Chapter 4
JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES
Ben and Kara made their way down to Hanger Bay 3 on the bottom deck of the ship near its starboard side. It was considerably smaller than the hangar Ben had first arrived in, HB1. HB3 was used to dock ships that weren’t officially recorded in the docking logs. As such, there wasn’t a lot of traffic in and out of the area by crew members.
“Do you know anything about this Jack Crew?” Ben asked Kara as they neared HB3’s sliding doors.
“Not a clue,” she responded in a thick Irish accent. “But if the Colonel trusts them, then they deserve ours.”
“It was just a question. It wasn’t a matter of trust.”
Kara threw him a sideways glance and said, “Maybe not for you.”
The double doors slid open on their approach, revealing a magnificent-looking ship with three people busying around it. The ship was night-black and had a rounded top that curved down to a single tip at the rear, then back like a heart into two distinct wings that came to points. The points then circled back inwards following the same curvy pattern. When the inside of the wings reached about three-quarters of the way back, they met with the humped body of the ship, which in turn rounded back out following the curves of the wings. Every angle, edge, and point of the ship was perfectly symmetrical, slick, and sleek.
“That’s a Zephyr!” Ben proclaimed. “So much for the MO!”
“Boy, I’d say,” Kara agreed. “Looks like they care more about speed and agility than they do cargo. You know what that means.”
“What?” Ben asked, confused.
“They’re mercenaries,” Kara replied with a creeping grin.
“Didn’t Colonel Stoddard say they run refugees, though? It would make sense, right?”
“He only said that because you got queasy when he talked about killing people.”
“I didn’t get queasy,” Ben said defensively.
“Uh-huh,” she mischievously teased.
A man in his mid-forties, who had been looking at something underneath the ship, cast his eyes at Ben and Kara and then took a step back as if he’d seen a ghost. The man shook his head and then walked over to them.
“Hi,” the man said, extending a hand to Kara, who looked more official than Ben in her cadet uniform, “I’m Captain Gedeon Baas. I thought Colonel Stoddard was going to meet us.”
“Hi, Captain, I’m Cadet Whelan, and this is Ben Taylor. I’m sorry about the Colonel. He’s kind of tied up at the moment.”
“Ah, no worries. You’re our mission. It’s good to meet you.”
“You already know?” Ben asked.
“I don’t take work blindly, kid,” Gedeon replied with a wink. He looked at Ben for a little longer than seemed necessary, but his nature was quite friendly and charming, which eased Ben and Kara’s nerves instantly. “I’m sorry, Ben, but you look awfully familiar to me. Have we met before?”
“No, sir,” Ben replied. “Not unless you’ve spent time on Naroon or LG-Four.”
“Well, I’ve been to LG-Four a few times, but that’s not it. Eh, forget it. So, would you like to meet my crew?” Gedeon asked them before whistling over to rally up on him.
The two other people who were working around the base of the ship stopped what they were doing and walked over to Gedeon, followed by two more people who came hustling out of the ship, and then they fell into a staggered, half-moon line parallel to Ben and Kara. They all seemed to be staring at Ben while whispering back and forth to each other. Ben figured they were just sizing him up. They probably weren’t used to seeing a six-foot-three-inch, sixteen-year-old boy.
Gedeon turned and introduced each one of his crew members in succession. “This is Cadence Baas,” he said, introducing a tall, beautiful woman with flowing blond hair and bright turquoise eyes. Her face betrayed the slightest hint of Latin, which made her look younger than she really was. “She’s the pilot, and as you can guess by her last name, she’s also my wife. Don’t go hitting on her, son, or I’ll have to hit on you,” he said teasingly to Ben.
“Next, we have Rangi,” Gedeon continued as he guided their attention to a massive-looking man who appeared to be of Pacific Islander descent. “He’s an expert in military tactics, field operations, and he’s a weapons specialist. Don’t let that metal slab he calls a leg fool you. If he can’t get you in a foot race, he’ll do it with his sharp-shooting skills. And boy does he have mad skills.” Rangi lifted a hand to his eye and pulled an imaginary trigger.
“Next to Rangi is our ship’s engineer, Jedrek. He’s the best engineer money can buy.” Jedrek was a skinny, pale-looking man with long, light-brown hair pulled back into a shoddy ponytail.
“And finally, we have the beautiful Warrina, who is our medic. And yes, we call her Doc.” Warrina had dark skin, but she wasn’t black. She wore a small gold crucifix around her neck.
“Warrina?” Kara said. “That’s an Australian Aboriginal name.”
“Aye mate, you’re pretty bright,” Warrina said back to Kara with a heavy Australian accent. “But I’ve never actually been to Australia,” she finished without a trace of the accent.
“But your ancestry is Aboriginal?” Kara asked.
“Something like that. You know how it is…families out in space for generations and all.”
“I guess I do,” Kara replied.
“Right,” Gedeon said, drawing Kara’s attention back to him before pushing on with what sounded like his standard introduction to new clients. “Anyway, everyone on my crew has prior Army experience. We specialize in smuggling refugees out of the Alliance, so we know our way around that sector of the galaxy. We also know where all of the hotspots and hideouts are in the DL.
“As you can see, we fly in a Zephyr, call sign Risky Red – I know, it’s original,” he said sarcastically, “but this is the best ship to use for smuggling human cargo.”
“Is that because it’s fast?” Ben asked, looking at Kara with “I-told-you-so” written on his face.
“Err…well, it’s one reason. The other reason is that it’s similar in shape and radar signature to some of the Alliance’s high-ranking government officials’ ships. And like their ships, this one has stealth technology.”
“I thought stealth technology wasn’t licensed for private use,” Kara said. Gedeon raised a quirky eyebrow at her as if to say, seriously?
Ben picked up on the sarcastic look and leaned over to Kara and quietly reminded her that they were a Jack Crew who operated under the radar of the law for Colonel Stoddard, and not just figuratively. Kara shrank into her shoulders with embarrassment.
“Anyway,” Gedeon said, “Colonel Stoddard outfitted it with SITS, so we’ll be able to get to Crucis One rather quickly after we get done with our training on Planet Hell. What questions do you have for us?”
“Do we all get our own room?” Ben asked.
Gedeon scratched his head. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of these two.
“Right. Um…yes, you’ll have your own room,” he answered to a wide smiling Ben. “We’ll be leaving in about three to four hours. That should give you plenty of time to get your gear. In the meantime, I’ve got to go find Colonel Stoddard and Jim Roper so I can go over a few last-minute details with them. Talk to the crew if you need any help.”
He looked back over at the crew, and they all shuffled away in different directions.
“How cool is that?” Ben said excitedly to Kara as they walked out of the hangar. “We get our own rooms. This is going to be awesome!”
“Boy, you’re easy to please?” Kara said back to him.
“What…aren’t you excited? We’re going to get your dad back! This is like an adventure that you can only read about in a book. Stoddard said it himself.”
“Ben, this story’s not written yet. Do you have any idea how dangerous this is going to be? Just twenty minutes ago, you were fretting about killing people; now, all of a sudden, you’re hopped up on adrenaline, and you can’t wait to get out into the action.”
“Ah,” Ben said as he waved a dismissive hand, “you’re just worried about Planet Hell. This is going to be fun!”
**********
Ben and Kara navigated their way onto the Zephyr and found their small rooms, next to each other, just off the crew lounge. The room Ben was assigned to looked confusing to him, as it was completely empty. The four walls were sleek and white. The only color in the room was the three bags he’d set down just past the doors.
“Hey, uh, Kara?” Ben said aloud. “Do you have a bed in your room?”
“Why? Are you looking to share it with me?” Kara replied deadpan while imagining Ben’s face turning red, which it did.
“Well, it’s just that I don’t have anything in my room,” he replied as Kara walked into his doorway and stood next to him.
“Huh, you’re right, I guess we will need to share my bed then,” she said. Ben’s spine stiffened. He’d never been flirted with or teased like this, so he wasn’t sure how to respond. Kara smiled broadly and shook her head. “You’re not very good at this, are you, Ben?” she poked. “That pad controls your room,” she said, pointing as her arm brushed up against his chest. “Just tap on it, and it’ll light up.”
Ben looked to his right, where Kara was pointing, and pressed the pad on the wall. A column of words with associated pictures illuminated, such as bed, desk, kitchen, toilet, shower, and others.
“It’s a smart room,” Kara told him. “If you click on the bed icon, a Murphy bed will come down out of the wall. If you click on the kitchen icon, the bed will go up, and one of the walls will slide back, revealing a hydrator, sink, small fridge, and so on.”
Ben pushed the bed button, and a bed came down out of the left side wall, just as Kara said.
“No, no,” Kara waved as she moved in front of him. “This is the one you want.” She pushed the toilet icon, forcing the bed up and a portion of the right wall to open up, revealing a room with a toilet and a small sink. She reached down into Ben’s partially opened backpack and grabbed the Covan book that was poking out. She pushed it in his chest and said, “Happy pooping!” She then turned and went to her room, closing the door.
She’s something else, Ben thought to himself as he put the book back into his backpack.
“Are you settling in okay?” he heard another female voice say from somewhere behind him. He turned around and saw Cadence walking through the crew lounge area.
“Yes, ma’am. This is all new to me,” he replied while pointing his thumb back over his shoulder.
Cadence stopped a few feet in front of him and canted her head slightly while looking at him. “I have to say, Ben, you have a very kind disposition about you. There’s something about your eyes…”
“Cadence, we have to leave now,” they heard Gedeon say over the ship’s intercom, cutting off her sentence. They felt the ship tilt to one side, which made them both step out a foot. Candace put a hand on Ben’s chest as he put a hand on the wall. She looked up at him, then smiled faintly and scuttled towards the bridge.
Cadence found Gedeon in the pilot’s chair, looking at the large screen at the front of the bridge as he maneuvered the Zephyr out of the Zeus, which disappeared into a transit tunnel a few seconds later.
“Sorry about that,” Gedeon said to her. “I received a comm from the Zeus saying they needed to take off. Stoddard told me that Jim had been captured by a Jack Crew, so it’s probably related.”
“Oh my,” Cadence replied. “Things are really heating up, aren’t they?”
“They are,” he confirmed. “But we’re still no closer today than we were before. How many years have we been doing this? It’s not enough.” Gedeon shook his head as he got out of the pilot seat so Cadence could sit in it.
“Have faith, Gedeon,” she said with a touch of his arm. “What do you think of our passengers?”
“There’s something about that kid, Ben. I don’t know. Maybe the work’s getting to me.” Gedeon rubbed an open hand over his face. “I don’t see the purpose of this. They’re just kids. How are we supposed to be responsible for them? We’re off track. We’re not doing what we need to be doing. I thought getting us involved with Stoddard and his missions would help us find answers, but now we’re babysitting kids on a dangerous mission that’s likely to kill us.”
“I know how you feel, Gedeon, but this is a lot of credits. And we’re the best. If anyone can pull this off, it’s us. Besides, Stoddard is making a difference. He’s working towards peace.”
“Even if he starts a war?” Gedeon pressed. “This mission, taking these kids to find a spy in OUR neck of the woods? If we get caught, it’s not just the kids’ lives. It’s not just our lives. It’s a war, and we’d be the ones starting it.”
“No. It’s not us,” Cadence said firmly. “We’re not going to start anything. We have a mission… well… we have this mission, and then we have OUR mission – Risky Red. Stick to it, Gedeon. You cannot lose faith.”
“Faith is about all I have anymore, Cadence,” he replied. “Faith and you…and this crew.”