Firebrand Tours To The Galaxy Now Boarding. Kevin Colbran

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СКАЧАТЬ and Tom both shook their heads, “Pass; I don’t like roller coasters,” Tom said.

      “Gizmo could come, but we shouldn’t use him as he is our ticket home,” Steve decided, and as they were already in their suits, the pair headed towards the airlock as Bill slipped the Red over towards the other craft. Exiting the airlock, Steve threw a magnetic line and hooked a ladder loop. Hauling on that Steve was propelled over the gap and then finding the airlock operated the controls, the door swung inwards entering and re-closing the hatch behind Kev and himself.

      The inside hatch swung open as the pressure automatically equalised. So Steve drew his sidearm, he then cautiously moved into the cockpit in time to see a figure in a space suit arise from sleep. Covering this entity with his stun pistol, Steve announced, “Keep your hands where I can see them, and then you can tell us, why the aggression?”

      “I thought you were Oxzen by your accent, our races don’t get on too well, but you look like Corellian?” Roos replied.

      “Related but we are from Earth next door, on a shakedown cruise with a shuttle,” Steve explained, “So what can we do, despite you firing on us?”

      “The Hyperdrive is unserviceable, repairable with a couple of modules which I don’t have,” Roos reported.

      “I will have a quick look and see if with we have the parts as we are carrying plenty for our toy,” Steve offered, then whispered, “Camera on, Gizmo please analyse.” Then aloud, “Show me the equipment, and I will see what I can do.”

      Roos walked over to the rear and opened a hatch residing inside was a rack of equipment which looked familiar, then on the heads-up display writing Gizmo confirmed that it was a standard Corellian drive assembly. The spare modules were on the shuttle only requiring installation.

      “Can you power the drive?” Steve asked, “Just on standby will do, I can analyse which modules need replacing.” Roos went over to the controls and selected switches. Some arcing and carry on occurred, and Steve placed his glove near those modules; he then received a readout that A and D modules were not operable.

      “If I give you a couple of modules are you able to install them yourself?” Steve asked.

      “Of course, send them over,” Roos stated bluntly.

      “The rest of your crew are where?” Kev asked.

      “Dead, a beast broke in and killed them, so I burnt it to ash,” Roos admitted.

      “How did that happen?” Kev asked.

      “I was trying to salvage a derelict vessel, and when we boarded to examine, the beast attacked my crew,” Roos admitted, “Then it attempted to board my ship, killing another one before I was able to stop it.”

      “Sounds like the Zombie beast that Mike has been dealing with,” Steve suggested, “Grey slime which eats beings from the inside out.”

      "Grey Ooze describes what little I saw.” Roos admitted, “A spaceship came into the system afterwards but as it ID as Oxzen, I kept quiet.”

      “That would have been the Terra. My stun gun and most flamers deal with it,” Steve said, “So if I give you the modules you will be on your way?”

      “I need to return home to recover and replace my crew,” Roos advised.

      “It would be better to stick to salvage and keep the aggro under control, what is your problem with the Oxzen mob?” Steve asked.

      “Their merchants are competitive, and there have been clashes over territory,” Roos explained, “Since then there has been an ongoing vendetta.”

      “From what I know about Oxzen their philosophy is that you can’t sell to dead people or slaves,” Steve advised, “But I believe they don’t step back from a stoush if someone pushes.”

      “I just keep away from them,” Roos said.

      “Okay I will be back shortly with an A and a D-module then stand by while you get mobile,” Steve offered, "Kev can keep you company."

      When Roos did not comment, Steve shrugged and went back into Little Red to pick up the items that Gizmo had retrieved, returning with these in hand and placing them adjacent to the hatch waved at Kev and both returned to Red. Once aboard the hatches were closed and the shuttle moved away to a safe distance to observe.

      After a while, the Rambling Gambler hummed to activity and vectored off to the jump point, rapidly disappearing into the distance.

      “Well thanks very much, if that is the way they treat good Samaritans I am not surprised that the Oxzen have a problem with them,” Steve observed.

      “Karma will bite them on the bum, what comes around goes around, remember that his first thought was to hijack us,” Tom commented, “I am surprised that you didn’t just lock him up and throw away the key.”

      “Crossed my mind; however we are on a fun trip?” Steve replied, “So let’s get this rock show on the road.”

      With that in mind, the shuttle was set in motion to explore the system, at cruising speed as there was no intention to land on a planet. As Red approached inwards, the sensors detected a couple of mass readings consistent with small planets, and these noted. Having mapped as much as a single orbit could achieve, it was decided to return to Earth when the orbit approached the jump point back.

      “So Gizmo where do you think that one came from ?” Steve asked, and the answer ‘Epsilon Major’ appeared on the screen, 'race Fornoon humanoid AAAGA' together with slightly green tinged photos of male and female.

      “Okay will file that away for future reference. So Home we go, I will consult with Humphs as to approach techniques,” Steve decided, "Roos fitted the shape of the female.”

      The shuttle returned to Earth with no further dramas, and Bill and Kev were dropped off at Fairburn to contemplate the reports they would have to generate. Then the shuttle returned to Charlton for Tom and Steve to stretch their legs and recover.

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