Chapter 1: Graduation
Alan and Cathy sat smiling in the front row as both Jake and Alan Jr. graduated.
They had it easy and the family knew it from day one, but Alan took the time to remind them that after graduation they would be truly on their own for the first time. Of course it didn’t mean as much when Cathy came by a few minutes later and said they’d always be welcome here, and not to forget to come by once a month for the family dinners everyone was invited to. The boys both laughed and she hugged them and said not to worry, things were nice and quiet and even the pirates weren’t so bad anymore. Alan Jr. was all smiles about a possibility of a nice peaceful fortune being made, while Jake was upset that there might not be enough “excitement” for his taste.
Alan was the number one student in his class at the flight academy, so it fell to him to give a short speech. Jake sat by waving at everyone and winking at all the girls in his class, and just, well, being Jake, till his brother was finished and the ceremonies were over. They dropped their robes in the dressing room and came out to see family and friends and get their presents. Since it was Argon Graduation, they knew that meant the first ship and their first “pay check” from the mother and father, so that was just expected. Of course having family owning the shipyards, Jake had grand ideas, but Alan knew better. If he wanted that big ship he always talked about, he’d have to work for it, at least for a while.
They walked out to hugs and handshakes from Alan, Julian and the rest of the family. It looked like everyone had made it, and Jake was wringing his hands just waiting on all those credit chips he knew were coming. Alan was thinking ahead, he might want to get a Mercury and invest some of his money. Since things had been so quiet for years, business was the way to go. They walked among the family and smiled as one after the other handed them their presents. Jake was all smiles as was his brother and he couldn’t wait for the official ceremonies to be over. He had friends waiting and there was going to be a big party after this and the women and Space Fuel would be flowing, and he couldn’t wait. Alan was invited too, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go, it sounded a little too wild for his taste, but then it WAS graduation, and he had his eye on someone from his class too. The official “first ship” was a short little personal family thing and everyone applauded as they accepted, and there were more handshakes as everyone started to turn to leave. Alan Sr. was all smiles and he was the last to say “be careful” to his boys as he walked away, and Cathy gave them both a hug and said, “Come visit sometimes” as she left with a tear in her eye. The boys were possibly the best paid graduates in recent history, and Alan was thrilled, but Jake seemed sad his Grandfather had forgotten his favorite ship.
“You KNEW you weren’t getting a corvette for graduation.” Alan Jr. said laughing.
“Why not, our grandfather owns the SHIPYARD” Jake said seriously.
“It’s not his job, and dad wasn’t going to give you one for free, so let’s go see what we got. I’m sure it’ll be nice.” Alan said smiling. They walked over to the docks and checked their ships codes, it said that their were two new Deluxe Busters” sitting in dock 8.
“Oh, man, Busters, everyone gets those.” Jake whined as they walked around some others who had stopped to admire their new ships, they walked onto dock 8 and the new ships were sitting side by side and Alan thought with the red paintjob and obviously good set of weapon mounts, it was all he’d need for quiet a while. Jake actually smiled as he walked over to his new ship. It wasn’t what he wanted, but then it was the very best Buster made. It said something at least, and he decided he could live with it.
“Ok, its party time!” screamed Jake as he jumped in and started up the new ship. Alan shook his head and started his and followed his brother out into the world of Argon for the first time as new graduates and argon businessmen. They were flying through the sectors, with Jake buzzing freighters and stations, as Alan tried hard to pretend he didn’t know him. The local authorities asked him to behave at least once and he decided that maybe he’d just go get a drink. His graduating class was going to be at a party in Red Light and he didn’t want to miss a thing.
They flew together to the party and docked. They were welcomed and there were drinks and jokes and a good time was had by all. Jake was downing space fuel at an alarming rate, and Alan decided that if he wasn’t careful he’d be spending his first night in jail. He laughed at his brothers antics just like everyone else. Jake was always the life of every party, not by being a great guy, but being a total fool when drunk. He was in other words, the perfect example of what NOT to do, and friends that had known him for a long time just knew having him around would guarantee that the party would be a “howling” success, even if he had to do the howling himself.
Alan found his friend and asked her to dance and after a while they went to “see” her new ship. They were both smiling and she had as much to drink as he did, and the night was a good time for everyone. She mentioned she had a crush on him for a long time, and even then Alan was a great gentleman, and she was surprised. This was their graduation, and it was the one time people got a little crazy on purpose. It was what she planned and she found the one she was looking for, but even now, Alan was trying to be very gentle and careful, and she just laughed and said he was just not as much fun as she had hoped, and went for another drink.
Alan sat back with a blank look, he was fun, he was sure of it. She certainly didn’t think he was no fun a while ago, he thought smiling, but then maybe she just wasn’t the right one. She obviously was still looking, and so would he. He decided that he had enough, and went to the station and got a new apartment for himself. It wasn’t the tiniest one, but it was very modest, he wanted to save as much money as possible to see what he was going to do in the next few weeks. He smiled widely, lie down, and fell asleep. It had been a great day, now tomorrow he’d start looking for work.
Jake was in his glory, he danced and laughed and was hit on by more than one girl, which was of course just the way he planned. He “had” a few that night he was sure, but the next day he woke up in the local argon jail and didn’t remember a lot of it. He had a terrible headache, and his stomach was in knots. He slowly sat up and wished he didn’t, he was REALLY sick, but he was smiling, why he wasn’t sure.
“He lives!” the guard said a minute later as Jake looked up at him standing by the door and smiled a weak smile.
“That’s a matter of opinion.” Jake said holding his head and moaning. The guard just laughed and opened the door,
“Ok, out you go, and don’t go getting drunk and shooting stations any more or someone will drop a missile on you.” He said laughing.
“I shot a station, which one?” Jake asked as the guard just shook his head and went away, leaving the door open. Jake got up slowly and walked out to the front desk. He signed and was given his personal effects in a big envelope. He stuck it under his arm and walked out and started down the hall. He never did get an apartment yet, but then now was as good a time as any, so that was his first priority.
He went to station control and asked about their apartments and decided that just a little one would do someplace to “crash” in for a few hours. He was sure he’d spend a lot of time running around working or doing “other things” and a fancy place would be a waste of money. It was a good thing, because when he opened up the big envelope he was really surprised that a lot of his credit chips were gone. He hoped he bought something, he thought, but what? He had no clue, and after a few cups of coffee he called the police station to report it and they said that’s all he had on him when he came in. Obviously he bought something, he decided, he just wished he knew what. He vaguely remembered talking to some great looking chick about something, and she was really happy.
“By the Maker don’t tell me I bought her for the evening.” He thought, but then that would be illegal, and for what he spent, “oh, god,” he thought, don’t let that be it. He went to his new apartment and just lay in bed a while. He was slowly feeling better and he’d need to go get some work soon, especially after last night, he thought grimacing, and he got up and went out looking for the first time.
Alan Jr. was standing talking pleasantly to a convoy captain when he looked up and saw his brother coming with badly wrinkled cloths and an obvious hangover. He had been trying to convince this guy that his buster was enough to escort him to Aladna Hill, but he was being a little squeamish. Alan smiled and said,
“And here comes my partner now.” And the captain opened his eyes widely.
“You didn’t say there were two of you, both busters?” he asked and Alan nodded saying Buster Deluxes with all the trimmings and they were number 1&2 at the academy. At this he decided for new kids he certainly couldn’t get any better and agreed. Alan said he’d meet him outside and walked over and grabbed his brother by the arm.
“Come on, we have work.” He said dragging him along, but Jake didn’t fight; this was easier than what HE planned.
“We’re taking a convoy all the way to Aladna Hill, and we’ll get some good money for it, so please stay awake and fly right.” He said smiling as Jake pulled his arm away and sniffed loudly,
“I do not fly asleep,” and entered his new ship and went to work.
They flew through Elena’s Fortune and Brennans Triumph when Jake called over,
“We should get together and throw these pirates out of here; after all it’s OUR sector.” He said loudly, and on open coms.
“Would you shut up until we get this job done? You’re going to get us all killed.” Alan said as a flight of pirate fighters approached.
“We heard that, Brennan, and it’s been tried before and we’re still here, so don’t forget that!” they said loudly
“That’s because WE didn’t try, you morons.” Jake said as Alan got a better grip on his joystick, this was inevitable. The first fighter shot a few rounds past Jake as he dropped away and took him out in a fiery blast. The second Buster dropped a missile and Alan sidestepped it and took it down too. It went this way as one by one they fought their way across the sector and through the gate into Danas Chance.
“That’s the most original way to draw pirates away from a convoy I’ve ever seen.” The convoy captain said seriously and Alan immediately stepped in and thanked him saying,
“We aim to please, glad to help.” Jake was just smiling to himself. If he just had an argon law license this would be even better, but he needed this contract and decided to let Alan do the talking for now.
“Well that show was worth what I’m paying you, so great work.” The captain said.
“Great, we can go then,” Jake said as the captain laughed and Alan yelled,
“Get back here.” Jake returned and the captain was laughing so hard he couldn’t talk for a minute.
“You two are a real act, you should take this on the station tour, your great!” he said as Alan just shook his head and Jake gave him a sour look and closed the coms.
They made it the rest of the way without trouble and they had their first official convoy job done. The pay was good and Alan was all smiles but Jake was shaking his head saying he wished he could just “buy” an argon law license, then hunting could be more profitable. Alan reminded him that when he did enough missions a license would be available, and Jake smiled and decided that maybe a few more wouldn’t hurt, and they started back home.
Chapter 2: Making Some Credits
Alan and Jake made the return trip without incident, they even found a few free missiles as they past through Brennans Triumph. It had been a good first day, and even Jake could see that Alan was the best businessman among them. He smiled to think that he wasn’t even to the BBS board when he had a mission today and decided to mention to Alan he’d fly with him when he needed. After all they were brothers. And if one needed another pilot for a mission, why not keep the credits in the family. Jake told Alan he left the party too early, the girls went pretty wild after a few more drinks and Alan admitted he did a little fooling around before he left, and they both laughed their way towards home. They decided to stop in Elena’s Fortune for a meal and coffee, the escort was a long trip and they hadn’t eaten in hours. They sat having a burger and coffee talking about the trip when a man walked up smiling.
“You two a team?” he asked as Alan looked at Jake and he just nodded.
“Yep, we’re the Brenan Brothers, Alan, and Jake.” Alan smiled and they shook hands.
“I have two ships with a rather expensive cargo, and I need a couple of good pilots to get me to Cloudbase Southwest.” He said as Alan’s eyes opened wide, this didn’t sound right somewhere.
“I’ll pay top dollar and all you need to do is see I’m not scanned.” He said smiling as Alan almost choked on his sandwich.
“We’ll take it!” Jake said and shook the guys hand and said they’d be with him as soon as they get done eating. The guy was all smiles and left as Alan turned to Jake with daggers sticking out of his eyes.
“Are you insane? He’s hauling illegal goods and if he gets caught we pay for it too, what were you thinking?” Alan demanded.
“Gee I don’t know, short haul, big pay, no real fighting, just running interference, what the hell did you think I was thinking??” he demanded, and Alan had to admit, with a little finesse, it could work, but the risks were great to mess up their reputation early in their careers.
“You better hope this works, or we’re going to get hell for decazura’s for this.” Alan said and finished his sandwich and they started walking towards the docks.
The trip went well with the two guys flying just to the side of the ships watching for patrols till they got to Ore Belt. The ships went in first and started towards the west gate when a small argon patrol started towards them. Alan could see trouble soon but Jake just laughed and hit his coms saying,
“There’s an argon patrol quick let’s run this way,” he said out loud and started towards the north gate, Alan followed and the two light fighters pursued, calling for them to stop. They gave them a merry chase and in a few minutes the boys sat laughing as the patrol ran over and scanned them.
“Your not carrying anything illegal, why did you yell and run?” the one pilot asked and Jake was all smiles.
“We just graduated, and I wanted to test myself against a real pro, and I must say, your skills are very impressive.” He said with a big grin as Alan almost choked trying not to laugh.
“Well, thank you for that, but we don’t have time to play these games, real pros have serious work to do, so don’t do that again. I’ll make a report of this and we’ll be keeping an eye on you two.” He said and then, “The way you fly you should consider a job in law enforcement.” To this Jake immediately replied, he was just waiting on a chance at his law license and they smiled widely and they awarded both him and Alan a new, shiny law license saying,
“We always need good people, and I’m more than happy to help you out, so see you guys soon, and be careful, there’s a lot of scum out there waiting to take advantage of you.” The coms went blank as both Alan and Jake flew through the west gate and docked at the trading station. They were paid as promised and the man said they were a real good team and he’d hire them again, and Alan just said no thanks and they walked away.
“You have to admit,” Jake started,” Now that we’re in law enforcement it would be even easier.” He said smiling as Alan just shook his head and went home.
Alan was standing at the BBS the next day looking for a mission when Jake walked up, he still didn’t look like he had changed cloths and Alan mentioned it.
“I changed, really,” Jake said with a smile and Alan just shook his head,
“Then maybe you need to quit throwing them in a corner or something, they look terrible.” Alan said as Jake informed him that it was the flying not their personal looks that got them work and Alan chuckled and they continued to search.
“There’s nothing here for a team, want to do two separate ones?” Alan asked and Jake said sure. They each called a number and Alan got his escort in a minute while Jake was still talking, Alan went out to meet the freighter pilot and was on his way, and in an hour his first mission was over. He checked the BBS and found another mission for one going back and did it too. He was doing ok, and hoped Jake was doing as well. He was in the restaurant having a bite when Jake walked in, in a huff.
“What’s up?” Alan asked as Jake sat down.
“I talked to two guys about missions and they both dumped me, I don’t get it.” He said shaking his head.
“I told you, people want someone who LOOKS professional, not someone who looks like their on space weed.” Alan said shaking his head and smiling.
“I am not on space weed, at the moment,” Jake said and Alan turned to give him a serious look.
“What!? I’m not I promise.” He said as Alan just dropped his head he couldn’t believe they were even having this discussion.
“Go get cleaned up and for god’s sake shave, pretend you’re going out or something and then try again.” Alan said as Jake looked at his cloths and shook his head walking away. “This is how I go out” he thought, but he went and got “cleaned up” some more. After a fresh outfit and a shave Jake was on his way for his first mission of the day. It definitely seemed to help, but he still didn’t get it. He wasn’t having sex with these guys, just flying escort. It went well and he was paid and smiled as he flew back to the station to look for another one.
By now Alan had done three short hops and was thinking of quitting for the day. He stood by the BBS and talked to a few other pilots he knew as Jake walked up. He definitely looked better and he told Alan he finally got a mission and was paid.
“Like I said, people think if you can’t take the time to at least look decent then you won’t be there when they need you, it might not be fair, but that’s the way it is.” Alan said as Jake just nodded.
“Well with the law license I can do a little hunting to supplement my escort income.” Jake said as Alan shook a finger at him.
“Pirates have a big organization now, their not just a bunch of nuts flying around if you shoot a lot just for bounty’s then they’ll get together and take you down. In the very least you’d lose a ship, maybe wind up being a slave in the Split mines, so watch that crap.” Alan said as Jake just laughed, he hadn’t seen any pirates that were a threat yet, he said as Alan just chuckled and looked away.
Just then the station announcement came on telling everyone that, “a pirate patrol has been seen in sector, be careful” as Jake got a big smile and said,
“There’s my cue,” and ran towards his ship, Alan stood for a second watching him go, he couldn’t believe he was doing this, now the question was, how big a patrol? So Alan decided to go along, just for safety.
Jake flew out and identified a pirate patrol heading north from the gate. He moved in at high speed and dropped a missile on a medium fighter and it went up in flames, the rest of the patrol whipped around and two missiles were fired, one just went by on the right and Jake made a big loop as the other tried to get a lock. He got a lock on the missile and fired a Mosquito and in a second the Hurricane was gone. Now he opened up on the nearest fighter, a buster that didn’t last long at all, but his partner was right there to get a good hit in. Jake swung around and noticed he lost a little speed, which he swore about, but it was too late now. The buster hit him again, but he had a little shield by now and it didn’t get through. He was holding his own, but he didn’t see the biggest problem so far, the second patrol that was coming down from the north was not happy to see this happening right on their normal patrol, and started in.
Alan left the station to see how Jake was doing when he saw the fight going on in the distance. It looked like he was doing ok, but a second later a few more ships came in from behind an asteroid and Alan swore, he hadn’t seen them till now. He ran in at full speed and dropped a missile on a harrier and it went up in flames, and he started on another with lasers and it didn’t last long either. The numbers were getting better, but there were still lots here to play with. Alan made a pass at a nova and it didn’t like it, the turret was on him in a minute, and he had to do some fast flying to keep away. He set himself up a pattern, and every time he made a pass, he got a good long shot off. The nova was losing shields pretty quick and his reputation was taking a beating too. He was losing to what were obviously a couple new kids and it made him look bad. Alan made another turn and really hit him well, just as he got a few shots into Alan’s shields and they dropped dangerously low. With no choice Alan dropped back and dropped all his remaining missiles on the nova and it went up in flames.
Jake was doing ok, he thought, till he saw the new ships approaching, He wasn’t too sure now, he just kept fighting and hoping, just as a missile took out one harrier. He smiled, he knew Alan wouldn’t let him here alone, thank god for being dependable, he thought with a big grin. The second harrier was gone and Jake had finished off a buster too. One Falcon and one nova and they’d have it done, and he dove onto the falcon just as he saw Alan doing donuts around the nova. The falcon got off a few good shots, but Jake was more maneuverable and he got behind him and finished off his shields. Then it was just a matter of finishing the job and he would help Alan with his. The falcon went up and he made a quick turn just as several missiles ended the nova. The two ships stopped a few meters from each other with both the guys sitting with a big grin as Jake called,
“I knew you couldn’t stay away.” And Alan started to laugh, and said at least they had made a few credits and they laughed some more and went home for the night.
I mean the euphoria of having read something good! 
TY, verry good,
