The Black Daedalus

[Elyd]

It was funny, out here in the reaches of space, how slow things were sometimes, Tessa thought idly while running a rag over one of her blasters. She'd only cleaned it fifteen times already that day, and hadn't used it in over a week. She was getting stir crazy. Maybe she would turn off the gravity in her room soon. Then she could really bounce off the walls.

Tessa, Caster, and Adeline had been adrift for a week, looking for their next opportunity. They had cargo in the hold, they just needed to find people interested in trading it. And so far they had run into hostility from the settlers on Åda, but that was a small settlement that they hadn't been to before. The crew of The Black Daedalus had been run out of the town. Well, that wasn't new. The people that weren't outright hostile were always suspicious of people they didn't know, and who knew if The Black Daedalus was the scouting ship of a fleet, sent to see whether their village was worth attacking?

It sucked that their reliable trading partners had started pulling back from them, saying they were going through hard times, too. Yeah. Who wasn't going through hard times. The whole galaxy was crumbling.

Tessa sighed and put the blaster away. She was going to go to the bridge and get in Caster's way again. At least from there she could see the stars and get an idea of where they were headed next.

"Hey, Caster," she said, plopping down into a seat next to him and spinning the chair once before looking out the view screens. "Anything exciting coming up?"

 

[October Knight]

Castor let the main cockpit window view wash over his tired eyes. The ship was medium sized, but cozier than most. He and his two crew mates shared few secrets as they lived, ate and slept within yelling distance. That was fine with Castor. He had been on ships where secrets were deadly, and resulted in chaos among the ranks. Any good captain knows that a ship is only as strong as it's crew, and crews did not get much stronger than that of The Black Daedalus.

A victim of circumstance, and of a federation that pushed men and women to do whatever it took to survive, Captain Castor DiAngelious had been hurdled into the life of a space pirate and never once looked back. Despite his time of military service and obedience to a now deconstructed government, he embraced the life of a criminal and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Tessa came into the cockpit just as castor pulled out a grid based map that outlined their current position in space (Castor always liked to rely on paper, deep down he didn't trust computers or machines). Castor liked Tessa, not only because men twice her size found her attractive, but also because men twice her size knew half as much about weapons.

"Interesting as our cargo? No, however I did find somewhere for us to move it." Castor spoke with the calm collection of a civilian, yet with the firm edge of a decisive commander. He had mastered the art of combining the two. "I talked to my contact over the radio, he says he can help us unload our cargo, just past grid 31, right here...." Castor stuck a finger on the map near to their current location "....is Secorpus 7, the frozen planet." Castor had never actually been to Secorpus 7, but knew that the entirety of the human population lived in an enormous, oxygenated underground bunker.

"We can dock our ship and move the cargo there, which means pay day!"

Just then a red light flashed and the ships computer chirped out an alarm SHIP BREECH DETECTED, ALERT, SHIP BREECH DETECTED!

"Shut up!" Yelled Castor over the annoying computerized voice. The security system had been on the fritz for weeks, and as it seemed Adeline hadn't gotten around to linking up with the ships mainframe and fixing the bug. Castor did not blame her as they had all three been busy little space pirates.


Castor put a palm across his face as the red lights continued to flash. He briefly considered getting a hammer from his bunk and smashing large intercom speaker to bits, but refrained.

 

[Celest]

Hmmmm... this steam tube has been hissing for the last week. She sat down on her knees and lifted the metal grating of a floor panel away to reveal a few of the ship's tubes. I think it is coming from underneath... hrrrmm. Sliding her knees back and pressing her hands on the floor, she lowered herself onto her stomach before lowering her upper body down into the floor. I think there is steam coming out. How did I miss that? Damn you, Adeline. Carefully, she ran her hands along the bottom of the tube until she felt a rush of air fly over her fingertips.

"AHA!" The young woman exclaimed. "I need a filler!" She slid her body back on the floor then stood up, trotting over to the shelves that held all her precious tools. "Filler... filler...filler... balls." Her eyes narrowed unhappily at the shelf that had just betrayed her. Well, duct tape will work until we get to our next stop right? With that, she quickly snatched a roll of silver tape then hung herself back down into the floor. Just as she put her teeth to the tape in order to tear it, the ship began screaming.

SHIP BREECH DETECTED, ALERT, SHIP BREECH DETECTED!

Sighing, Adeline rolled her eyes and finished her rushed duct tape job before heading up to the cockpit where Castor was no doubt cursing the faulty alarm system. I was supposed to have fixed that already! It has been going off will nilly for a long time now. After replacing the metal grate, she grabbed her satchel of needed tools and skipped up the stairs.

"I'm here! This thing will be fixed. I swear!" She slid under one of the control desks and pulled off a panel. Pulling a wire, the voice shut off, and she sighed with relief. At least they would have a few moments of silence until she started fixing wires and setting off who knows what. Tessa would probably tease her for not getting it right bbuuuttt all well. That was their relationship.

"Castor! I need supplies when we stop next. A steam tube has been hissing for a bit. I fixed it with duct tape for the moment. Where are we gonna go anyway?" Pulling at another wire there was a soft sizzle then a curse from Adeline as she stamped a foot against the floor. I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that feeling. "Also, do we have anyone for that cargo? Thing freaks me out. When it is real quiet it like hums."

Prepare to dock. Prepare to dock. Pre- Life pod released. Life pod re- Electrical error: Room Castor. Electric-

Everything went silent when Adeline groaned with frustration and pulled wires to start over again.

 

[October Knight]

"Thank god." Castor said with dramatic, sarcastic praise. "I was about to break that thing, I saw I hate machines."

He ruffled the map in front of him, s if shaking off a fine layer of dust, smiling at his trusted engineer as he did.

"we are going to Secorpus 7, yes we have a buyer for our cargo and yes, we can shop for supplies and gear."

He folded up the map and checked the radar, flight controls and clock.

"If all goes well we should be docking within the hour!" He scratched his head "I guess day light is out of the question, underground city and all, but hell at least we can get some human contact?" There was something to be said about space crews that didn't dock much, they were a quirky bunch.

Deep within the bowels of Secorpus 7, several outlaws played a game of cards within an illegal gambling den.


Castors contact, a gnarled man with a tattoo above his left eye, laid down a pair of queens on a soiled card table.

"high pair! Hand it over, ladies." Helpless grains followed by money being pushed across the table stopped suddenly when another voice spoke.

"Ladies? I've got the other two, plus three deuces. Guess you'll be walking home tonight, Edgar?"

The gnarled man with the tattoo, Castors contact, dropped his jaw before slouching in his seat. He had lost it all, his months consumable budget along with his rent. He had little choice now than to go with plan B.

Plan A had been to win this poker game, take his profits to the local whore house and then meet Captain Castor Creed, a man he had severed with in the galactic army, and make a deal for invaluable goods the captain carried.

Plan B Meet Captain castor creed, ambush him, rob him for his cargo, kidnap his crew and slit his throat where he stood.

The gnarled man, Edgar, checked his watch. One hour till the meet with Castor. He had better get ready unless he wanted to live on the streets in the hell hole gutter of Secorpus 7.

"Alright, Girls. He we are!" Castor took the controls and thrusted toward the entrance of the dock. The planet was covered in a thick, frozen mist. It was a constant on the frozen planet, and the reason why the human population lived within concrete fortified bunkers. A literal city encased within 8 foot thick slabs of rock. Castor docked the ship then hit the decompression button, before turning to his trusted crew.

"Alright. First we can get supplies, then we make arrangement to unload our cargo? Ok? Don't get too used to this place cause were gonna be in and out before dawn."

It was nearly 11 pm.

 

[Elyd]

Tessa grimaced as the alarm went off yet again. Adeline was off in her own world of fixing the ship and demanding what we needed next from Castor. Ah well, Tessa was mildly impressed that Castor had found someone to unload the cargo on. It had been creeping her out, having it sitting there in the eerie light. But if they were landing soon, Tessa had to make sure their defenses were up to snuff, so she left the cockpit to make sure all her personal weapons alerts were registering and to gear up.

They landed. Tessa handed Castor and Adeline a blaster before they went looking for supplies. "Better armed than not, guys," she reminded them cheerfully, then saluted Castor and headed for the door. She checked for surprises before opening the door, not really sure what to expect on a strange planet. Not really a welcoming party out there, either. In fact, she was trying to decide if it was deserted. She shrugged, though, and was pretty sure Castor knew what he was doing, so she opened the door.

"Nice deserted city you found us, Castor," she remarked, looking around. "You sure we're in the right spot?" Tessa threw a grin his way, then followed some signs to the marketplace to get supplies. It was pretty quiet, but then it was also 11pm. Even with the 24/7, constant life signs of space, things slowed down on a weeknight. Not that Tessa knew for sure that it was a weeknight, since every planet had its own calendar, but it sure felt like a weeknight. They probably would be okay splitting up and getting what they were responsible for. "Castor, Adie, you guys think you'll be okay if we split up?"