Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 4:49 pm
After what felt like days of travelling, but was just a few, short hours, the dull purple sphere of the planet filled the viewscreen. The Montezuma's Revenge scribed an arc across the sky as she slowed from her mad flight from the pirate. The sight of a slowly spinning Coriolis station sparkling in the light of the distant stars was a welcome one to the motley crew of the ship.
Thumbing the control for the docking computer, the captain rose from her console, and headed back into the crew's recreation area.
Pressing a button on the ship's intercom the words "Crew meeting!" echoed throughout the ship.
The sounds of several sets of approaching footsteps brought a relieved smile to the captain's face.
First to enter, a coffee in her paw, was Gizmo's sister, Galileo, the ship's chief cook and bottle washer. She took a seat by the long table in the middle of the room with a mild humphing noise.
A few moments later, both of the cargo crew appeared, Dave, the red-horned Anerma, and Kateianabilis (known as Bob to his friends) the human from Ininbi. The pair lounged against opposite walls in their slightly grubby overalls.
Last to enter, a hyper-spanner still in hand and a fraught expression, was Gizmo.
The wall screen flickered to life a moment later, filled with the yellow insectoid face of Nokk, the ship's weapons specialist.
"Glad to see we're all alright after that firefight, that corsair really hurt us badly. How is the ship looking Gizmo?"
The engineer's furry face screwed up in concentration as she listed the defects she'd found so far.
"Well, the main drive mountings are shot, we've lost three baffle plates and two newtonian compensatiors. The main cargo door is in five more pieces than it should be, there's fourteen shattered cargo pods wedged in the hole right now... and the coffee machine is broken..."
The whole crew groaned as if in collective agony at the last piece of information. The sound was punctuated by a soft munching noise, and Bob shuffled hastily to his right, away from the pod welded to the bulkhead; his move was greeted by a distressed sounding purring.
"Well, if we're done trying to give the poor commander nylon poisoning, we have a decision to make. Even with the damage done, there's enough in the kitty ...no offense... to afford us an upgrade. I am thinking we should patch the ship up to fool those idiots who did the service into giving us top credit for the ship."
"So what kind of ship are you looking at Cap'n?" asked Dave quietly, his horned head turned to watch the captain carefully.
"They had a Python Cruiser in their yards while we were getting the service, it looked in good condition from what I saw on the scanners."
Gizmo's face widened into a big, toothy grin, "I always fancied working on one of those babies. Should run rings around that pirate bastard if we run into him again."
"Any objections to the trade getting done at the end of the run?"
"Will it come with one of those navy coffee machines? You know the ones with the combat-proof rating?" asked Bob, looking up from the bite marks in his overalls.
With a soft laugh, the captain answered, "I'd hope so, if not, we can liberate one from a navy base next time we visit."
At this point, the ship shuddered gently, the docking computers had pushed them into the station, and the docking mechanisms were hooking onto the ship.
"Right, I'll need everyone to make the ship look spotless, and I mean LOOK, make things work if that's the best way to do it. We just need to fool those idiots for half an hour into believing the ship is in perfect condition. After they sign the transfer on the new ship, the whole thing can turn into a trumble farm for all I care."
A furious squawking sound filled the room at this.
"Oh dear Cap'n, you've upset Commander J.Arthur T. Rumble down there, and you'll need his co-operation if we're to leave space-dock without hiring someone else. Besides, you'd not want to waste all those credits you spent on getting a trumble qualified as a starship pilot, would you?"
"Good point Galileo, I don't want to go through the trouble of hiring a new crew-member." the captain paused, and turned to the engineer, "Get what parts you need from the station while we're docked, we can use the run back to Onatbeza to get the ship looking spick and span. I'll also need you to check over the Cruiser when we get to the ship yards, make sure the previous owners didn't pull the same stunt we are."
Thumbing the control for the docking computer, the captain rose from her console, and headed back into the crew's recreation area.
Pressing a button on the ship's intercom the words "Crew meeting!" echoed throughout the ship.
The sounds of several sets of approaching footsteps brought a relieved smile to the captain's face.
First to enter, a coffee in her paw, was Gizmo's sister, Galileo, the ship's chief cook and bottle washer. She took a seat by the long table in the middle of the room with a mild humphing noise.
A few moments later, both of the cargo crew appeared, Dave, the red-horned Anerma, and Kateianabilis (known as Bob to his friends) the human from Ininbi. The pair lounged against opposite walls in their slightly grubby overalls.
Last to enter, a hyper-spanner still in hand and a fraught expression, was Gizmo.
The wall screen flickered to life a moment later, filled with the yellow insectoid face of Nokk, the ship's weapons specialist.
"Glad to see we're all alright after that firefight, that corsair really hurt us badly. How is the ship looking Gizmo?"
The engineer's furry face screwed up in concentration as she listed the defects she'd found so far.
"Well, the main drive mountings are shot, we've lost three baffle plates and two newtonian compensatiors. The main cargo door is in five more pieces than it should be, there's fourteen shattered cargo pods wedged in the hole right now... and the coffee machine is broken..."
The whole crew groaned as if in collective agony at the last piece of information. The sound was punctuated by a soft munching noise, and Bob shuffled hastily to his right, away from the pod welded to the bulkhead; his move was greeted by a distressed sounding purring.
"Well, if we're done trying to give the poor commander nylon poisoning, we have a decision to make. Even with the damage done, there's enough in the kitty ...no offense... to afford us an upgrade. I am thinking we should patch the ship up to fool those idiots who did the service into giving us top credit for the ship."
"So what kind of ship are you looking at Cap'n?" asked Dave quietly, his horned head turned to watch the captain carefully.
"They had a Python Cruiser in their yards while we were getting the service, it looked in good condition from what I saw on the scanners."
Gizmo's face widened into a big, toothy grin, "I always fancied working on one of those babies. Should run rings around that pirate bastard if we run into him again."
"Any objections to the trade getting done at the end of the run?"
"Will it come with one of those navy coffee machines? You know the ones with the combat-proof rating?" asked Bob, looking up from the bite marks in his overalls.
With a soft laugh, the captain answered, "I'd hope so, if not, we can liberate one from a navy base next time we visit."
At this point, the ship shuddered gently, the docking computers had pushed them into the station, and the docking mechanisms were hooking onto the ship.
"Right, I'll need everyone to make the ship look spotless, and I mean LOOK, make things work if that's the best way to do it. We just need to fool those idiots for half an hour into believing the ship is in perfect condition. After they sign the transfer on the new ship, the whole thing can turn into a trumble farm for all I care."
A furious squawking sound filled the room at this.
"Oh dear Cap'n, you've upset Commander J.Arthur T. Rumble down there, and you'll need his co-operation if we're to leave space-dock without hiring someone else. Besides, you'd not want to waste all those credits you spent on getting a trumble qualified as a starship pilot, would you?"
"Good point Galileo, I don't want to go through the trouble of hiring a new crew-member." the captain paused, and turned to the engineer, "Get what parts you need from the station while we're docked, we can use the run back to Onatbeza to get the ship looking spick and span. I'll also need you to check over the Cruiser when we get to the ship yards, make sure the previous owners didn't pull the same stunt we are."
