Star Traders

The Earth Princess rose majestically from her dock early in the morning. They reached planetary maximum speed almost instantly upon leaving the earth’s atmosphere. Captain Jayne Rice set a course perpendicular to the solar plane of E-6 to more rapidly reach a place where she could safely drop into Hyperlink.

The time spent reaching the Hyperlink drop, about 100 hours, was spent on familiarization. The crew cross-trained with other jobs in the ship, from weapons systems to navigation. Lars Pierson did a stint as co-pilot and it was clear he enjoyed working with his captain. Kristin Krueger doubled up as communications officer as Peter Johnson, grumbling all the while, took over as weapons officer. Jake Armitage enjoyed his work with the Larn. It turned out he loved to cook. The traders were the only ones aboard who didn’t participate in the cross-training. They had all they could do with the training of the cadets.

The Earth Princess reached a position about 100 hours out where the drop into Hyperlink was safe. They could no longer locate any wild Gravity Wells this far from the primary or any planet.

Jayne gave the order to prepare for Hyperlink. The Larn were sent to their quarters where they would stay for the next 48 hours. The rest of the crew went to their cabins, there to be tended to by Dr. Yukov and his nurse. They would strip and lie down in the cubicles provided for their transition to hyperlink. In two hours Dr. Yukov and his nurse, Adelle Peterson, had prepared the rest of the crew and went to their own cabins. Jayne came in and hooked them up to the showers and dryers, hooking an IV to each of them. It would be the only sustenance they would be able to take for the next 48 hours. Then she went to the bridge. It seemed strange to be the only one there as they made their transition. She went to the co-pilots console and flipped the override to allow her control to drop the ship into Hyperlink.

Jayne reached for the microphone and the PA system controls for the individual cabins. “Prepare for transition to Hyperlink! 5….4….3…2….1….” Jayne pressed the control button on her console. A high pitch sound lasted a second or two, then silence.

She entered the co-ordinates of Epsilon 4 into the computer and set the course. Jayne’s foot came down on the accelerator, pressing it to its maximum and she set the autopilot. She energized the Simscreens and gazed off into simulated space. Suns and planets flashed by as the ship headed for Epsilon 4 at 100 light years per hour.

Jayne left the bridge, confident that the autopilot would run the ship. She went to each cabin in turn, making her first check on the crew. It wasn’t a pretty sight. They all lay strapped in their cubicles. All had lost whatever lunch they had consumed that day and the auto cleaning had begun. The warm water cleaned them sufficiently and the automatic medication had dulled their minds so that most were sleeping. They were not sleeping well, however, for the ravages of transition would not allow them even that much comfort. Most had emptied their bowels after the first ten minutes and the drains were working overtime. Jayne wiped their mouths and their brows and, in some cases, their asses. This is what she would do every two hours for the next two days. Jayne was not looking forward to the chore. She made sure that each of them was receiving the necessary sustenance through their IV’s. She would change the bottles every two hours.

Jayne checked her watch. Almost dinnertime, she thought. She would be dining with the Larn tonight. She would be the only member of the crew there. She began to prepare her excuses to them for the missing Earthmen at dinner, and then she thought better of it. They didn’t need an explanation. They would accept whatever came their way without question. She had already sent word to them she would be the only crewmember at meals for the next two days.

Jayne walked into the mess hall and all 20 of the Larn came to attention. They were in their new uniforms of the same cut as the rest of the crew. Their color was red with black piping, the opposite of her black with red piping. The same starburst graced the right breast. They were proud as punch to receive those uniforms just before liftoff. It made them a part of the crew in their minds and equal to all the others. The captain, however, was set apart. Eric had set it in perspective.

“They belong to you, Jayne. They will give their lives for you. Even more than that, you belong to them. They are your responsibility. You now have to feed them, clothe them and make sure they are healthy. You are both of their parents rolled into one. They are like puppies. All they have is love. Not to scare you, but this is forever for them. There will be no other person they will give their loyalty to without your permission.”

“At ease! Please sit,” she offered as she sat at the head of the table. They sat as a group and waited until she was served and then dug in. The cooks had prepared baked trout for the meal, and it was quite decent, she decided. As the meal finished she rose, as did the entire contingent of Larn.

“You have prepared a sumptuous meal!” she said. They puffed with pride. “As you know, you are not to leave the first deck for any reason until you are told to do so. This should last for the next day or so. I will keep in touch.” She left the mess hall, knowing they would not leave the deck for any reason.

And so it went for the next 48 hours. She cleaned up after the crewmembers and replaced their IV’s every two hours. By the end of the two days she was irritable and needed sleep. But first she needed to meet with the crew.

After her initial meeting after the 48 hours in Hyperlink, Jayne went to her cabin and slept for 14 hours. No one disturbed her. They knew what she had gone through for their benefit and left her alone to recuperate. She didn’t wake until breakfast the next day.

They all stood as she entered the mess hall in the morning. She sat again in her place at the head of the middle table. Bacon and eggs greeted her along with two slices of wheat toast.

“Now, that’s what I call a breakfast!” she smiled as she stood. “We have 30 days to learn all we can about trading with the Dran,” she commented. “I expect you cadets to put in a full day every day learning how to do that. Your trainers will see that you do. On your off time from that training, I expect you to learn the operation of this ship, from the Simscreen to the weapons systems. Regular classes will be held after dinner each evening to take care of that. We have no idea what we are going to find in the Epsilon 4 system. We will be ready for anything.”

Within the 30-day time limit, Jayne found herself becoming more and more fluent in the Larn language. The real test was her dreams. She found herself dreaming in Larn! She felt she had arrived!

With the Larn posing as buyers, the trading crew honed their skills.

Jayne’s uniform of the day was her dress blacks. Each of them, including the Larn, wore their dress uniforms unless they were doing work that would necessitate the use of coveralls. She taught one of the Larn girls to do her hair. She kept it in a ponytail at all times. This was convenient and allowed her to not worry about how it looked. Two weeks into the mission Lars caught her eye at dinner. He was jerking his head toward the Larn. She motioned him over to her end of the table.

“What are you trying to tell me, Mr. Pierson?” she asked.

He grinned widely. “Look at the Larn Ma’am. Look at their hair style!”

She studied them closely. Until now their dark hair, ranging from dark brown to black was in what she thought was a Dutch Boy cut. They now all sported a ponytail cut and seemed proud of it. Her stylist among the Larn had passed the style on to the others. They had an exact copy of her style, men and women alike. She smiled at Lars.

“That’s nice!” she said, “It’s a wonderful compliment.”

“I guess they love their captain. Do you know what they call you?” Lars asked.

“I have no idea!” Jayne said with some degree of wonder and trepidation..

“They have heard me call you Ma’am, and Captain. Since they don’t know just which one to use, they use them both! They call you Captain Ma’am!”

“So like children!” she said warmly, “It’s quite a wonderful feeling. I have never had brothers or sisters, or even cousins, for that matter. I almost feel like I now have a family.”

“I think you do, Captain. I don’t think these people look at you any other way than family,” Lars said. “Having said that, perhaps even a lot more of us feel that way!”

Jayne was startled. She looked closely at Lars. “Even after I told you I would put you out the lock?”

“Maybe because you told me that,” Lars said thoughtfully. “I don’t remember ever having this feeling of belonging. It feels good.” He turned and went back to his place at his assigned table with the Larn.

From the first it became apparent the traders planned to use the Earth Princess as a showplace for the trading of their goods. The wide spaces of the third deck were to be used for that purpose. The huge open deck space was split up with space dividers, dividing the area into twenty spaces. Each of the cadets would have his or her trading space.

“It looks like a huge garage sale!” Jayne commented to nurse Adelle Peterson as they walked around the third deck. “I used to go to the things every weekend back in Rhode Island. Flea markets were my specialist though. I used to sell a lot of items at them when I was married to my first husband. I wouldn’t put the clothing next to the computers though. They don’t quite go together. I like the food hut being next to the end of the row, however. All the traders would have to run the gamut of goods before they get to it! Good idea! And certainly that’s where to put the sugar. Whoever had that idea should be commended. Especially having some of the Larn cook with the use of the sugar. I think that’s going to be a winner. And using the Larn to model the jeans and shirts is going to work well.”

Each morning that the Larn had been aboard, one of the women Jayne nicknamed Trina, had come to her cabin to clean and make up her bunk. No one had told her to do that, but the Larn seemed to have an affinity to knowing what had to be done and would assign themselves the task of doing it. Trina was proud to do the job. Her standing among the rest of the Larn had risen because of it. Trina had become a good friend; someone Jayne could relax with.

Two weeks into the mission, Jayne got a call from the infirmary and was asked to come there. As she walked through the doorway, a stern doctor Yukov and Adelle greeted her.

“Captain!” Doctor Yukov began. “I have something to show you.” He guided her into the examination cubicle. Trina lay on the table. She had a plaster cast on her left arm and a bandage on the left side of her face.

Jayne rushed to her side, taking her right arm. “What happened, Trina? Did you fall?” Jayne asked with a lot of concern.

“No, Captain Ma’am. I do not fall.” Trina said shakily.

“It was your first mate, Captain,” Dr. Yukov said. “He beat her up.”

“Peter? He did this?” Jayne asked incredulously.

“That’s right, Captain,” Adelle said grimly. “Evidently he has been using her for his own personal concubine. This morning, in his cabin, he got violent. She crawled out of his cabin and I found her in the passageway, crying, bleeding, and scared. She told me about it. And she blames herself for not pleasing him! Can you imagine? Poor kid!”

Jayne went to the wall and keyed the PA system. “Mr. Johnson! Please report to the infirmary immediately!” she said into the microphone.

Five minutes later Commander Peter Johnson came through the door. He saluted with his right hand to his left breast. “Captain!”

“Number one!” Jayne said as she took him by the arm. “Come with me!” and led him into the examination room. Trina shrank away to a small corner of the table. “Are you responsible for this?” Jayne asked sternly.

“It’s not what you think, Captain!” her first mate said. “She would not obey an order! We must maintain discipline among these people. They are not smart enough for it to be any other way!”

“Is that truly the way you feel about the Larn?” she asked sharply.

“We have to maintain order!” he exclaimed.

“Order had little to do with it, from what I’ve heard! Meet me in my cabin in 30 minutes. That’s an order. I trust I will not have to break your arm to make sure you obey?” Jayne walked out of the infirmary, leaving her first mate standing there with an open mouth.

Commander Johnson arrived at Jayne’s cabin five minutes early. He knocked at her door. “Come in!” she ordered.

Jayne was sitting at her desk when Commander Johnson came in. “Sit!” she commanded, indicating a chair in front of her desk. Johnson sat.

“You will not say a word, Mr. Johnson. You will listen carefully, however.” Jayne pushed her computer keyboard under her desk. “I have just filed a report concerning your action into the ships log. I trust you know that it means disciplinary action. However, I am going to allow you to continue in your present position until the completion of this mission. Since Eric Tanner personally picked you for this mission, I will not presume to take matters into my own hands and dismiss you. I will let him take care of you when we return. You will not touch another Larn aboard this ship as long as I command. I know it is common practice among Earthmen to use the female Larn for sexual purposes. I also know that it generally is for mutual benefit and is acceptable to all. Be that as it may, you did not have the right to do what you did. No one has that right. You will do your job from here on. As far as I am concerned, this incident will not become common knowledge aboard this ship. The doctor and Adelle have been so informed. I will not undermine your authority with the crew. But let me tell you what will happen should you ignore this order: I will personally see that you are placed into the air lock and ejected into space! Without a spacesuit! Now leave!”

Commander Johnson gave her a deadly look and slowly brought his right hand to his left breast in an impertinent salute, walking out of her cabin.

“She let out breath she had been holding since he entered the cabin. I think I might have made a mistake, she thought. That’s a dangerous man. Perhaps I should have put him out the lock. He could be big trouble!

The last two weeks of the mission was practice, practice, practice. Commander Johnson made no further trouble, but Jayne cautioned herself to not be complacent. She was not fooled. The look he had given her after his dressing down did not leave a lot of room for misinterpretation. He hated her, and it wouldn’t be long before he tried to get even. She had taken to going around armed. She covered the fact by allowing the entire crew to be armed.

“We have no idea what we are going to run into on Epsilon 4,” she explained. “I would hate to find ourselves wiped out by a hostile population! We have set up a firing range on deck 7. I expect all of you to use it frequently in the next couple of weeks.”

The weapons they used were copied from the Dran. They were small pistols charged with blunt bullets. The bullets were not designed to kill. They were meant to disable; perhaps break and arm or leg. The blunt bullets were small and individually powered by tiny gravity wells. A familiar trigger opened a direction on the head of the bullet and the bullet would attach itself to the nearest aimed at object. It moved relatively slow and the directional would automatically close when striking an object. By doing this, the bullets could be retrieved for further use, thus ensuring cheap and safe ammunition. At times, the bullets would strike a particularly vulnerable spot and kill, but that was rare indeed. The firearm had no kick for the bullet was self-propelled. The bullet traveled about as fast as an arrow from a traditional bow, and, if one was lucky, they might just well duck in time and escape injury. The advantage of using such a weapon was obvious. It could be used safely aboard ship. It did not have enough muzzle velocity to breach the hull. The end result was that the ship began to look a lot like a western movie set. Tied down hip holsters and shoulder holsters were the rule.

Jayne used the time left to good advantage. She had no idea how the Hyperlink worked and even less on how the universe worked. After all, she was a writer, not a scientist, as she had often claimed. Jayne used much of the time closeted with their navigator, Jake Armitage. A young man Jayne suspected of having ties with Lodge 16, though she never asked. “So,” Jayne asked on their first meeting. “Just how in hell does all this work, anyway?”

Jake laughed. “Who the hell knows? Certainly not Eric. He’s been studying it, but hasn’t reached a lot of conclusions. He says we can use the methods, but it isn’t necessary to understand it all. What, specifically, do you want to know?”

“Hell, Jake!” Jayne exclaimed. “I don’t even know enough to ask the right questions. I’m totally ignorant of how the universe works!”

“None of us knows all the answers, Captain. We can just make a best guess. We can explain it only by some theory. Nothing is provable.”

“OK,” Jayne said resignedly. “Come up with your best guess. How does the Hyperlink work?”

“Jeez! You didn’t have to pick the hardest question, did you?” Jake laughed.

“To me, that’s the pressing question. Maybe, if I understood it a little better, I would be more comfortable about getting home!”

“Where should I start?” Jake asked.

“How about at the beginning? That’s always nice!”