Red Glow - Chapter 2 (29.10.2005)

[KiwiNZ]

“Welcome onboard this Teladi Equipment Dock…”

“What? Where are we?” Val stirred unpleasantly from her rest at the sound of the incoming transmission.

“We have reached the EQ Dock of Company Pride. I hope you rested well.”

“Why did you take us to the EQ Dock of all places? What if somebody recognises this ship?!”

“In order to survive we need to fix this ship and with the credits for the missiles we can repair it.”

“Fair enough but why should we sell the missiles? We may need them!”

“At this point in time we should avoid any confrontation, thus missiles should not be required. Due to our current vulnerability, I also recommend to choose legal means to pay for repairs.”

This was new territory for Val. Not only was she asked to pay for things she was able to obtain for free. More so, this request came from a computer.

“Alright, how much is left at the end of that? Can we improve our firepower and shielding? Or are there any other useful extensions available?”

“The price of the repairs will depend on your ability to cut a good deal with the Wharf manager. Teladi are known for their pursuit of maximum profits. The Dock sells Best Buy and Sell extensions, which can be very useful. Maximum shields and weapons capability has been reached.”

“Can you just for a moment get off this idea of buying? There are easier ways of obtaining goods and credits than that. I am certainly not going to submit myself to a trader’s life.”

“Given the shortage of military goods these extensions are of high value unless you intend to constantly risk getting caught when hacking corporate networks.”

“Right then, get us to the Wharf so we can repair this bird and then we’ll go from there.”

*

“You want how much?”

“Parts for Split ships very expensive in our sectors. Have to pay many credits to acquire them.”

“If you don’t drop the price immediately you will no longer be able to acquire anything!” Val looked around for a large enough tool to back her threat.

“Threats do not impress Teladi. Teladi Company always installs good security in stations. But Teladi will be nice and repair ship for 6700cr. Deal?”

“6700cr? You dropped the price by 50cr and call that nice? I’ll pay 3000cr, no more.”

“3000cr do not even cover cost of parts! You want to ruin Teladi?”

“Right, I am out of here. I’ll go to Boron space and am sure they’ll do it for 2000cr.”

Val had almost reached the door when the Wharf manager called her back.

“Stop, stop. You ruin my business but I will repair ship for 3900cr. Deal?”

He appeared to be in great pain when he made his offer but Val was sure it was not because he’d be ruined but because there was only moderate profit in this price.

Three stazuras later the Jaguar was repaired and repainted. Val spared herself a trip back to the Equipment Dock. The few credits she had would not buy her any of the interesting extensions. So Val navigated the ship towards the Trading Station. It’d be a good place to sell the Space Weed that she had salvaged, and also provide a chance to catch up on news.

There was a short report on the end of the Dragon clan. Split officials claimed a successful strike with no survivors, warning all pirates to refrain from entering Split territory. Very relieving news, she was safe for now. Another message reported of a computer virus that had caused the docking system of the local Bliss Place to malfunction. Result was a collision of two freighters in the entrance section. Since then nobody got in or out of the station. Courageous pilots were sought to deliver food and transport staff to and from the station.

Considering the high pay of this assignment and the short duration Val thought it may be a good start to integrate with the legal world. The limited cargo space of the Jaguar required four trips before all food was delivered.

“Phew, I thought that would never end! I already started to have second thoughts about this whole legality thing.”

“We made a profit of 34.486cr during the past three stazuras. That is pretty good for a beginner.”

Val ignored the comment and considered her options. Earning money would take quite some time and a bigger ship was going to cost plenty.

“Incoming transmission.”

“Hey? Where from?”

“From this station, private room; heavily encrypted.”

“Put it on screen.”

“Hello, I require a lift off this station and to the uncharted sectors. It is urgent and confidential! Will you take the assignment?” Val could see sweat run down the puffy cheeks of a man in his mid-fifties. He looked like the whole of the Split military was after him.

“I’ll pay 100.000cr if we leave now!” Her hesitation increased his desperation. Now there should be more in for her.

“150.000cr and we have a deal.”

The man swallowed hard then nodded. “Do you have a transporter on your ship?”

“No, you will have to get here the old way.”

By now his face was totally white. “Impossible, the flight decks are guarded!” He almost screamed it.

A quick look at the station’s security map did indeed identify two heavily armed Split at each of the doors. Perhaps they really were military. Why else should they be tolerated on a Teladi station? No time to ask questions.

“Go to lift 13C and take it down to the flight deck. I’ll take care of the rest.” Not waiting for confirmation Val cut the transmission and tabbed a few keys.

Three mizuras later and the Jaguar departed towards Nopileos’ Memorial.

“Fighters launching from Trading Station. Three Scorpions followed by 2 Mambas.”

How did they know? In fact what did they know that Val did not?

“Would you care to fill me in who you pissed off so much that Split military is after you?”

“These are not military. It is militia in the service of Whe t’Sur.”

“And who is this Whe t’Sur?”

“He is the new leader of the Kr’ta Clan.”

This name was familiar. Kr’ta was the cruellest of all clans, known for their brutal ‘acquisition’ of manual labour. They basically dominated the slave market. But their home base was in Cho’s Defeat. How come they did business so far from home?

The man must have read her mind. “He intends to expand his area of influence. With the Dragon clan destroyed Whe t’Sur is now taking over the western and southern Split sectors.”

“But aren’t the Split going to do something about it? Didn’t they destroy the Dragon clan to rid their sectors of pirates?”

“They appear to work hand in hand. After all, they get a lot of credits from the pirates.”

It hit her like a sledgehammer. Of course! That explained why the Split military knew about each and every one of their moves. The Kr’ta clan had sold them out! Rage raised in her mind. Val’s knuckles turned white under the strain of holding back fury.

After a couple of mizuras Val had calmed down again. At the moment there was nothing she could do. They were running from a dangerous enemy. Sure, her ship was faster than theirs. But how long was she supposed to hide? At some point they were going to get her. This job had brought her answers to many questions, but it also had put her back in the line of fire.

Ten long stazuras later and they had reached Nopileos’ Memorial. “Where now?”

“34-76-123.”

That was a long way into the darkness of supposedly unexplored space.

*

“What is it? Can you magnify it?”

“Dimensions and mass of this object suggest it is a message drone.”

Arox had only just picked up the signature of an object that was located at the coordinates the man had given. They were almost half way and still had approximately another two stazuras to go before they could get visual. Val’s passenger had all of a sudden become very interested. His eyes flicked between scanners and cockpit window as if he was hoping to see the object already.

Instinctively Val too started to strain her eyes trying to see something in the dark of space. Suddenly she jerked the controls to the side, turned the ship and engaged full thrusters.

It had not been on the gravidar but they had almost run straight into a huge asteroid. Only her fast reaction saved them. The old man moaned in pain. Not anticipating such a rapid change in course he had been propelled out of his seat and thrown to the floor. Slowly he crawled back to his seat and fastened his seat belt.

“Arox, please mark this location. If you should have missed it, there is a huge asteroid in our way.”

“My scans have not resulted in any useful data. Can you take us closer?”

“I will try my best.” With these words Val approached the body slowly. It was hard to gauge the distance with the ships lights hardly penetrating the darkness.

Val stopped the ship. “Is this close enough? Any closer and we will scrape chips off the surface.”

“I still cannot get any mass from it. Take us around it so I can estimate its dimensions.”

It took them the better part of a stazura until Arox presented her results. The asteroid was huge, its surface surprisingly regular.

“Anything special about it?” The old man was just as curious about it as Val. She could not lose the feeling he knew more about what should be around this part of space.

“Negative.” Val looked up surprised at the short response from Arox. This was untypical for the AI. Usually she spilled out more information than anybody could contain.

*

“So it is a message drone. How did that get here? Don’t these devices self-destruct when they run out of fuel?”

“Correct but this one has not run out. Somebody placed it here.”

“Yes, “ the old man agreed with Arox. “Kyle Brennan has placed this drone here 15 jazuras ago. Apparently it contains the key to the location of a secret station or something along that line. No detail is known.”

“So how did you acquire this information? Somebody must obviously be in the know!”

The old man did not answer. Something was seriously wrong here. Val could literally smell it.

After several mizuras of silence he looked at her. “Brennan is a friend of mine. Well, I guess I should say he was. We have lost contact and he appears to have disappeared completely. No trace. Thus now I am trying to gather information that may help finding him.”

“Now if that is the case, why were the Split so interested in you? I can’t imagine they are particularly fazed about his disappearing.”

“Somebody must have recognised me. They have tried to get hold of me for the past almost 25 jazuras.”

“You are joking! They must have a very strong interest considering their presence in a Teladi station. Ok, so what now. Let’s pick it up.”

[pixel]

cool Kiwinz

good stuff, v few translation errors, good spelling.

Interesting story, wonder about the rock

[KiwiNZ]

v few translation errors

oops let me know where and I'll fix them up

[Mastermue]

Great read kiwinz. Be interesting to see what happens next.

Don't know how you've had time to write this! I thought you'd be spending you're waking hours playing X3!

[KiwiNZ]

I did indeed play the game. But the story has been written a couple of months back and now I am only patching it up again before I post

Haven't finished the story yet but there quite a few chapters still to come before I have to get overly creative again

[SaebeR III]

good stuff, v few translation errors, good spelling.

quote]

"Translation errors"? Is this story been translated? Which lang was it previously?

Excellent story anyway.....

[KiwiNZ]

No, not translated as in taking the story from one language to another. English is my 2nd language so there may be phrases in there that sound ... uhmm ... unusual ... or words that could be replaced by more appropriate ones. That is what pixel refers to.


Anyway guys, thanks for the comments. I am glad you like it

[SaebeR III]

No, not translated as in taking the story from one language to another. English is my 2nd language so there may be phrases in there that sound ... uhmm ... unusual ... or words that could be replaced by more appropriate ones. That is what pixel refers to.


Anyway guys, thanks for the comments. I am glad you like it

Well.....i didnt saw any errors.....Maybe it is because english is my 2nd language too

[Al]

Looking good

Keep it coming as some of us dont have X3 yet and need to be kept busy

Al

[RSDark_Angel]

Aye, I don't have X3 and won't until Christmas probably!!!
Lucky for some!
anyhoo, good storey Kiwi, Badaba ba baa I'm lovin' it.
+ English is me first language and your better at it than I am!!

[champgm]

Great story so far, Kiwi. Don't worry too much about the translation stuff, the story is readable as is.

[KiwiNZ]

hehe

thanks for that. The request was more aimed at helping me better my English

[champgm]

Very well, then. In the interest of helping your English, here are the things I saw that could be improved:

"Teladi are known for their strive for maximum profits" could be changed to
"Teladi are known to strive for maximum profits" or
"Teladi are known for their pursuit of maximum profits"

“Can you just for a moment get off this idea with buying?" should be
“Can you just for a moment get off this idea of buying?"

“6700cr? You dropped the price by 50cr and call that nice? I pay 3000cr, no more.” should read "I'll pay 3000cr", unless she's deliberately talking down to the Teladi, in which case, leave it how it is.

“I pay 100.000cr if we leave now!” -> Same thing here... should be
"I'll pay" or "I will pay"

"Sure, their ship was faster than theirs" -> You might change this to
"Sure, her ship was faster than theirs" so that there's no confusion

Like I said, it's pretty good as is. The only other thing I saw was commas missing from places they really should be. For instance:

"Split officials claimed a successful strike with no survivors(,) warning all pirates to refrain from entering Split territory." (Sorry about the parentheses, the comma didn't stand out very well either bolded or underlined)

Like I said before... great story so far. Hope my comments here help!

[KiwiNZ]

Cool, thanks for those. Can't believe I made that time error (to will or not to will hehe). Will fix them up right away.

[therjw]

great story KiwiNZ cant wait for the next chapter