Wanted

That night, thoughts of flying off the asteroid kept each of them tossing and turning. All arose early to eat and climb into their spacesuits. After going through the checklist again, Josh lifted off.

  He flew a few maneuvers to make sure everything still held. Then he flew to the asteroid with the rare earth minerals. Cherry directed him as he eased the rear of the spaceship up to it. When they touched, Cherry dashed out to scoop up two tubs full of the mineral.

  Lemmy called to ask, "Josh, what are we doing?"

  "We needed to get a sample of something we spotted before you came on board. We need the sample to get it analyzed."

  "You think it's something valuable?"

  "Don't know. We'll have to wait and see."

  Trying to change the subject, Josh touched the comm, "Cherry, do you think we should test the weapons?"

  "Most definitely. We haven't even sighted them in. We may not be able to hit the broad side of an asteroid."

  Josh pulled out of the asteroid field and picked some rocks for targets. The first sat about twenty miles away. He targeted it and engaged the front weapons. When the lights said they were ready, he pulled the trigger.

  A blast of blue light hit the rock. One corner flew off and the rock ricocheted off to the left. Josh targeted the same moving rock with the weapons in the middle of the ship. The laser blast hit the rock, but again not dead center.

  Twisting Belle around, he tried the starboard weapons. They hit dead center. Maneuvering Belle again, he used the rear weapons. They missed the target completely. Cherry stepped into the cockpit and looked at the view screens.

  Josh backed up the video to show him what had happened. Cherry plugged into the computer and made some adjustments. Josh fired the weapons again. They hit closer but still weren't to his satisfaction. Cherry continued to adjust.

  When they had the weapons hitting the targets dead center, Josh picked some out a hundred miles. Suddenly, five large shapes swarmed the targets. Josh said, "Looks like we have company. The energy off these weapons must have attracted them."

  Cherry said, "Yeah, but they aren't attacking us. Can you fire and miss them?"

  "I'll see."

  After each hit, the Nagini swarmed the chunk of rock that had been hit. The closer they were to the hit, the more excited they became. When Josh tried some targets a thousand miles away the Nagini just watched.

  Cherry said, "I wonder what those snakes would do if we nicked one. They seem pretty smart and I'm sure they communicate somehow. Only two of them bit Belle but all of them leave us alone."

  Josh said, "I don't think I want to try. Have you noticed a little hesitation from targeting to shot?"

  "It must have something to do with the interface with Naca's AI. I'll check it more and see if I can get rid of the delay."

  "Yeah, a delay could get you fried in a battle. If you can't cure it, we may have to search for a different AI."

  "I agree. I think we've done all we can here. Let me double-check everything, then I'll be ready to jump."

  Once Cherry had everything secured, Josh took Belle to jump speed. Cherry had triple checked all the calculations, but all of them were still nervous. Josh called out, "Coming to jump speed. Five, four, three, two, jump."

  Josh sat there for five seconds before he felt the familiar twist in his guts as they jumped to hyperspace. He quickly scanned all his instruments. Everything seemed fine. Cherry called, "Everything appears to be working. About an hour from now, we'll find out if everything functions as advertised."

  Josh said, "That's a comforting thought. Cherry, Belle hesitated about five seconds before we jumped. Did you see anything?"

  "Let me check."

  "It's that same interface problem. When we come out of hyperspace, I'll work on it some more. It's looking more and more like we need to find another AI."

  Lemmy said, "An Alcantaran one. You'll have the same problem with anything but an Alcantaran one."

  Josh said, "I'll bet spaceship repair ports have five or six of them just lying around waiting for someone to call for them."

  Lemmy said, "I didn't say it would be easy. If you want max performance, you need original parts."

  An hour later, they came out of hyperspace. Josh scanned the view screens for danger as he tried to use the controls. All of his efforts came up empty. Nothing would work. Josh yelled, "Cherry, we're dead in the water. None of the controls work."

  "I'm working on it."

  Josh yelled again, "If an asteroid or spaceship comes at us, we can't move out of the way or use the weapons. You need to do something now."

  "You don't have to yell. I am doing something. Let me concentrate."

  Lemmy said, "Maybe if you run your AI in parallel instead of series. She could make suggestions but wouldn't really control the computers."

  Cherry just growled in response but Josh could see him jerking wires and reconfiguring them. In a few minutes, the controls again became live. Josh said, "I'm going to fly around out here for a bit. I don't want to lose control going into the atmosphere. That could be deadly."

  Lemmy said, "Good plan. Let Twinkles work on connections and problems for awhile."

  Belle announced, "You have an incoming call."

  Josh said, "Put it on the screens."

  A rumpled-looking alien sat at a desk looking back at them. Josh saw a squat body with four arms protruding. The round, smooth, brown head looked insectoid with antennae sticking out below its bugged out eyes. It tapered down to mandibles that looked like pinchers. Nothing in the room gave any perspective to show how big the alien was.

  Josh assumed those mandibles could do serious damage to his or Lemmy's bodies. Cherry might fare a little better. The arms ended in hands with three fingers and an opposable thumb. One hand held a short rod which it twirled around the three fingers.

  The alien spoke in a high squeaky voice, "I'm Inspector Dawalth from the planet Orlowa. May I ask who you are and what your intentions are?"

  "I'm Josh Gunn of the Belleterra Wanderer. We've had some problems with our flight controls. We're looking for some parts and fresh food."

  "The food we can help with but the parts may be a problem. Are you able to land?"

  "I think so. We just need to do a few more tests. What a time to have problems with a new computer installation."

  "I hear you. I just wish we could afford some new computers here. There will be a landing fee…"

  The being went on to detail the landing procedures and costs. Josh asked about trading goods for the fees and the alien said they could do that. Josh didn't think it looked impressed at that suggestion though.

  When the Inspector signed off, Josh asked, "Lemmy, have you ever been here before? Do you know anything about this place?"

  "I've never landed on Orlowa but we've flown by. They never had anything we needed. We had what they needed, but they didn't have the cash for it."

  Cherry looked up, "What sort of things do they ask for?"

  "Oh, fuel, robots, parts for robots, computers, farm equipment, mining equipment —"

  "I get the idea. Josh, how's our fuel?"

  "The indicator just moved off full. Those shots must use quite a bit. What have you got in mind?"

  Cherry said, "Fuel would be their most precious commodity. We'd get closer to the real value for it. The other things they'll try to steal from us. Lemmy, do you think those rockets you found could tap into this sun for fuel?"

  "I think so. What would you hold it in?"

  "Can't the rockets hold it?"

  "I don't know. I'll have to check. What's going through that empty head of yours, Twinkles?"

  Cherry glared and started to reach for her but controlled himself. He said, "If we can get those rockets full and they will hold the fuel until we unload, we should be able to restock our food supply."

  Josh said, "Maybe we could get some plants for the conservatory. That way, we'd have fresh f
ood all the time."

  Lemmy said, "I like the sounds of that."

  Cherry said, "I thought you were going to part company with us and stay on the planet. You don't like the risks we take."

  Lemmy sniffed, "I don't like the risks, but I don't want to be stuck on a frontier outpost like this. I'll tag along until we get to a better spaceport where I can find another job as ship's engineer."

  Cherry scowled at her, "Well, if you want to remain as our engineer, get me some answers about those rockets."

  Cherry turned back to his work as Lemmy left the cockpit to dig deeper into the rockets. Josh checked the remote detectors. As he watched, a very large spaceship popped out of hyperspace. It headed to Orlowa. Instead of landing though, it parked in orbit and a shuttle from it landed on the planet.

  Josh quietly said, "Cherry, I think you'd better make sure that works. There's another ship down there and my warning sense is buzzing."

  "Josh, control yourself. Remember, we can't be doing things here." He glanced at the cockpit door to make sure Lemmy was gone. "Remember the timeline. You don't know how the least little thing is going to upset it."

  "I don't intend to start anything, but you know my feeling."

  "I know. That's why I said what I did. When you get that feeling, pretty soon blaster bolts are flying."

  "It's usually not my fault. I just finish what someone else starts."

  Cherry started to say more but Lemmy came back in the door. She looked up to see the spaceship parked in orbit over Orlowa. She said, "Maybe we should jump somewhere else."

  Josh looked at her with narrowed eyes, "What? What do you know about that ship?"

  "I don't, but I know the type. Pleasure ship. They ferry miners and others up from the planet. The frontiersmen will have fun for a short time, but that ship will drain all the ready cash off."

  Cherry turned with clenched jaws. He glared at Josh. "What kinds of fun?"

  "I've never been on one, but I hear you can get – uhh – whatever type of – umm – companionship you want. Gambling, drugs, anything to give you a little pleasure and separate you from your money."

  Josh's face burned red, "Do they make regular trips around this part of the universe?"

  "One or another will. They seem to know when a mine's hit pay dirt. The worst part isn't that they take all the cash, the worst is when they recruit on the planet."

  Josh quietly asked, "What do you mean recruit?" His knuckles turned white on the arms of the pilot's seat.

  "If there's any pleasing-looking being, they wind up on the ship – whether voluntarily or not hasn't ever been established."

  Cherry glanced at Josh, "Now, Josh. Remember what I just said."

  "I remember. You remember what I said."

  Lemmy looked from one to the other, lost to what they were saying. She asked, "Have you got the interface all reconnected? I found out the rockets can store the fuel."

  Cherry said, "I've got another half hour. Josh, think about how to tell that Inspector that we're going to be jumping around in this solar system to check our controls out. Lemmy, figure out how to launch those rockets and make them rendezvous with us on the other side of the sun."

  Thirty minutes later, Josh made several small jumps moving them away from the planet and closer to the sun. When Cherry thought they were far enough away to hide the rockets' flares, he ordered Lemmy to launch them.

  As Josh made jumps around the sun, he said, "Those rockets didn't take much fuel. I thought they would take more than that."

  Lemmy said, "The Alcantarans were very thrifty."

  Two hours later, they collected the rockets. The gauges indicated that all six of them were full. Josh said, "That feels like credits in the pocket. Cherry, these controls are getting better. I can almost fly Belle now."

  "That's good because I can't get much more with the equipment and parts I have. Like Lemmy says, I guess we need an Alcantaran AI. Now, where do we find one?"

  Lemmy said, "I've heard of spacers selling maps to old relics. Maybe you could get one of those."

  Cherry snorted, "The famous map. Where do we find these spacers? In the nearest tavern?"

  "Yeah, most likely."

  Josh said, "Cherry, we are bounty hunters. We find all sorts of people without a lot of clues. We'll just have to do the same thing with these relics. We need metal for the hull too, remember?"

  Cherry said, "Yeah, yeah. Now we can jump out of here. Lemmy, where's the nearest tavern that might have one of your spacers in it?"

  Josh said, "We have another stop first. We need fresh fruit and vegetables. I'd really like to have a big juicy steak too."

  Lemmy said, "Don't forget those plants."

  Cherry clenched his jaw, "I thought you wanted to get to a better spaceport to find another ride."

  "I do, but I'd like to see what that conservatory would look like with some growing plants."

  Josh set three short jumps to come back to Orlowa. The big ship still sat in orbit. The spaceport sat in darkness so Josh and Cherry decided to wait in orbit for daylight. During the night, Belle reported three more shuttle flights from the other spaceship to the planet.

  The next morning when the spaceport sat in full daylight, Josh landed Belle. Standing up from the pilot's seat, he stretched. Cherry eyed him but didn't say anything. Josh left the cockpit and went to his quarters. He picked up the well-used blaster and strapped it on. The vibro-knife went on the other side.

  As he walked toward the airlock, Cherry stepped in front of him. He said, "Where are you going?"

  "I have to go pay our landing fees and get our permits."

  "That's a lot of hardware for just pushing some papers."

  "I told you, I have this feeling. Going in there with nothing would be more than stupid. It would be suicidal."

  "Then try to remember about being back in time."

  "I will. I promise not to do anything crazy. I'll be back in a bit. Then we can go get supplies."

  When he met Inspector Dawalth in person, Josh saw that the alien was about five and a half feet tall. His first impression that the mandibles might be dangerous was confirmed. He watched the Inspector chew the purple bark off a limb the thickness of Cherry's wrist.

  Josh stepped up to the desk. The Inspector waved him to a chair. Josh said, "Inspector, I'm not sure what currency you use here. You said you might trade for landing fees. What sort of things do you trade for?"

  He rattled off a list much the same as Lemmy's. Josh sat there nodding until he finished, then said, "I have a little extra fuel. How much would you need for the landing fee?"

  The Inspector's eyes lit up as he leaned forward, "How much can you spare? I can get you a really good price for it."

  They haggled a few minutes over the price. Finally, they settled and Josh told him how much he would be willing to let go. Mentally calculating, he knew it would only be the amount of fuel in two rockets. Something about the way the alien anxiously wanted to close the deal told Josh that he would be making a profit off this transaction. The Inspector leaned across the desk to shake his hand with the top right arm.

  Inspector Dawalth said, "I'll transfer the balance into your credit receptacle."

  Josh frowned, "Our credit receptor was knocked out when our computer went on the fritz. My crew is still working on it. Don't you have a hard currency?"

  The Inspector scrutinized him closer. He said, "I can give you some of our paper credits."

  Josh said, "That might not work too good. We need some supplies and parts like I told you, but what if we don't spend all that money? Is it any good in the next solar system?"

  "I see your point. Would you prefer gold or silver? We don't have coins but we do have bullion."

  "How about half and half?"

  "I will get the bullion coming right away."

  Josh said, "Thanks, Inspector. It's been a pleasure doing business with you. By the way, I
have another three units of fuel I'll let go for twice the price you bought it for – if you know anyone who might need it."

  The alien stopped to stare at Josh. Josh grinned and the Inspector relaxed. He said, "I might know some people. It will take me a few hours…"

  Josh said, "That's alright. I think most civil servants are underpaid and deserve a little break, don't you?"

  "Yes, you're right. I'll find someone to take that fuel off your hands. Here's the paperwork you'll need to do any trading on Orlowa. Your bullion should be here within an hour. You might want to take precautions. We are a law abiding planet but sometimes – ah – lesser beings visit, if you get my drift."

  Josh grinned, "I know exactly what you mean. They might want to know that my partner and I have been over a star or two. We generally keep what's ours. Those who try to take it away usually wind up with a lot of physical disabilities – painful disabilities."

  The Inspector stared at him, "Yes, I can only imagine."

  "I'll be on my ship. Give me a hail when my gold and silver come."

  Josh walked back to Belle with a swagger in his step. He looked over at the shuttle sitting on the spaceport. It seemed deserted but he felt its sensors studying him. Josh did a little dance complete with a pump of his fist when he was safely inside Belle.

  Cherry looked at him like he'd gone crazy. Lemmy just stared with an open mouth. Cherry asked, "What happened? I take it you did good with your first trade here."

  Josh stopped to look at him. He saw the stingerray gun in the holster, the vibro-knife and the tangler rifle hanging from a strap over his shoulder. The barrel pointed down but Josh had seen that rifle snap up faster than most eyes could follow. It would be followed by a blast that shot out a sticky net. Once tangled in the net, the person didn't get free without outside help.

  Josh said, "That's a lot of hardware to go shopping."

  "I've been there when you had other feelings. I'm not suicidal."

  Lemmy asked, "What feeling? What's going on? I thought you just made a good deal."

  Josh said, "I did. I sold two rockets worth of fuel and most likely a third. Lemmy, sometimes I get these feelings that something's off. When I do —"

  Cherry said, "When he does, the blaster bolts start flying. We're trying to keep that from happening by displaying our weapons."

  She said, "Well, I've got mine, too."

  Pulling aside the garish outer coat, she showed the small pistol on her hip. On the other hip sat a small vibro-knife. Her coat hung funny so Josh looked closer. A short blaster rifle hung from the lining.

  Cherry said, "You think that little bitty thing will change anyone's mind —"

  He stopped when he saw the blaster rifle. Lemmy just grinned at him. Josh said, "I traded for gold and silver bullion. It'll be here in a few minutes. Cherry, there's a shuttle over there and I know they were spying on me with their sensors. I think we should launch a few remote sensors to keep tabs on things around here."

  "You're right. I'll take care of it. I need to get my sunglasses, too."

  Lemmy asked, "Why do you need sunglasses? Is the sun that bright out there?"

  Josh just grinned as he looked at her neon colored outfit. Every color and design clashed like cymbals in an orchestra. Lemmy swept off her brightly colored hat with the feather and Josh saw the small weapon in the crown.

  He said, "Don't fall in the water. With that much hardware, you'll sink right to the bottom. Where did you get all of it?"

  "I had it from before. A girl just needs a little protection once in awhile. I see you and Twinkles are packing pretty heavy, too."

  "We just like to be ready."

  "Me, too."

  Chapter 17