The Horicon Experience (12 page)

“6102, Captain,” the taxi driver said. “Pretty ship, huh?” he continued. “Sure is different from the old tubs I used fly on.”

“You were a scout captain, sir,” Akir asked.

“Not me, sonny,” the driver answered. “Just crew. Gunner’s mate. Cruisers mostly.” The old man looked at the ship, measuring her with his eyes.

“No sir,” he continued. “The sacred book says ‘Lo, I am with you alway’, so that’s where I figure I’ll stay. Low to the ground. Besides, if I could fly one of those things, you figure I’d be driving this ground taxi?”

“Well, sir,” Akir continued without answering the driver’s question. “Unless there’s another one of those ships around here, that vessel is Captain Citti’s new command.”

“Do tell,” answered the taxi driver. “Congratulations, son.”

“Thank you, sir,” George answered, just a bit embarrassed by his sudden celebrity.

“Yep,” the old driver continued as he admired the ship. “You should be able to reach for the stars in that baby.”

Seeing the taxi pull up to the front of the building, a trooper-second in the uniform of a master technician came outside to meet them.

“You Captain George Citti?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” George answered.

“You got your keys?”

“Yes, sir,” George answered again, lifting the ring of code keys in his right hand.

The trooper-second motioned toward the Galaxy class deep scout. “Stow your gear onboard, and then come inside to sign her out. She’s unlocked.”

George and Akir exchanged excited glances. The taxi driver helped them unload their mountain of packages and personal effects, and then helped carry them onboard. Since he had not helped load the car, George suspected the old-timer wasn’t interested in helping them as much as he was interested in getting a look inside the new scout.

The old taxi driver let out a low whistle, just as he had done many times when a pretty girl would walk by him. “Would you take a look at this thing?” he said. “I ain’t never seen nothin’ like this in my whole life.”

George agreed. He had been on a number of scout ships before, but this was something special. Every console and component glistened. Not a fingerprint or smudge shown on the surface of any of the controls. Even the floor sparkled.

“She’s a beaut,” Akir said. “Almost too pretty to fly.”

“Almost, but not quite,” a voice said from behind them. George and Akir turned just in time to see the master technician enter the control cabin.

George reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wad of money so he could tip the taxi driver. “Keep your money, sonny,” the driver said. “Just lettin’ me get a look at this baby is tip enough for me.”

“Thank you, sir,” George said to the driver who had turned to leave. Akir walked with the driver back out to the taxi to collect the last few items from the back seat of the ground car. He also thanked the driver and watched the old man drive away after taking another sidelong glance at the sparkling ship resting on the pad.

Akir started back up the ramp of the ship just as George and the trooper-second came back out.

“Go on inside and start stowing our gear, Akir,” George said. “I’ve got to sign for the ship and take care of the paperwork. We’ll pre-flight her before we leave.”

“We’re leaving now?” Akir asked.

“As soon as possible,” George answered. “I left our orders lying on the control seat. Take a look for yourself.”

George and the trooper-second disappeared into the hanger. Akir stepped into the control room and picked up the single-sheet of orders lying on the control seat. He sat down at the communications console and read the orders.

Scout X3237652, proceed immediately at best possible speed to sector 21102. Report to commander of mothership on station for assignment to closed planet detail.

Akir had just finished reading the orders when George appeared back in the control room. “Cryptic, huh?”

“To say the least,” Akir answered. “I guess we better pre-flight and be on our way.”

George and Akir finished stowing their gear. The ship had two separate crew cabins, a small galley, control center consoles, a large engine room that housed the massive green box used to power the ship, and a separate bathroom, complete with a tub instead of just a shower. The accommodations were almost luxurious, especially compared to the
Starduster
.
But
, George reminded himself,
this is not a luxury ship. It’s a deep space scout and we’re on a mission.

George sat in the control chair and began to call out the different operating systems to Akir while he sat at the main control console. Every item checked out to be in perfect operating condition, and before long, they were ready to take off.

George keyed his mic and spoke clearly into it. “Scout X3237652 requesting departure clearance. Flight plan on file.”

A moment later, a voice answered from his headset speaker. “Scout X3237652, you have permission to lift off. Ascend to low orbit vector and await further instructions.”

“Scout X3237652 acknowledged,” George answered. He placed his left hand on the axis ball and firmly grasped the throttle bar with his right. Then after a sideways glance at Akir, who gave him the thumbs up sign, he nudged the throttle bar forward ever so slightly while caressing the axis ball back barely a turn with his left fingertips. The new ship lifted silently off the ground and effortlessly ascended upward through the clouds and into low orbit. Once in their assigned holding pattern, George brought the controls to neutral. From all the traffic on the comm, he knew they would have some time awaiting their turn to set their new vector and begin their mission.

“What are you going to name her, George?” Akir asked.

“I don’t know. Nothing jumps out at me.”

“May I make a suggestion?”

“Certainly,” George said. “You have something in mind?”

Akir pushed himself up from the communications console chair and crossed the control room to stand beside George in the control seat. “Just something that old taxi driver said.”

“What was that?”

“That you could really reach for the stars in this baby,” Akir answered.

“You know, he’s right,” George agreed. “How about
Reacher
? What do you think of that?”

“It’s exactly the name I was thinking myself,” Akir answered with a smile.

“Then
Reacher
it is.”

A moment later, a call came through from ground control releasing the
Reacher
to leave low orbit and set their vector to their new assignment. George acknowledged the orders and input the new heading into the navigational computer. “Ok, copilot,” he said to Akir. “Our orders say best speed possible, so hold on to your hat!”

George spun the axis ball to the new heading and pushed the throttle bar forward. The ship leapt effortlessly toward deep space. The star field around them shimmered for only a moment then disappeared in a flash of light. Shalimar blinked out and fell millions of miles behind them in only a moment. George and Akir cheered and slapped each other on their backs. “We’re on our way!” George exclaimed. “And at this speed, it won’t take us long to get there!”

∞∞∞

Jake helped the hover cab driver carry the last of their suitcases out to the vehicle and place them in the rear luggage hold. He turned back around and watched Sherry close the door of their small home and walk out toward the parking area. “Is this all?” Jake asked, not quite believing they were finished lugging bags.

“Of course it is!” replied Sherry as she tossed her handbag into the passenger compartment. The cab driver looked relieved and climbed into his operator’s cockpit.

“Well, I was just beginning to wonder,” Jake said.

“Wonder what, my love?” asked Sherry, certain she was setting herself up for some of her husband’s dry humor.

“Just wondering how you were going to do the dishes without the kitchen sink.” He turned and looked at his wife. “I thought we were going for a short weekend trip instead of moving across the galaxy.”

Sherry fixed him with a frown. “You’re the one who told me to be prepared for anything,” Sherry replied as she scooted across the small back seat. Jake folded himself up and squeezed through the small door to join her. The move set his artificial leg to aching but Jake determined himself ignore it.

“I just meant that you never know what to expect with these conferences,” Jake said as he settled in the seat next to his wife. The driver engaged the power unit of the flitter and it rose into the air. In a matter of seconds, they were traveling at low altitude toward the capital of Mica.

“All I know and care about is that you’re the main attraction at this engagement,” Sherry responded sweetly.

“I know it’s an honor and all that, but I’d still rather be addressing our home folks,” he said sullenly.

“Oh! You’re just worried about how you’ll be received,” Sherry chided. “I’m not worried. I know you’ll just knock their socks off!”

“Easy for you to say,” Jake said. “You’re not the one standing up there in front of four thousand professional pencil-pushers taking notes and waiting for you to make a fool of yourself.”

“Unseen One, help us!” remarked Sherry, then turned away to look out the window before Jake could respond.

∞∞∞

The
Reacher
sped away from Shalimar on its maiden voyage toward the mothership many light years away.  Captain George Citti sat in his new command chair, his left hand firmly on the axis ball and his right hand grasping the throttle bar. The ship handled smoothly and effortlessly, answering the helm with even the slightest movement of the controls.

Akir Asmed had taken station at the communications console. The displays were clean and orderly arranged. Actually, the controls in Axia ships had not changed much since the earliest inception of manned space travel. After all, communications was communications, regardless what the controls looked like.
The real magic is in the components
, Akir thought,
and this baby has it all!

“Do you realize this new ship has the new T31/K2 subspace transmitter and receiver?” Akir asked George.

“Yeah,” George answered. “I saw that in the spec sheet. I should be able to get a signal out of just about anywhere with that thing.”

“It’s more than that,” Akir said. “The T31/K2 is equipped with a subspace pinpoint transmitter.”

George shrugged his shoulders. “So?”

Akir shook his head. It was clear that George did not fully grasp the importance of the T31/K2.

“It means,” continued Akir, “that you can key in the name or registration number of any Axia ship and pinpoint its exact location anywhere in the galaxy. Then you can transmit an immediate signal to that ship regardless where it is, and your signal doesn’t have to retransmit through transponder beacons along the way. There is virtually no loss of signal clarity, and it’s almost instant.”

“Wow!” George exclaimed. “I knew it was good, but I had no idea it was that good.”

“Why do you think they designated this class of scout a Galaxy?” Akir asked. George shrugged his shoulders again. Akir rolled his eyes. “It’s because this ship can really go anywhere in the galaxy and has the power to transmit reports back to command with no delay in time.”

George pushed the throttle bar forward a notch and felt his new ship respond to his touch. The trip that had taken them a week in the old
Starduster
would only take them a day in the
Reacher
.

“Have you had a chance to check out our armaments?” George asked Akir as he marveled at the smooth feel of the controls.

“Oh yeah!” exclaimed Akir. “We’re fully armed. Torps, long-axis ray, swivel mounts. We’ve got it all! Any Red-tail jumps us will have a surprise for dinner, and it won’t be us.”

George smiled at Akir’s pun. He wished he could keep Akir onboard after they reached the mothership, but he knew that would be impossible. Once this mission was over, they would both receive new orders. George assumed he would be reassigned watcher duty over the same closed planet. It only made sense since he had previous knowledge of the planet, and especially now that he had the latest equipment with which to report his findings.

George pushed himself up from the control seat. “Want to take over for a while?” he asked Akir. “Call of nature.”

Akir nodded and crossed the control room to the command chair.
If my parents could only see me now,
he thought. A poor kid with nothing to his name now sitting in the command chair of the Axia’s latest achievement.

“No more caste system for me,” Akir muttered aloud.

“What’s that?” George called back over his shoulder as he headed for the bathroom. “Did you say something to me, Akir?”

“No sir,” Akir answered. “Just talking to myself.” Akir smiled. It had been only a couple of weeks ago that George had said something very similar to him and he thought George was a nut case.
I guess it’s true that the people you associate with really do have an influence on you
, Akir thought. In George’s case, Akir figured that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The trip to the mothership took just a little over a day to complete. The
Reacher
appeared on the mothership’s scopes at approximately 0330 hours ship time, and was directed to land in the central docking bay.

The attention the Galaxy class deep recon scout drew when she glided silently through the docking bay was priceless to George. Crewmen working on other ships stopped whatever they were doing and watched the beautiful new ship settle down on its designated landing pad. Then with unabashed pride, they exited the
Reacher
and reported to the debriefing officer with their package from Shalimar.

Chapter Eight

The rented ground vehicle pulled up in front of the dormitory and a late-middle-aged couple got out. It was obvious that the man had a definite limp but declined the offer of help from his partner.

“They’re here!” Delmar shouted and turned from the window where he had been keeping watch. Stan nodded his acknowledgment, but otherwise continued to peck at his computer keyboard. Files flashed by as he rapidly scanned the material for the reference he was searching for. The buzzer on the lobby intercom sounded and Delmar rushed to answer. He activated the lobby door release and then began to pace back and forth.