Andromeda's Gates: The story of Yseult Brenneaux

Chapter 18: Speedy Owl

A plume of dust harked the approach of a vehicle. Yseult's attention was drawn as soon as it became more than undefinable haze. Both she and Ellie were atop the ship's central beam connecting replacements parts for the long-range navigation array. She tapped Ellie and pointed to the horizon. Ellie raised her vidoculars, it took a moment to locate and focus the approaching object... "A speeder." She announced. "Some kind of van..." She lowered the device an looked at Yseult... "Octan colours." A moment later they were both clambering down the rear of the ship onto the gantry Ellie had constructed. Once on the ground, they both moved round to the front and watched the approaching vehicle using the platform and overhanging front of the ship as cover. Two minutes later the van was clearly visible without electronic aids. What was it doing out here? They were so remote, surely, it could not be a coincidence. A minute more and than van was cruising slowly up to the ship. It turned and parked nearby, the hiss and whine of the hover system powering down interrupted only by the occasional gusts of wind. After a few moments, the rear door lifted and a man emerged.

The tension in Ysult's shoulders released with a tingle as she recognised Riddaeon beneath the green cap of the Octan uniform he was wearing. Both women stepped out and headed towards him as he began unloading first a large hose, then canisters in clear Octan colours. "You could have told us." Yseult proposed. "Lucky for you we don't have a rocket launcher. No?" She added.

"I had to disable all communications." Riddaeon responded. "I couldn't secure a way to buy the fuel we need so..." He pulled the last canister from the van. "... I improvised." The two canisters of fuel and two of antimatter weren't much but it would be enough, unladen, to get them to Forring and friendlier surroundings.

"We should leave quickly." Riddaeon announced as he helped Ellie with the long hose-like fuel feed he'd brought. "There's a MANTIS ship in orbit. It's put Octan orbital control on alert and we don't want to still be here if reinforcements arrive."

It took a couple of hours to add the fuels and run a full systems check. Ellie left the last part to Yseult who raced through every reading and indicator with inherent pilot instinct. This wasn't a military ship, it was a crate, a bucket with engines, a box runner. Ellie was in the ops chair viewing the engine management system. With two lift engines, four drive engines in two types and various manoeuvring outlets, it was unusually complicated for such a small freighter but once she realised it worked more like a hover-crane, she soon had a handle on the systems. With the two multi-layered centrifuges spooled, Yseult pressed the ignition and after a few worrying sparks, they burst to life.

"L-one, L-two flow is steady." Yseult announced.

"Check... Drive engines primed." Ellie responded.

"We'll just use the front drives until we break atmo. It will be slower but use a lot less fuel." Yseult said. Ellie worked her console.

"Fuel gates configured." She said after a moment. "Ready for drive engine start."

Outside the ship Riddaeon stood by the van and watched for any external signs of problems. He was no engineer but better that than just an onlooker, he thought. In a flare of light, the two forward drive engines ignited, then settled to their idle flow-rate. Then, with a creek of metal joints that had been stood still too long, the weight on the landing gear eased and the ship slowly raised up, the rear first but not by much and shortly thereafter the front, the small incline moving the ship gently forwards off the platform. The nose was soon climbing though and as power to the drive engines was increased, a left-banking climb was entered. Soon after, it was gone.

Riddaeon looked around the rudimentary platform and noticed the sensor dish. He climbed up on to the platform and brought the system on-line. A mechanic he wasn't but a spy... That was different. And so too perhaps was the previous owner. Their security did not take long to bypass. Octan's would have been harder but the work had already been done and soon, he was into New California's orbital network grid. Communications, ship positions, it was all here, but not what he was looking for. He removed a small device from his pocket and held it close to the computer. A blinking light on it soon went solid and the word 'UPLOADING' appeared on the screen. Once completed, Riddaeon deactivated the system and taking one last look around, casually returned to the van, closed the door, started the engines and drove away.