SD241712.17 - Log - Sails - "Rise of a Gardener" - part 1

Posted on Sun Dec 17th, 2017 @ 3:32pm by Sails-at-Dawn Mr

1,909 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Test Mission
Location: Spaceport, Earth
Timeline: Many years ago...

=^= Sails-at-Dawn, Age: 20 =^=

The shuttle was cheap, as was the fare. The alternative was Federation transport, and they didn't go to backwater rocks. Especially not ones which barely supported life, and contained an above-average number of thieves, murderers, smugglers, and general villains. From what Sails had been able to find out, the only place worth visiting on the entire planet was the decaying remains some poorly-planned city which was currently falling apart. Despite this, it still provided shelter for several thousand followers of the dodgy path, and enough of the infrastructure was working for various unofficial cargo ships to use the city as a place to pick up nonspecific cargo. Much like the ship captained by Sails' new employer.

First though, he had to get there. Right now, the shuttle sat firmly in the middle of an Earth spaceport; where the other ships, shiny and modern, made this one look like a pile of rust with warp capability.

Which it was, more or less.

Regretting the need for this frankly dangerous journey, Sails nodded to the man standing next to the open shuttle hatch. The man checked the list, gestured towards the door with his head, and that was that. Sails ducked under the sagging door, half-expecting it to fall off behind him, and took the nearest available seat. The straps were frayed fabric, and chafed his neck badly, but he strapped himself in regardless. It wouldn't really help if a nacelle fell off, but the feeling of a safety harness somehow made him feel better; and on a journey as risky as this one, the illusion of safety was better than nothing.

The rest of the shuttle was filled with nondescript men and women. Clothes were brown, expressions were weary, and eyes stared blankly forwards. Too tired to care about their fellow passengers, but too human to give up on life, each one of them had the air of someone who would claw and fight for another moment. Even if that moment was filled with soul-destroying drudgery, like all the moments before it. For these unfortunates, there was no future. No past. Only the next job, the next paycheck, the next chance at winning a life from the roulette wheel of the universe.

Poetic though these thoughts may be, it didn't distract Sails enough that, when the shuttle suddenly decided to take flight, he failed to notice the curious way that all of his internal organs seemed to want to leave his body via his feet. Though he had never traveled on a shuttle before, he knew enough to recognise the lack of an active inertial dampener, and thought vengeful thoughts against the incompetent pilot as he struggled to stay conscious.

After a minute of pain, the dampeners were finally activated, and Sails was not alone in taking a deep breath. Pausing for a moment to pray he survived the warp jump, he looked sideways at the now-closed hatch, and watched through the tiny scratched window as a flurry of clouds was replaced by a dark blue sky, which slowly darkened and became the inky blackness of space. A momentary flash of silver looked like another ship had passed alarmingly close to the shuttle, and Sails closed his eyes as he swallowed a groan. Surviving *this* trip was going take more than a prayer. Hopefully some divine being would take mercy on the crew; striking the pilot with a thunder bolt and letting a monkey take over.

Sails decided not to open his eyes again, and spent the next half-hour ignoring various creaks, groans, and minor explosions from the bowels of the vessel. Eventually he fell asleep, and dreamed about chickens.

=^= Later that same day =^=

"Get out!"

Suddenly awake, Sails felt himself being shaken. The rest of the shuttle was empty, save for the pilot. The same pilot that was shaking him, and telling him to get out because, and here a sniff of the unusual odor coming from the open hatchway gave him a clue, they had reached their destination. Pushing the pilot away, Sails walked out of the shuttle, and fell flat on his face as the planet's gravity caught him off guard. One of things he didn't know about this world was that it had twice the gravity of Earth. One of those odd scientific facts that he'd glossed over while reading the Federation database entry.

One of his hands pushed hard against the dirt to force himself upright, and the other hand moved faster, quickly blocking someone's foot as it kicked at his head. Half-blinded by the natural light, impeded by the gravity, and disoriented by his recent awakening, Sails scampered clumsily away from the attacker in his hands and knees, back towards the shuttle. He used the side of the rusty craft to balance him as he climbed upright, and swallowed a swear as someone spat on his shoes.

He was young, he was angry, but he needed the job he was here to claim, so Sails pushed past the ill-tempered idiot who seemed intent on starting a fight, and made his way across the busy spaceport.

As his sight returned, he could see that calling it a "spaceport" was overly generous. It was a large, mostly empty, dust-covered area made of concrete. A fence marked the outer limits of the port, and even that was disintegrating in places. Even to Sails' Federation-coddled eyes, it looked like imminent tetanus. One of the posts that held up the fence...didn't. The fence had long since decayed around the post, and people were using the gap either side as a convenient entry and exit point. At the base stood a single man with broad shoulders. A careful inspection revealed a weather-worn face, calloused hands, and a shirt that Sails had been expecting.

In a world of greys and browns, this man was wearing a blood-red tunic. It was the mark of the person Sails had been told to meet at the spaceport; his new employers' second-in-command. Names hadn't been supplied, and he hadn't asked. All he needed to know was that the Captain had been recommended by an old friend. That made this whole thing simple. Dangerous as all hell, but simple nonetheless.

"You the new kid?" the XO asked, his voice deep but smooth. Sails just nodded.

"Follow me." They walked off together, making their way into the city. Crumbling as it was, some areas were dangerous, so Sails stayed close as they navigated a series of alleyways. There was no major stealth in the larger man's walk, so the alleyways were likely just the most direct route. Still, the people in the area weren't exactly the best and brightest of modern society. Even this society. Like this fellow, Sails thought to himself, as a deranged drifter wearing a too-large coat stepped away from the wall he was leaning on and grabbed the young man's sleeve.

"Wanna drink. Money!" screamed the crazy homeless man, breathing tooth-rot into Sails' face. As he tried to keep himself from throwing up with one hand, and attempted to push the vagrant away with the other, the XO appeared quickly at his side. Wordlessly, he grabbed the drifter, picked him up, and casually threw him down the alleyway. The drifter hit the dusty ground hard, and scrabbled away down another alley. Not waiting for thanks, the XO went straight back to walking. Sails resolved to do more exercise in the future, because he had no intention of requiring an escort in order to go outdoors around here.

Eventually, they reached another spaceport. Smaller, and still dirty, this one seemed like it had been maintained by someone competent. At least the fence for this one didn't have so many holes, Sails thought to himself; wondering if this was just wishful thinking. The XO entered the port and walked past several ships, heading for a medium-sized one which was the colour of old bricks. Two nacelles, one large bulky bit for the cargo to go in, and a smaller section mounted on top. By the windows, Sails guessed that was where the people lived. The ramp that led into the ship had what appeared to be the entire crew sitting on it, and their clothing was the most colour that Sails had seen since arriving on this god-forsaken dustball.

"Captain Black." the XO said, addressing a man with a plain black jacket. This man nodded in greeting, and offered a firm hand, which Sails quickly shook. "And you'd be the kid on the comm channel. Good to meet you in person." the Captain said to the new recruit, his casual attitude taking some of the edge off Sails' nervousness. "This is my crew." A black-sleeved arm gestured at the assorted crowd. "First thing you should know; no names. You've already met my first mate, Mr Red. That's my Comm Chief and Medic, Mr Yellow." A gangly man leaning on a hand-rail sniffed, wiped his nose on his finger, and offered a friendly nod. As his moniker indicated, the man was indeed wearing a yellow t-shirt. It was grubby, and a little blood-stained, but definitely yellow under it all.

"That's our weapons officer, Miss Green." Sharp eyes inspected a rifle component, and steady hands wiped it with a clean cloth, removing any trace of dirt or grime. The rest of the rifle lay spread out on a mat in front of her, and her red hair was tied in a tight bun behind her head, out of the way. When her name was mentioned, she didn't even blink. No greeting, no wave, nothing. Her colour was indicated by a sleeveless jacket she wore. Old military attire, if Sails was any judge, with the rank sown into the shoulders and nearly completely worn off. The jacket was, almost certainly, many years older than the woman, who could not have been older than thirty.

Steady, heavy footsteps from behind him made Sails turn around, and he heard the Captain say "Ah, and here's the pink twins; Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum." Two muscular dwarfs ran up the walkway, clanking their way across the metal ramp. The first one had a box in both hands and an angry expression which warned the unwary that any attempt at conversation would be followed by a swift and painful boot where the sun doesn't shine. The other twin, build like an ox and holding a heavy crate on one shoulder, offered a welcoming grin. "The name's Dee." the friendly one offered on the way past, slapping Sails in the back with a hand sporting a pink, fingerless glove that nearly sent the unprepared newbie sprawling.

"You'll be Blue." The Captain added, waiting a moment for Sails to regain his balance before throwing him a blue monkey jacket.

Donning the jacket, Sails offered his first words to the Captain; "Where do I start?"

"For now, get to know the ship. Watch. Learn. Stay out from under people's feet. Do any work anyone asks you to do, but mainly you'll be finding out how things work until you've got enough know-how to do stuff yourself. Understand?" The Captain asked. Sails just nodded.

"Ok people, get inside and strap in. We're done resupplying so it's time to get airborne. Got our next job waiting three planets over."

With that, everyone got up and started moving into the ship.

Break-time was over, and there was work to be done.

=^= To Be Continued... =^=

Sails-at-Dawn
Civilian
Versailles

 

RSS Feed