The Stowaway

Reflections of a simple trader

It was in the blink of an eye. That was all I could say. I was on a rush delivery for Sigma, and my Pirate Valkyrie Class IV didn't have time to stop in the Tichel system, as much as I would have liked to talk to my old friend Olaf.
I jumped through the Tichel system on my way to Sol to drop off a round of supplies from a besieged mining operation. But it was that blink of an eye that would change me for my entire life...

"Captain approaching Tichel System."
"Thanks Warren." I said to my radar and communications man. I took off the durag that I had, as the regulator on the BLOODY MARY had been acting up, and I was quite warm. After all, this was a ship crewed by a number of middle aged men as well, ranging from 25 to 47.
I sat down in the captain's chair on the bridge, relaxing for a little bit, and bracing myself for the jolt that always occurred whenever we landed in a system out of Hyperspace.
Suddenly it hit us, our artificial gravity stopped working for a second as we floated, watching the scenery change from a white fog to the starry Tichel system. I landed back in my seat immediately as the artificial gravity kicked in, and after the minute I took to regain myself, I ordered that we jump out.
After we had already begun, Joseph Starliner(no relation to famous ship designer, Jacob Starliner), came out holding a young teen by the cuff of the collar. "Well, well. Look what we've got ourselves here." he said to me. Joseph was my engineer and computer expert. He was huge and muscular, and held little sympathy for stowaways.
I glared at the boy, "What's your name?"
"Schereckh Addila." An Auroran.
"Why did you stowaway on my ship and where'd you do it?" I asked.
"Kymonthia." I considered him, he was a young boy, muscular, but still small. He was barely old enough to shave, and was not covered in tattoos as all those Aurorans seemed to be.
"Sir...we're receiving a distress call from a Pegasus, Auroran forged." Warren interrupted my interrogation. I turned my seat to see him, "Put it up on the screen."
The face of a young female Auroran came onto the ship. "Sir...your government has disobeyed the Dani Conventions. We are merely traders, porting water between Dani and Agua."
"I understand that, but I am helpless as to what the Federation does."
"Sister!" screamed out the teen behind me.
"You know this child?" I asked.
"He is my...little brother. I was born in Tekel Space, which is where I assumed you picked him up."
"Yes...he stowed away." She glared at him.
"Anyways, turning back to the matter at hand, We are sending out a distress signal. Help, help, please." she said.
"Why?" I asked.
"The Federation is attacking us. We have innocent children on our ship."
My heart lurched. Ever since my own wife and children had been killed by pirates, I had taken the cause of the innocent to heart. "I wish I could do something." I said, staggering after a moment.
"What do you mean, you can-"
"We can't do anything. We are already set to jump, due to leave the system in ten minutes."
"But-" a red alert alarm went off on her ship. "My ship is about to explode. Could you at least stick around or alert some-"
"We can't break our hyperspacial path."
"Please-" she gasped.
"Damnit!" I said suddenly bursting out, but then sighed and calmed down, "There's nothing I can do for you." I turned my head to face the face of the teen behind me. It was pure innocence, it was desperation. I knew in that second, these two would never see each other again. I closed my eyes in concentration and shame.
I was thrown out of my reverie by the young boy's whisper. "Sister-"
I turned my face back to the desperate face of the young woman. "I will give you a few minutes with your brother." was all I could manage to squeeze out of my agonized throat.
I nodded to the pilot of the ship, who had remained silent, and indicated he should take control of the bridge. "I must make a rest stop, so if you would please excuse me for a few minutes." I managed to say, simply to get out of the room as the two spent their last moments together.

After agonizing in the bathroom for seven and a half minutes, I managed to stumble out and down the hallway towards the cockpit. Both the Aurorans were in tears. I relieved the pilot from his position, and sat down. The Auroran captain turned to me, "Captain I beg of you."
"Im sorry." I whispered just loud enough for her to hear.
Suddenly an explosion rocked the ship, and I saw her look down to her brother. "Goodby-" she was cut off as we entered hyperspace. The communications line broke and we were left with the white fog of hyperspace...

This is a short story that I plan on modifying and lengthening. Constructive criticism please.

This post has been edited by Charon : 11 September 2005 - 10:24 PM