Hi All,
As there’s not much happening at the moment, I thought I’d pull together the first two chapters of the Sanctimonious Novel I wrote a long time ago. The story was originally submitted as part of the Elite: Chronicles Fiction Project (One of the Kickstarter projects that a lot of Elite People backed but never produced anything). When that project failed, I carried on writing it. After conversations with people at a Lavecon, I was under the impression that this story could replace the missing Chronicles Fiction project but, due to misunderstandings, it was not meant to be. Regardless, I finished the first draft a year or so back. The upshot is I’ve got a 140,000-word Elite novel (which I guess is just Fan Fiction now) that is the basis for the Sanctimonious stories that I occasionally put up to cover events that have happened in-game.
Hope you enjoy it.
C.
3300
‘This is not good!’
David ‘Davie’ Thornton had blurted the cry out without realising it, as he’d been thrown about in his seat. He was eternally thankful for his harness which held him in place. In front of him, a couple of emergency oxygen masks dropped in front of his face, obstructing his view. He pushed them out of the way with a panicked swipe of his arm.
‘Stop being such a drama queen!’ snapped his companion. ‘We’ve been in worse spots.’
‘Well, when that many ships jump in,’ replied Davie pointing at the scanner, ‘I’m allowed to get a little panicky.’
Duncan McTaggart, known universally as Mac, glared over at him and Davie knew this was the signal for him to shut up. Mac would need his full concentration if they were going to avoid any incoming fire.
This was supposed to be a milk run, Davie mused. A nice and easy escort contract to the Phenol star (KOI-3663) system. Just fly as escort for the ‘Clear Venture’, a large Anaconda class freighter, which was carrying construction materials for the terraforming operation there. He found the situation a little odd. The Venture’s cargo would fetch nothing on the black market and the appearance of four Eagle fighters and two Cobra Mk IIIs seemed a little like overkill for one Anaconda and its escort. These pirates must be either very stupid or very desperate.
The Sanctimonious was Mac’s ship, an ancient Asp explorer. Although it was adequately equipped; being outnumbered six to two was never a good situation to be in. To make matter worse, the Anaconda they were escorting only had under-powered pulse laser turrets. They were good for taking out small pieces of space junk but not much else. Davie felt it may as well be six to one.
Although his panic began to subside, reassured by who he was flying with, Davie would have felt a lot better if he’d been able to use the Asp’s own two turrets. However, since the crew couldn’t afford to have them serviced, they’d failed on the journey out here.
‘Missiles!’ Mac announced.
Davie knew those missiles would be homing in on the heat generated by their ship. He activated the heat sink launcher. The Asp shuddered as all its heat was dumped into a small projectile and dropped out the back. G-forces push him to the left as Sanctimonious slid out of the path of the incoming projectiles, which had changed course to follow the glaring heat source on the scanner. The missiles disappeared when they hit the decoy.
‘At least they’re not using military hardware,’ he said to Mac.
The Eagles seemed unfazed by their lack of success and kept on coming, firing salvos of pulse laser fire which narrowly missed the Sanctimonious. Although a much larger vessel than the Eagle, an Asp is a lot more maneuverable than it looks. The fact not lost on Davie as the star-field span past the viewport as Mac reversed his turn.
One of the Eagles, surprised the Sanctimonious’ manoeuvre, appeared in front of them. There was a click, as Davie saw Mac pull the trigger and the Eagle fragmented as the main beam lasers smashed through its weak shields and cut through the smaller ship’s hull. Looking down at the scanner, Davie saw that one of the eagles had dropped in behind them. Sanctimonious shook as it took laser strikes on their shields.
‘Under Attack!’ The ship’s computer announced.
‘Really?’ muttered Mac, sarcastically. ‘Never would have noticed.’
‘Shields are down to eighty percent,’ Davie reported.
This eagle pilot was the smartest of the bunch as it had managed to stay with the Sanctimonious while it had evaded. Normally, with the thrusters in its swept wings and its lighter frame, an Eagle would be able to stay in a larger ships blind spot, nibbling away at the shields. Thankfully, Sanctimonious had a trick up its sleeve.
‘Drop mines,’ ordered Mac.
Davie operated a control, as the ship continued to shake from the continued laser impacts. The Asp dropped a couple of high explosive mines behind it. The Eagle pilot was either blinded by his fire or was suffering ‘tunnel vision targeting’ because he didn’t appear to have noticed the mines. The eagle slammed into both of them and disappearing in violent flame.
‘We’ll make a gunner out of you yet,’ Mac said with grim satisfaction. ‘Where are the Cobra’s?’
Davie glanced at the scanner. The two remaining eagles, having realised their mistake, had split off in different directions and were returning for another run. The larger and more heavily armed Cobras were not targeting Sanctimonious at all. Davie grimaced when he realised what they were up to.
‘They’re hitting the Venture hard,’ he reported. ‘The turrets are holding them back but her shields are almost gone.’
‘Stupid,’ Mac muttered out loud.
‘Eh?’
‘They should have rushed us,’ explained Mac. ‘Splitting a strike force like that is a basic tactical error.’
‘Our shields are down to 50%,’ Davie said making an effort to keep tension out of his voice.
‘Don’t worry!’ Mac replied. ‘They’re not going to be able to hit us again.’
Davie noticed a slight smile on Mac’s face. He found it unnerving as that would the equivalent of savage grin on a normal person. Glancing down at the scanner again, Davie could see the two Eagles had regrouped and were streaking in from high on the left. His stomach violently lurched once again, as the Sanctimonious turned to face them.
‘Flight Assist off,’ reported the computer.
‘You’re doing that?’
‘Hold on,’ ordered Mac
The Eagles were coming in too fast and flashed past the viewport, their shots going wide. Before they were even past the Sanctimonious, the star-field shifted again as Mac flipped the Asp one hundred and eighty degrees so they were flying backwards. They could see the bright flare of both of the small fighters’s engines. Davie was breathing hard, fighting off the G-forces which threatened to make him blackout.
The ships ahead start to turn away in different directions. There was a click as Mac pulled the trigger and Sanctimonious fired its main guns then, with a quick adjustment, he fired the beam lasers again. Davie saw the lasers slice the wing off one of the Eagles. The second volley smashed through the cockpit and the Eagle tumbled away, it’s pilot probably evaporated by the hit to the canopy. Mac operated a control on the panel in front of him.
‘Flight Assist On,’ the computer reported.
The remaining Eagle turned back towards the Anaconda. Davie realised it was probably looking for support from the two Cobra’s still attacking the large freighter. The Sanctimonious began to fly forwards again and he saw Mac increased the throttle to pursue the fleeing fighter. Davie called up the targeting computer and immediately it got a locking tone.
‘Missile Lock!’ he announced.
‘I’m not going to waste our last missile on that!’ Mac snapped back.
It was at that point Davie noticed the damage displays on the Clear Venture. The larger vessel had taken a serious missile strike, it's interior was visible through a massive gash in its side. The cylindrical cargo canisters were escaping into the void, leaving a trail like breadcrumbs. Her laser turrets were still firing, which was a good sign, but if the wounded anaconda tried any sharp manoeuvers, the stress would probably rip the ship apart.
‘The Venture,’ Davie started.
‘I see it,’ Mac interrupted gruffly.
There was another click from the firing control and the Asp’s lasers smashed into the fleeing Eagle. An orange ball of light expanded where the small winged craft had been. Mac fired the ASP’s boosters and Davie was pushed further into his chair by the acceleration.
‘Use that missile.’ ordered Mac. ‘Target the nearest Cobra.’
Davie called up the targeting computer and got a ‘locked’ indicator almost immediately.
‘Lock!’ he reported.
‘Launch!’
Davie operated the relevant control and ship wobbled a little as the missile launched. The smart projectile altered course to intercept the targetted ship which hadn’t seem to have noticed it. A small indicator flashed on the control panel.
‘He’s launching a heat sink.’
‘He launched it too late,’ Mac observed. ‘He’s not even going evasive, yet!’
When it was obvious to the Cobra that the heat sink hadn’t worked, it tried to barrel roll out of the path of the missile. It was too little, too late and missile ploughed into one of the rear engine exhausts. A couple of small explosions appeared around the engine and then the whole ship blew apart, sending debris and cargo canisters into the already damaged Anaconda.
‘Hell, that wasn’t supposed to happen.’ swore Mac. ‘Where’s that last Cobra?’
Davie checked over the scanner.
‘Looks like he’s doing a runner; He managed to scoop a couple of canisters though.’
He looked up to see Mac grimacing. ‘We’ll have to let him go, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.’
Mac switched on the comlink. ‘This is Sanctimonious! Clear Venture, what’s your status?’
There was white static over the link before a voice came back.
‘This is Clear Venture, glad you stopped them when you did.’ said the voice.
Davie recognised the voice and tried not to smile.
‘Deke, is that you?’
‘Davie Baby!’ the voice turned enthusiastic.
Davie cringed a little as he saw Mac giving him a hard stare.
‘The Captain got hit on that last pass,’ Deke continued. ‘The medic is looking at him now. I think he’ll be fine.
‘You got a repair estimate?’ asked Mac, obviously trying to ignore informality.
There was a couple of seconds delay before there was a reply.
‘Yeah, we can plug that hole in about half an hour, the engines and the navigation systems are intact, so we’ll be good to go once that’s done.’
‘Did you lose anybody?’ asked Davie.
‘Yeah,’ Deke sounded downcast, ‘A couple of guys were on damage control when the cargo bay blew out. Can you do us a favour?’
‘Search and Recover?’ Mac inquired.
‘Yeah, you never know if they’re wearing Remlok masks or not.’ Deke then added as an afterthought. ‘And if you’ve got any spare space on-board, recover some of those canisters?’
‘No Problem,’ Replied Mac. ‘Let us know when you’re ready to get underway again.’
‘Will Do!’ Deke replied ‘Clear Venture Out.’
The next twenty minutes were tense as Davie kept his eyes on the scanners. Mac flew the Sanctimonious in rapid arcs, using its cargo scoop to pick up the cargo canisters. There was no sign of the missing crewmen and after ten canisters Mac brought the ship into formation with the anaconda. There were plenty of canisters left floating around.
‘That’s all we can take.’ Mac grumbled.
‘You know that last Cobra is probably still out there waiting for us to leave and then it will just fly in and scoop what’s left.’ said Davie.
‘Tell me about it, little blood-sucking parasite.’ growled Mac. ‘I should drop a mine or two so we could give him a nasty surprise.’
‘Or we would get some poor sap who thought it was his lucky day.’
‘If you come across cargo hanging around in space and just scoop it without scanning it, you get everything you deserve.’ Mac shot back.
There was an awkward silence which stretched for a couple of minutes. Mac cleared his throat.
‘Anyway,’ Mac said in an almost apologetic tone, ‘Deke?’
‘What can I say,’ Davie allowed himself a shrug. ‘It was back at Lave station. We just hooked up before we flew out.’
Mac snorted, ‘Another one? I lose track.’
‘Look, what with your fine example of celibacy, I have decided to live life to the full.’ Davie grinned at him. ‘And anyway, you limit your options.’
‘Oh, I’m not getting having this conversation again.’
Davie knew that he’d got Mac wound up again and smiled to himself.
‘Do you have anything better to do than be a pain in the ?’ Mac grumped.
‘Nope!’
‘Then go down to the cargo deck and give those cargo canisters the once over,’ Mac grumbled.
Davie unbuckled his harness and walked to the access hatch at the back of the bridge, his magnetic boots clicking with each step. He closed the hatch with a satisfying thump, leaving Mac to stew. He didn’t know why he always did that, it was like he enjoyed holding a tiger by the tail. Maybe it was boredom but he always felt a little guilty afterwards because Mac didn’t deserve it. A bit like the way he felt after a hook-up.
Mac had hired Davie as a co-pilot almost two years ago and remained a little bit of an enigma. A couple of inches shorter than Davie at six foot 1; Mac’s brown eyes and dark hair gave him a brooding look which matched his personality. In fact, in all the time Davie had known him, he’d only seen Mac smile a couple of times. The commander had the posture of a military man and certainly flew with the calm precision of one but Davie had never found out who he’d served with.
The other mystery was why he was still working as the co-pilot. Davie knew he was taller, muscular and outgoing than Mac. Descended from Indian ancestry on earth, Davie had no problems getting his brown eyes and brilliant white smile to attract the right kind of person at a space station bar for all manner of trouble. However, when things turned sour, which happened more often than Davie would like to admit, Mac was always there, paying the bail money to spring him.
He sighed and descended the stairs down to the cargo hold. As he arrived at the cargo bay doors he grabbed one of the masks next to the doors because, although the cargo bay had atmosphere in it, it wasn’t too pleasant to breathe. Putting on the mask, he grabbed a flashlight and opened the outer airlock door.
The mask was comfortable and didn’t fog up for once. The airlock door cycled and he walked into the cargo bay. It was pretty obvious which the new canisters were. He knew that Mac had brought along a few canisters of his own, probably hoping to use the profits to pay off whatever that venomous ex-wife of his, but the scooped canisters had obvious battle damage to them.
He methodically checked each one and when he got to the seventh there was a call down from the bridge.
‘We’re going to supercruise,’ Mac called down over the ship communicator, still sounding peeved.
‘Ok.’ replied Davie and braced himself against a canister.
Davie noticed the usual sensation of the frame-shift drive. The Sanctimonious was underway again, probably in formation with the Anaconda. After a minute or so the sensation subsided and he carried on looking through the canisters. It was only at the last one did he think something was wrong. Even though the breath mask he noticed the smell. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.
There was a crack in the side of the canister and Davie shone the torch in. He wished he hadn’t because throwing up can be deadly in a breath mask. Forcing down the gag reflex he looked away and staggered back from the container. Almost breathless he called into the comlink.
‘Mac.’ He called.
No reply.
‘Mac!’ he repeated more urgently.
‘What?’ came the terse reply.
‘You’d better get down here.’ said Davie, fighting back another vomiting reflex. ‘We’ve got trouble.’
As there’s not much happening at the moment, I thought I’d pull together the first two chapters of the Sanctimonious Novel I wrote a long time ago. The story was originally submitted as part of the Elite: Chronicles Fiction Project (One of the Kickstarter projects that a lot of Elite People backed but never produced anything). When that project failed, I carried on writing it. After conversations with people at a Lavecon, I was under the impression that this story could replace the missing Chronicles Fiction project but, due to misunderstandings, it was not meant to be. Regardless, I finished the first draft a year or so back. The upshot is I’ve got a 140,000-word Elite novel (which I guess is just Fan Fiction now) that is the basis for the Sanctimonious stories that I occasionally put up to cover events that have happened in-game.
Hope you enjoy it.
C.
3300
‘This is not good!’
David ‘Davie’ Thornton had blurted the cry out without realising it, as he’d been thrown about in his seat. He was eternally thankful for his harness which held him in place. In front of him, a couple of emergency oxygen masks dropped in front of his face, obstructing his view. He pushed them out of the way with a panicked swipe of his arm.
‘Stop being such a drama queen!’ snapped his companion. ‘We’ve been in worse spots.’
‘Well, when that many ships jump in,’ replied Davie pointing at the scanner, ‘I’m allowed to get a little panicky.’
Duncan McTaggart, known universally as Mac, glared over at him and Davie knew this was the signal for him to shut up. Mac would need his full concentration if they were going to avoid any incoming fire.
This was supposed to be a milk run, Davie mused. A nice and easy escort contract to the Phenol star (KOI-3663) system. Just fly as escort for the ‘Clear Venture’, a large Anaconda class freighter, which was carrying construction materials for the terraforming operation there. He found the situation a little odd. The Venture’s cargo would fetch nothing on the black market and the appearance of four Eagle fighters and two Cobra Mk IIIs seemed a little like overkill for one Anaconda and its escort. These pirates must be either very stupid or very desperate.
The Sanctimonious was Mac’s ship, an ancient Asp explorer. Although it was adequately equipped; being outnumbered six to two was never a good situation to be in. To make matter worse, the Anaconda they were escorting only had under-powered pulse laser turrets. They were good for taking out small pieces of space junk but not much else. Davie felt it may as well be six to one.
Although his panic began to subside, reassured by who he was flying with, Davie would have felt a lot better if he’d been able to use the Asp’s own two turrets. However, since the crew couldn’t afford to have them serviced, they’d failed on the journey out here.
‘Missiles!’ Mac announced.
Davie knew those missiles would be homing in on the heat generated by their ship. He activated the heat sink launcher. The Asp shuddered as all its heat was dumped into a small projectile and dropped out the back. G-forces push him to the left as Sanctimonious slid out of the path of the incoming projectiles, which had changed course to follow the glaring heat source on the scanner. The missiles disappeared when they hit the decoy.
‘At least they’re not using military hardware,’ he said to Mac.
The Eagles seemed unfazed by their lack of success and kept on coming, firing salvos of pulse laser fire which narrowly missed the Sanctimonious. Although a much larger vessel than the Eagle, an Asp is a lot more maneuverable than it looks. The fact not lost on Davie as the star-field span past the viewport as Mac reversed his turn.
One of the Eagles, surprised the Sanctimonious’ manoeuvre, appeared in front of them. There was a click, as Davie saw Mac pull the trigger and the Eagle fragmented as the main beam lasers smashed through its weak shields and cut through the smaller ship’s hull. Looking down at the scanner, Davie saw that one of the eagles had dropped in behind them. Sanctimonious shook as it took laser strikes on their shields.
‘Under Attack!’ The ship’s computer announced.
‘Really?’ muttered Mac, sarcastically. ‘Never would have noticed.’
‘Shields are down to eighty percent,’ Davie reported.
This eagle pilot was the smartest of the bunch as it had managed to stay with the Sanctimonious while it had evaded. Normally, with the thrusters in its swept wings and its lighter frame, an Eagle would be able to stay in a larger ships blind spot, nibbling away at the shields. Thankfully, Sanctimonious had a trick up its sleeve.
‘Drop mines,’ ordered Mac.
Davie operated a control, as the ship continued to shake from the continued laser impacts. The Asp dropped a couple of high explosive mines behind it. The Eagle pilot was either blinded by his fire or was suffering ‘tunnel vision targeting’ because he didn’t appear to have noticed the mines. The eagle slammed into both of them and disappearing in violent flame.
‘We’ll make a gunner out of you yet,’ Mac said with grim satisfaction. ‘Where are the Cobra’s?’
Davie glanced at the scanner. The two remaining eagles, having realised their mistake, had split off in different directions and were returning for another run. The larger and more heavily armed Cobras were not targeting Sanctimonious at all. Davie grimaced when he realised what they were up to.
‘They’re hitting the Venture hard,’ he reported. ‘The turrets are holding them back but her shields are almost gone.’
‘Stupid,’ Mac muttered out loud.
‘Eh?’
‘They should have rushed us,’ explained Mac. ‘Splitting a strike force like that is a basic tactical error.’
‘Our shields are down to 50%,’ Davie said making an effort to keep tension out of his voice.
‘Don’t worry!’ Mac replied. ‘They’re not going to be able to hit us again.’
Davie noticed a slight smile on Mac’s face. He found it unnerving as that would the equivalent of savage grin on a normal person. Glancing down at the scanner again, Davie could see the two Eagles had regrouped and were streaking in from high on the left. His stomach violently lurched once again, as the Sanctimonious turned to face them.
‘Flight Assist off,’ reported the computer.
‘You’re doing that?’
‘Hold on,’ ordered Mac
The Eagles were coming in too fast and flashed past the viewport, their shots going wide. Before they were even past the Sanctimonious, the star-field shifted again as Mac flipped the Asp one hundred and eighty degrees so they were flying backwards. They could see the bright flare of both of the small fighters’s engines. Davie was breathing hard, fighting off the G-forces which threatened to make him blackout.
The ships ahead start to turn away in different directions. There was a click as Mac pulled the trigger and Sanctimonious fired its main guns then, with a quick adjustment, he fired the beam lasers again. Davie saw the lasers slice the wing off one of the Eagles. The second volley smashed through the cockpit and the Eagle tumbled away, it’s pilot probably evaporated by the hit to the canopy. Mac operated a control on the panel in front of him.
‘Flight Assist On,’ the computer reported.
The remaining Eagle turned back towards the Anaconda. Davie realised it was probably looking for support from the two Cobra’s still attacking the large freighter. The Sanctimonious began to fly forwards again and he saw Mac increased the throttle to pursue the fleeing fighter. Davie called up the targeting computer and immediately it got a locking tone.
‘Missile Lock!’ he announced.
‘I’m not going to waste our last missile on that!’ Mac snapped back.
It was at that point Davie noticed the damage displays on the Clear Venture. The larger vessel had taken a serious missile strike, it's interior was visible through a massive gash in its side. The cylindrical cargo canisters were escaping into the void, leaving a trail like breadcrumbs. Her laser turrets were still firing, which was a good sign, but if the wounded anaconda tried any sharp manoeuvers, the stress would probably rip the ship apart.
‘The Venture,’ Davie started.
‘I see it,’ Mac interrupted gruffly.
There was another click from the firing control and the Asp’s lasers smashed into the fleeing Eagle. An orange ball of light expanded where the small winged craft had been. Mac fired the ASP’s boosters and Davie was pushed further into his chair by the acceleration.
‘Use that missile.’ ordered Mac. ‘Target the nearest Cobra.’
Davie called up the targeting computer and got a ‘locked’ indicator almost immediately.
‘Lock!’ he reported.
‘Launch!’
Davie operated the relevant control and ship wobbled a little as the missile launched. The smart projectile altered course to intercept the targetted ship which hadn’t seem to have noticed it. A small indicator flashed on the control panel.
‘He’s launching a heat sink.’
‘He launched it too late,’ Mac observed. ‘He’s not even going evasive, yet!’
When it was obvious to the Cobra that the heat sink hadn’t worked, it tried to barrel roll out of the path of the missile. It was too little, too late and missile ploughed into one of the rear engine exhausts. A couple of small explosions appeared around the engine and then the whole ship blew apart, sending debris and cargo canisters into the already damaged Anaconda.
‘Hell, that wasn’t supposed to happen.’ swore Mac. ‘Where’s that last Cobra?’
Davie checked over the scanner.
‘Looks like he’s doing a runner; He managed to scoop a couple of canisters though.’
He looked up to see Mac grimacing. ‘We’ll have to let him go, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.’
Mac switched on the comlink. ‘This is Sanctimonious! Clear Venture, what’s your status?’
There was white static over the link before a voice came back.
‘This is Clear Venture, glad you stopped them when you did.’ said the voice.
Davie recognised the voice and tried not to smile.
‘Deke, is that you?’
‘Davie Baby!’ the voice turned enthusiastic.
Davie cringed a little as he saw Mac giving him a hard stare.
‘The Captain got hit on that last pass,’ Deke continued. ‘The medic is looking at him now. I think he’ll be fine.
‘You got a repair estimate?’ asked Mac, obviously trying to ignore informality.
There was a couple of seconds delay before there was a reply.
‘Yeah, we can plug that hole in about half an hour, the engines and the navigation systems are intact, so we’ll be good to go once that’s done.’
‘Did you lose anybody?’ asked Davie.
‘Yeah,’ Deke sounded downcast, ‘A couple of guys were on damage control when the cargo bay blew out. Can you do us a favour?’
‘Search and Recover?’ Mac inquired.
‘Yeah, you never know if they’re wearing Remlok masks or not.’ Deke then added as an afterthought. ‘And if you’ve got any spare space on-board, recover some of those canisters?’
‘No Problem,’ Replied Mac. ‘Let us know when you’re ready to get underway again.’
‘Will Do!’ Deke replied ‘Clear Venture Out.’
The next twenty minutes were tense as Davie kept his eyes on the scanners. Mac flew the Sanctimonious in rapid arcs, using its cargo scoop to pick up the cargo canisters. There was no sign of the missing crewmen and after ten canisters Mac brought the ship into formation with the anaconda. There were plenty of canisters left floating around.
‘That’s all we can take.’ Mac grumbled.
‘You know that last Cobra is probably still out there waiting for us to leave and then it will just fly in and scoop what’s left.’ said Davie.
‘Tell me about it, little blood-sucking parasite.’ growled Mac. ‘I should drop a mine or two so we could give him a nasty surprise.’
‘Or we would get some poor sap who thought it was his lucky day.’
‘If you come across cargo hanging around in space and just scoop it without scanning it, you get everything you deserve.’ Mac shot back.
There was an awkward silence which stretched for a couple of minutes. Mac cleared his throat.
‘Anyway,’ Mac said in an almost apologetic tone, ‘Deke?’
‘What can I say,’ Davie allowed himself a shrug. ‘It was back at Lave station. We just hooked up before we flew out.’
Mac snorted, ‘Another one? I lose track.’
‘Look, what with your fine example of celibacy, I have decided to live life to the full.’ Davie grinned at him. ‘And anyway, you limit your options.’
‘Oh, I’m not getting having this conversation again.’
Davie knew that he’d got Mac wound up again and smiled to himself.
‘Do you have anything better to do than be a pain in the ?’ Mac grumped.
‘Nope!’
‘Then go down to the cargo deck and give those cargo canisters the once over,’ Mac grumbled.
Davie unbuckled his harness and walked to the access hatch at the back of the bridge, his magnetic boots clicking with each step. He closed the hatch with a satisfying thump, leaving Mac to stew. He didn’t know why he always did that, it was like he enjoyed holding a tiger by the tail. Maybe it was boredom but he always felt a little guilty afterwards because Mac didn’t deserve it. A bit like the way he felt after a hook-up.
Mac had hired Davie as a co-pilot almost two years ago and remained a little bit of an enigma. A couple of inches shorter than Davie at six foot 1; Mac’s brown eyes and dark hair gave him a brooding look which matched his personality. In fact, in all the time Davie had known him, he’d only seen Mac smile a couple of times. The commander had the posture of a military man and certainly flew with the calm precision of one but Davie had never found out who he’d served with.
The other mystery was why he was still working as the co-pilot. Davie knew he was taller, muscular and outgoing than Mac. Descended from Indian ancestry on earth, Davie had no problems getting his brown eyes and brilliant white smile to attract the right kind of person at a space station bar for all manner of trouble. However, when things turned sour, which happened more often than Davie would like to admit, Mac was always there, paying the bail money to spring him.
He sighed and descended the stairs down to the cargo hold. As he arrived at the cargo bay doors he grabbed one of the masks next to the doors because, although the cargo bay had atmosphere in it, it wasn’t too pleasant to breathe. Putting on the mask, he grabbed a flashlight and opened the outer airlock door.
The mask was comfortable and didn’t fog up for once. The airlock door cycled and he walked into the cargo bay. It was pretty obvious which the new canisters were. He knew that Mac had brought along a few canisters of his own, probably hoping to use the profits to pay off whatever that venomous ex-wife of his, but the scooped canisters had obvious battle damage to them.
He methodically checked each one and when he got to the seventh there was a call down from the bridge.
‘We’re going to supercruise,’ Mac called down over the ship communicator, still sounding peeved.
‘Ok.’ replied Davie and braced himself against a canister.
Davie noticed the usual sensation of the frame-shift drive. The Sanctimonious was underway again, probably in formation with the Anaconda. After a minute or so the sensation subsided and he carried on looking through the canisters. It was only at the last one did he think something was wrong. Even though the breath mask he noticed the smell. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.
There was a crack in the side of the canister and Davie shone the torch in. He wished he hadn’t because throwing up can be deadly in a breath mask. Forcing down the gag reflex he looked away and staggered back from the container. Almost breathless he called into the comlink.
‘Mac.’ He called.
No reply.
‘Mac!’ he repeated more urgently.
‘What?’ came the terse reply.
‘You’d better get down here.’ said Davie, fighting back another vomiting reflex. ‘We’ve got trouble.’