to the new ship. They brought over enough foodstuffs to give them a variety and several changes of clothes. When Luxea was done with the calculations and gave the datapad to Rhubin, they all gave the new ship a once-over check from top to bottom to make sure that everything was in working order. Water, air, and power were all green, so Rhubin and Simone went to the Udelis and the two ships left the shipyard dock together.
The two ships jumped out of the system and travelled for only a day to end in a system that only had a star and no planets. Rhubin bid the new ship farewell and flew from there to the Fogaris system three days away. After a brief inquiry from the fast patrol ship there at the border of their space, Rhubin was allowed to approach one of the asteroid smelting operations. They were more than happy to offload some of their extra materials for a reasonable price, especially since they produced much more materials than could be used right away.
Simone's help wasn't needed as the crew there happily filled the cargo hold with the structural members and the metal plating Luxea had requested. It was a double order, just in case, and they were done barely two hours later. Rhubin thanked them and handed out enough ration meals and flavor supplements for them all. The crew exclaimed that he was now an unofficial member of their crew and gave him a hard hat and a crew jacket.
Rhubin laughed and accepted their generosity. After a bit of merriment and a shared drink that one of the crew had produced from somewhere, Rhubin flew the ship out to clear space and jumped into hyperspace. They were back at the rendezvous point three days later and both Rhubin and Simone were shocked to see that the new ship was partially disassembled. There was also an improvised docking ring on the main hatch.
“What the hell have you been doing?” Rhubin asked over the communications console.
“Lots and lots of prep work.” Luxea said. “You can dock to the main hatch, too. It's got standard controls now and responds to the right commands.”
“Goddammit, woman! You're a miracle worker!” Rhubin exclaimed and she laughed.
“Just wait until I start adding the proper plating to this thing and you can tell me that again.” Luxea said. “How much material could they spare?”
“The main cargo hold is filled to the bulkheads.” Rhubin said with a grin and showed her the crew jacket with the asteroid smelting emblem on it.
“Ha.” Luxea said. “See you in a few minutes.”
Rhubin docked to the improvised docking ring and it made a solid seal. It was pressurized using the standard controls like Luxea said and not the alien protocols he had been prepared to use. The main hatches of both ships opened and the crew of both met in the middle.
“Good work.” Hunter and Rhubin said at the same time and then they laughed.
“We're taking a break for a day, then we can get back to work.” Hunter said. “With Simone out helping, we should get the superstructure extensions in place by the end of the week.”
“Then we can start plating this thing up properly.” Luxea said. “No one's going to recognize this thing when we're done.”