Deep Six Chapter 10

[Ed Man]

A Hero’s Welcome
Chapter 10 Deep Six

Gabe opened his eyes to see Simon setting beside his hospital bed and asked. “How long was I out and what happened?”
[Simon] “A little over a day and you lost to much blood and passed out but they said you needed to rest and give your body time to recover so take it easy and rest.”
[Gabe] “I want something to drink and I’m hungry will you get me something?”
Simon jumped up and went out as a human nurse came in with some water. “Her you go Mr. Lander and some food is on the way.”
Gabe looked around. “Where am I? Last think I remember was being in Split Space.”
[Nurse] “You’re still in Split Space they just brought me in to take care of you. I’ll be right back.”
Gabe looked at Simon. “What’s going on the Split don’t bring in human nurses for their patients.”
[Simon] “They do if they consider you a Hero and that’s what you are right now so milk it while you can.”

Gabe was eating when Bolt walked in. “Simon I need to take to Gabe alone. [Simon looked over at Gabe nodding his head yes and went outside the door.] I’m sorry to see that simple pick up mission went bad. I’ve left a little bonus in your ship for you. Did the girl say anything to you about going back to the station for something or picking someone up?”
[Gabe] “No nothing where is she?”
[Bolt] “She’s off the grid and missing. The ship she was in was seen entering Nathans Voyage if they catch her on the Pirate Station she’s dead so if you know something speak up.”
[Gabe] “I done told you I don’t know anything. But she did say that most of the people involved in that cult were just families and just a few were Pirates. I’d say she had a friend she was going to try and get out of there. The Argon Government are going to stop them?”
[Bolt] “Of course! Did Sugar name anyone it’s vital that we find her before they make her talk and then they’ll kill her and everyone she ever met or knows will be in danger including you.”
[Gabe] “I wish I could help but I don’t know anything.”
[Bolt] “If you think of something tell Na Chin. And good job by the way even if you did get shot.”

Bolt left the room and Simon came back in asking. “You are done with him right?”
[Gabe] “I was done with him when we left Argon Prime. How’s the search going?”
[Simon] “It went well we found a lot of freight and I sold most of it but keep a few of the better missiles. Gabe are you going to tell Pop about any of this?”
[Gabe] “No has he called?”
[Simon] “No not yet. Pop told me and Cherrit to stay out of the Secret Service and he thought that the few missions your Dad had done for them was why he got killed.”
[Gabe] “I never knew my Dad did that.”
[Simon] “Neither did we until we joined the Navy and Pop told us to not tell you and to not to volunteer or get involved with any secret missions of any kind. And Gabe while I’m spilling the beans I might as well tell you I found out you may have a uncle that’s alive. I looked up you family and seen you had a Uncle, Bob Lander that was staying in Treasure Chest at the Trading Station. He makes his living flying missions out of the Nova he owns. He has a good status with the Argon and they call him Mr. One Hundred and that’s all I found out before I got run off the computer.”
[Gabe] “I want to search that sector next and see if he’s still there. I never knew my Dad had a brother.”
[Simon] “They may have wanted it that way to try and keep you safe. If Pop was right it makes since. They may have been looking to kill him to and used you to get to him.”
[Gabe] “Why hasn’t he tried to contact me now that I’m a adult?”
[Simon] “And say what? Hi I’m your Uncle and the work your Dad and I did got him and your Mom killed. Let’s just look him up first and see what happens if he doesn’t want to talk at least you tried.”
[Gabe] “Next Sector after we’re done here and I’m back to normal is Treasure Chest.”

A Split Doctor came in with the Nurse and looked at the chart and said. “You doing good one more treatment with regenerating and tomorrow if leg move good you can go.”
The nurse told Gabe she would be back to take him to treatment room in thirty minutes he had a visitor.
As she left Na Chin came in and asked Simon to wait outside. “Split be indebted to you Mr. Lander! You save lives of Split on Miner and gain honor with Split Government. Na Chin keep his word and give you one million credits to keep or buy Scorpion.
Split Government give you Medal of Honor for saving Split Crew and destroying the fighters that attacked Split ship and when Split see your name it will show up. As way of saying thinks Split give you new Caiman Miner for reward and you can’t tell why Split were there mission is classified.”

Na Chin handed Gabe a paper for him to sign saying he was going to keep the mission secret. Gabe signed the form and stated as he handed it back to Na Chin. “When I left the two M4 fighters were about on us but they were in good shape.”
Na Chin smiled. “When you returned. The Split sent a Chimera Fighter to look for Pirates that attacked Split ship. It found debris of Miner, Harrier, Buzzard and Buster all in same area then two Harriers you took care of so all the ships were destroyed.”

The Nurse came in and took Gabe for his treatment and after the treatment was over and Gabe was up on his leg moving around he heard the alarms going off. Gabe looked out into the hall and asked the Security Guard that was assigned to watch him what was going on. “Split Police Jaguar was destroyed by Pirates ships and asteroid just blew up like big bomb. Station on lock down till Split know what going on! You go back to room where it safe.”
Simon looked at Gabe. “They did it! They blew themselves up anyway!”
[Gabe] “Don’t say anything else till we talk to Na Chin.”

They went to the room with the Nurse and shut the door. The buzzer had stopped but the warning lights were still flashing as the Guard stood watch outside the door while the three of them waited in the room.
After a hour the guard told them the shutdown was over and Gabe got a message on his PDA from Sugar.
“I had to rescue a Friend and am in hiding Don’t trust anyone I seen Bolt talking to the Cult leader and they knew one another I’ll contact you later.”

Gabe erased the message and asked Simon for his PDA and wrote a message on it and gave it back. “Simon scan the ships for bugs, bombs or anything wrong and keep the Seeker in space. If The ships are clean take the Buzzard and return to the Seeker and stay and wait on me I plan on leaving early.”
Simon got up. “Gabe I need to check on the Miner and Buzzard.”
Gabe told Simon. “Why don’t you take the ships over to Snakes Dock in the next sector where it’s safe and leave me the RT I’ll be right behind you I’m going to check out here if they’ll let me.”

The Nurse was getting nervous about all the commotion after Gabe asked her to tell the Doctor he wanted to sign out and leave now. A few minutes later Na Chin came in. “Mr. Lander please wait we have a Honored guest coming and he wants to meet you and look at your scanner records. We both know what happened and we are not under attack and Mr. Galen asked if he could speak with you.”
[Gabe] “The Josh Galen that was over Alpha Security?”
[Na Chin] “Yes he is the one.”
[Gabe] “Tell him I’ll wait on him in the sector onboard the Seeker with the original records.”
[Na Chin] “The Doctor says you can go but you need one more night of rest. I’ll tell Mr. Galen what you said. Why do you want to leave?”
[Gabe] “I want onboard my ship in my own room. I’ll fill safer it’s not a easy thing knowing that part of the sector just blew up into nothing.”
[Na Chin] “The Split think you Mr. Lander and you are always welcome in Split Space.”
Na Chin left the room as Gabe sent Simon a message telling him the change of plans and to send Luke on to the Dock with the Miner and wait.
Simon sent a message back telling the fighters were clean and their was three Hammerhead Missiles in the cargo hole of the Buzzard and 20,000 credits of tokens setting in the new Pilots seat and he was still onboard the Miner scanning.
Gabe remembered Bold had said he left a bonus on the Buzzard for him.
The Nurse came in and walked Gabe to the exit where the Split Guard was waiting with a cart to take him to the docks and his ship. All the Guard asked was which ship Sir and as Gabe told him the Buzzard away they went.
The Guard set his bag down by the Buzzard and saluted Gabe and left. Gabe went onboard the Buzzard and hailed Simon on the Miner. “Simon you about done I’m on the Buzzard and ready to go?”
[Simon] “I’m about done. The Split maxed out the Miner all you need is a jump drive. I thought you were taking the RT?”
[Gabe] “I was but I changed my mind I wanted to see what they done to the Buzzard. It looks like the same all but the credits I need to put in a locker.”
Gabe stored the credits and waited on the call from Simon. The scan showed it was clean and Simon was on his way to the RT. Gabe undocked and watched as the Miner came out and headed for the Seeker then Simon eased out and hailed Gabe. “Are you sure it’s the Josh Galen we read about?”
[Gabe] “Na Chin said it was him lets get to the seeker and get Luke headed to Snakes Dock in the Miner. If we have to we can jump away.”
Gabe give Luke the bag of credits from the Buzzard and sent him on to the Equipment Dock while Simon showed Gabe the list sales from the freight they found and the ones still in the cargo hole.
A call came in while the two were talking about a crew for the Miner. “This is Josh Galen requesting permission to transport over.”
Simon stepped around the corner out of sight as Gabe grabed the com. “Permission granted.”
Gabe watched as the transporter activated and Josh Galen was there. “You can tell your man to come on out I’m Josh Galen. Is their something going on here I should know about people don’t take cover unless there expecting trouble.”
[Gabe] “I’m sorry Mr. Galen there is something going on and I don’t know who to trust.”
[Josh] “You can trust me tell me what’s going on.”
Gabe told Josh all about what had happened and the message from Sugar about Bolt.
[Josh] “I understand your problem I’ll help you you can dock you ship onboard my ship and we’ll pick up your Miner and take it with us back to Argon Prime. You’re welcome to stay onboard my ship until we sort this all out.”
Gabe looked on the HUD. “What ship?”
[Josh] “It’s there do you want my help?”
[Gabe] “Yes Sir of course I do.”
Josh just said transport his ship onboard with mine and jump to the next sector.
Gabe looked at the HUD that showed they were onboard a big ship.
Josh looked at Gabe. “We’re in the next sector I need you to hail your Miner and tell your man to cut his engines and we’ll trasport your Miner onboard.”
Gabe hailed Luke and told him to cut the engines and hole position.
[Josh] “My Captain will explain what’s about to happen to him. Do you mind if I look at the scans of the asteroid now. And I just got permission to investigate Bolt so anything you have on him or know even sealed data tell me now.” Josh showed Gabe the document signed by Ban Danna.
[Gabe] “Yes of course here the Data on the asteroid and the rest you may want to set down it may take a while.” Gabe started telling the story from the first time he met Bolt in Argon Prime and after he finished Gabe explained how he had just signed a paper with the Split saying he wouldn’t talk about what had happened with them. Josh got a release from the Split so he could get the whole story and after Gabe told the rest along with the reports the Split had. Josh had a crewman come in. “This is a Android he will show you around the ship and stay with you while you’re here. I’ll try and sort this out a quickly as possible but it may take me a day or more so take it easy and try and injoy the different R and R activities we have onboard ship.”
The big ship had plenty to do onboard as the next day and half went by fast for the three until Sugar who’s real name was Susan and a young woman showed up to join the group. A hour later Josh showed up and took Gabe and Susan off to tell them what he found out about Bolt.
[Josh] Bolt has been running missions for years but all I was allowed to look into was his last mission. Bolt had set the Pirates up using a conman he placed at the station as a new spiritual leader to try and direct their activities to serve his needs. But the unruly nature of the people he thought he could direct backfired over and over so they decided to put a end to the con by killing the group off. So he started a new operation and Susan was brought in to spy on all of them and report back to Bolt. Around the same time he had the dark matter planted in the asteroid by a unknown source with a advanced transporter and the plot was set into motion and the rest you know. The Conman was suppose to be safe at the 10K radius which was another lie Bolt used to get rid of him. The Argon Government that be refused to try Bolt but turned him over to the Split to be tried for his crimes seeing he was cought in Split Space by Na Chin. Na Chin was cleared and offered to help setting up a meeting in his office with Bolt who showed up within hours and was captured so it’s over for him but no completely for you two. You both need to understand that you need to watch your backs because just because a job is over don’t never think its finished and done. Someone out there wants you dead and if they get the chance they’ll try and you both need to always remember that. Want are your plans now Susan you go first?”

[Susan] “I was recruited for this job by Bolt and thought I was serving the Argon Government and that turned out to be a lie so my jobs gone and I have no plans or credits. The girl with me just lost her only living family which was her Mom and they lived from week to week and she’s my friend so we’re going to stick together. We both have pilots license so we can find a job somewhere. Bolt was going to kill us all wasn‘t he?”
[Josh] “That was his plan, kill everyone involved.”
Josh asked Susan to wait outside so he could talk to Gabe privately. “Well Mr. Lander what are you going to do?”
[Gabe] “I fill bad for her I just got a big bonus and we mad good a good proffit from the sector search I can buy her a Disco and give her some credits.”
[Josh] “No I wasn’t talking about helping Susan that’s up to you. I need to field test a new ship design we been working on that goes along with your line of work. My friend Salas and I have taken a Mercury Super freighter frame and turned it into a recovery ship sutted just for your work. It has four open bays for fighters like yours and one dock in the rear that will hold two ships inside the rear section on bottom one docked in front of the other. It has a dock underneath to attach a freighter to so you can get it back to a shipyard to be repaired. It has three 200 meg shield slots and holds 8000 units of XL freight. And to compete with the Falcon Hauler we have made a Nova Hauler with a 200 meg shield. The Nova and Mercury have a jump drive can jump point to point or up to three sectors away by charging a built in power bank and for longer jumps you‘ll still need to use energy cells.”
[Gabe] “That sounds like a dream come true for me how much will they cost?”
[Josh] “Let me show you the specifics on the ships then we’ll talk.”

Gabe looked over the data on the ships it was faster than his Magnetar until you docked a freighter under it and the speed dropped 45%. The Nova Hauler was a real prize with 390 units of XL cargo and the speed and weapons power of a regular Nova.
Gabe looked at Josh. “I’d love to have them but they’re out of my price range and I know it.”
Josh smiled and said. “You give me your Magnetar and Miner and one million credits and I’ll give you the Mercury Recovery ship and a Nova Hauler maxed out with all the extras. I’ll give you two advanced long range satellites to help with your exploration and a repair system for both ships and a extra you can use on any ship you find and a Android to keep the ship up and make repairs.”

[Gabe] “I’ll take that deal whats the catch?”
[Josh] “They’re one of a kind and we need to have them tested in the field and report back any problems you run into. I don’t believe they’ll be any but we want to make sure. They’ll be here in a little while I’ll call you they arrive.”
Gabe went into the hall and called Simon, Luke and Bit to tell them to load their things up and get ready to swap ships. Susan was expressing a great interest in what kind of work Gabe was doing so he told Susan about their salvage operation. And since Gabe had just spent the credits he was going to by Susan a ship with he offered her and her friend a job on the new ship. And after a quick talk with her friend and a pay rate was settled Gabe hired them.

As soon as the ships arrived Josh called Gabe for a quick tour of the ships and after everything was swapped over, the fighters had docked and the paper work was done Josh wished them well and dropped them off in Treasure Chest.

After Gabe and his crew had stored their things and Bit had installed it’s control unit into the system. They took a tour of the ship as the ships Android pointed out the features and extras onboard the ship.
The ship was larger than the Magnetar with 8000 open units of XL cargo space and docked two more fighters. It had two transporter pads one above the back docks and the two main transporter pads at midship that could transport four people at the same time. Two into one ship and two into another or all four into one and with the rear transporter it made five. The freight transporter could select and pick up freight out of space or place it space where you wanted it. Everything about the ship was super charged compaired to normal equipment including the food processors.