There was cheering and high fives and even Humphrey was throwing air punches and yelling
“
Yes! Yes! Yes!
”
Like Collin, Bubba was leaning back in his seat. They exchanged a quick fist bump before bringing their attention back to the observation window and the total blackness of space. As the sounds of the teens
’
excited voices left the bridge
—
other, repetitive sounds began to take their place. First one, then two, then five console panel lights began to flash. The rhythmic sound of alarms soon blended into a constant stream of annoying blaring.
The three cat-like aliens had remained, still standing behind Collin and Bubba. The quiet one, named Pack, leaned in over the console.
“
Hull breaches on both decks. We
’
re also not properly filtering oxygen.
”
Collin
’
s mind flashed back to the sim rover and its hull breach.
“
Are we in trouble?
”
“
We
’
ve got time
…
not a lot
…
but some.
”
The three
Daccian
cat creatures hurried from the bridge.
DiMaggio took a seat to Collin
’
s right.
“
Is there any way to turn that alarm off?
”
Collin waved his hand over the flashing lights and, one by one, the sound volume on each began to lower to a tolerable level.
Collin leaned forward, first taking in the distant stars beyond the observation window, and then, lower, on what was appearing on the group of display screens.
“
We
’
re not in Kansas anymore
…
or Texas, either, for that matter
…”
Bubba remarked.
“
Or even our own solar system,
”
Collin replied. The center display partially showed a single planet. It was primarily purple and deep amber in color, with wispy white streaks
—
perhaps from surrounding, high-atmospheric, cloud layers.
“
What do you say we give it a break for a bit? Explore the ship
…
maybe get situated?
”
Collin suggested.
* * *
Collin descended the stairs, followed by DiMaggio and Bubba. What they discovered on the first deck were kids busy at work cleaning up the area. Tink was in the kitchen, arguing with two of the Lone Stars
’
defensive tackles
—
something about doing more work and less clowning around. The mess, or dining area, was already looking better
—
someone had cleaned the grime off the floors and straightened up the tables and chairs.
Moving toward the stern, the three made a right, toward crew quarters. Ahead, Collin saw most of the doorways were open. They stopped at the first set of opposing hatchways, where two big guys were conversing across the hall from each other. Bubba signaled hello, with a slight chin nod, to a similarly large black kid, Royce White, who was the Lone Stars
’
starting center.
Collin took a look inside the compartment and was surprised to see it still held a bunch of things
—
possessions left from its previous occupant. Royce was holding up a three-dimensional, almost holographic-looking, image of an alien
—
actually two aliens. One was, Collin surmised, an infant, sitting on the other
’
s lap. Just like any mother and child portrait.
“
I can
’
t decide who
’
s uglier, the mother or the kid
…”
Royce said, holding up the image for Collin, Bubba and DiMaggio to see.
“
I was just telling Panichello that he should keep it since this one looks just like his own mother.
”
Everyone laughed, except Panichello.
“
Bite me,
”
he said, turning into his own quarters.
“
Compartments are pretty nice,
”
Collin said, taking in the bed, a small workspace that held a counter-like desk and what he assumed was a toilet, behind half a bulkhead wall.
“
Is that the can?
”
DiMaggio asked Royce.
“
I hope so or I just dropped a deuce into something I shouldn
’
t have.
”
There were more chuckles. Collin continued down the corridor, waving or nodding to each cubicle
’
s inhabitant. He noticed friends took compartment cubicles next to their friends. The cheerleaders were all bunched together in one section of six compartments next door to each other. He looked for Lydia but didn
’
t see her in any of them.
Collin made a left and found the corridor for quarters lining the starboard side of the ship. Quarters here looked to be inhabited as well. He found Humphrey, Clifford Bosh, Owen Platt and Garry Hurst had selected compartments clustered next to each other. Continuing on, he passed another compartment. Inside, Darren was sitting on a bed in deep discussion with Lydia sitting next to him
—
her hand resting on his knee. Collin waved as he passed. Darren scowled and used the toe of his shoe to swing the hatch closed.
The next few compartment hatchways were wide open. Apparently no one had laid claim to these.
“
I guess I
’
ll take this one,
”
Collin said, looking inside the small area. For the first time he noticed each had a small porthole window that looked out to the black space beyond. Bubba and DiMaggio took the next two compartments down the line from Collin
’
s.
Collin sat on the bed and looked around the sparse space.
Strange
…
no personal items in here
, he thought. He doubted anyone had lived here when
…
whatever
…
had happened to the ship.
He heard a noise and looked back to the open hatchway. Orman stood there, looking agitated.
“
What is it, Orman?
”
“
Looks like we
’
ll be able to patch the hull breaches. Cine and Pack are working on the last of them now.
”
“
So, is there some other problem?
”
Collin asked, unsure what Orman wanted.
“
There
’
s an incoming hail. A ship is approaching.
”
Collin just stared at Orman.
And this is the last thing on your list to inform me about?
he thought. He got off the bed, squeezed by Orman, and yelled down the corridor:
“
Bubba, DiMaggio
…
we
’
ve got company!
”
He didn
’
t wait for the others as he made his way out of the crew quarters, past the mess and kitchen, and back up the stairs. When he entered the bridge, it was empty. Empty except for a video image of a humanoid face on the center display, staring back at him.
Chapter 16
Collin looked for a way to open up a line of communication. The man tilted his head and furrowed his brow. Collin turned toward Orman and shrugged his shoulders.
“
I already opened the channel. You can speak freely to him,
”
Orman said.
Collin flushed, feeling stupid. He sat down and looked at the unkempt, unshaven man on the display.
“
Um
…
hello?
”
Again the man
’
s brow furrowed. He began speaking, though it took several beats for Collin to hear actual words coming from his mouth
—
and then they were totally out of sync.
“
It takes a second for the translation to catch up. The longer you talk the more it becomes in sync,
”
Orman said, looking exasperated at Collin
’
s total lack of understanding modern technology.
“
I am Capitano Dante Primo, Duca of the Brotherhood house of Torre, I am Captain of the
Tyrant
. I wish to speak to the commander of that vessel, boy.
”
Collin exchanged a quick glance with Bubba and DiMaggio. Bubba said,
“
That
’
s a mouthful
…
tell him he can suc
—”
“
I
’
m the commander,
”
Collin said, putting his attention back on the display.
Captain Primo looked somewhat bemused by that.
“
Okay
…
and who are you?
”
“
Collin Frost
…
I
’
m Commander Collin Frost.
”
Collin purposely didn
’
t look over to Bubba or DiMaggio; so far, they hadn
’
t snickered or made any snide comments when he named himself commander.
“
Fine. Commander Frost. I
’
d like to commend you on your escape from that collector ship. Can
’
t say I
’
ve ever heard of that occurring before.
”
Bubba began to fiddle with the console when a second display, to the left of the captain, suddenly came alive: the image of a sleek-looking spacecraft appeared. Without any nearby object around to compare its size to in open space, it was difficult to guesstimate how large a ship it actually was.
“
Thank you, Captain. It was a close call.
”
The captain slowly nodded as if considering his next words.
“
That
’
s a
…
um
…
mining or excavating vessel, if I
’
m not mistaken
…
yes?
”
he asked.
“
That
’
s right.
”
“
No weapons systems. So how did you
—”
“
Excavation laser. Turned it up to the max setting and fired away.
”
Primo laughed out loud and Collin heard others laughing behind him, joining in.
“
You have a name for that ship, Commander?
”
This time Collin let his eyes quickly dart to DiMaggio before answering.
“
Best we can come up with is the
Turd
.
”
He laughed again as he rubbed his forehead, trying to get serious.
“
Look,
”
said Primo,
“
I don
’
t know what you
’
re doing way out here
…
surprisingly close to entering Her Majesty
’
s outer border.
”
“
We
’
re not from here. We
’
re from planet Earth. We don
’
t know anything about a border
…
or Her Majesty, either, for that matter.
”
Primo looked like he
’
d swallowed something unsavory.
“
That collector ship you destroyed came through a Rolm portal about eight hours ago. It was one of her ships. Our sensor readings told us it was coming from more than twenty-eight light years
’
distance away
…
from what we call frontier space.
”
Collin didn
’
t know what to say to that.
“
Listen, kid, you
’
ve picked a pretty nasty place to be cruising around in.
”
“
Why
’
s that?
”
Collin asked.
“
There are two kinds of ships in this quadrant
…
those that are aligned with Her Majesty and those that oppose her.
”
“
Who is
…”
“
Her Majesty? She
’
s a goddess,
”
he snickered.
“
At least, that
’
s what her faithful minions would tell you. This is a vast solar system, with four suns and no less than one hundred surrounding planets. She is the undisputed ruler of all space within this system and she, and her council, do not take kindly to uninvited guests, travelers, interlopers
…
the consequences being a quick and not so glorious death at the hands of her Kardon Guard.
”
“
Are you
…
a part of this Kardon Guard?
”
The captain
’
s teeth flashed white with a smile.
“
No, young man
…
I certainly am not associated with the Kardon Guard. You could say I
…”
he gestured to the unseen beings around him,
“
and all those here are on the other side of things
…
the side that opposes Her Majesty Queen Arabella Valora.
”
Collin thought her name was beautiful. He wondered if Her Majesty looked anything like her name.
“
Where did you say you originated from?
”
Captain Primo asked.
“
Earth. We need to get back there. We need to go home.
”
“
Well
…
I
’
m sorry to tell you, but you
’
ll be stuck here for a while.
”
He continued to stare back at Collin for several long seconds.
“
I
’
m going to make you an offer. One you should take very seriously. Align with us, our
Brotherhood
, and perhaps we
’
ll find a place for you and your kind within our fleet.
”