Starship Pilot

The familiar smell of the Zodie was now mixed with sweat and cheap cologne coming from the plump, no, fat man in the passenger area beyond the narrow cockpit. One shouldn't speak ill of customers, but this one...

Shanell snorted as the small spacecraft joined a long line of starships ready to land on the blue planet ahead. Her Onyx Shielded Tamete was dwarfed by starcruisers and private cruisers, but she didn't care. The OST-310 had average sensors, fuel supply and passenger space, below average weapons and cargo space but it was one of the fastest ships available, with shields above average. Made for a crew of one to three people, it suited her needs just fine, although it became small and cramped when she had unpleasant passengers onboard.

Thank the Goddess, they were almost there.

"Can't you find a way around this mess?" he asked with his gravelly voice. His personal hygiene was lacking, but at least she was spared the sight of him. She liked to be the only person that could fit in the one-seat cockpit, but sometimes the presence behind her back seemed to squeeze in with her, invading her personal space.

"Do you see any?" she retorted, gripping the controls tighter.

He muttered something about female pilots and OSTs, intruding even more in her peace of mind. It wasn't her fault if the darn planet ahead was so busy. There must be something going on on the surface, because she'd never seen it so crammed before.

Nyah nyah nyah, she mouthed, seeing the reflection of her grimace on the windshield of the cockpit. There goes Miss Snark again. She should know better by now. For all purposes, she was an interstellar taxi driver, even though sometimes it felt like owning a flying car on a planet's surface.

She loved being a space pilot and owning the small private starship. The Zodie allowed her to be independent – unlike Fat Bastard – and she knew how to navigate the main interstellar routes among the star nations and how to approach the various planets.

Three years out of the Sylvanian Academy, she was one of the best space pilots around, but she preferred freelance work to being hired by some big company. It took time to build a reputation, but she already had a fair number of stories about the people who had passed on her starship... although this one was really forgettable. The worse that had happened so far– being stuck in interstellar traffic with Galaxy's Most Annoying Customer.

She had picked the ride – the fat man who smelled like a pig – on Alahairo and he expected to be on Serenaide, like, yesterday. A trip she had done twice already with no delays whatsoever. Maybe the annoying guy knew what the mess was for. But she wasn't going to ask questions, although often customers just poured it all out on her.

Not this one, though. He already had too many complaints: the ship was too small, the traffic was bad, and he was going to be late, and, and, and.

His grumbling got on her nerves. She loved her job, but not when the Difficult Ones, as she called them, came onboard. She tried to drop those as fast as she could, but sometimes – like now – there was no way to get rid of them quickly.

"This is going to take forever!" he complained again. "They had assured me it was all right if I arrived today!"

She drummed her fingers on the flight controls, frowning. So there was some kind of event. She fished in her memory for the dates of the biggest gatherings.

"Wait, it's the Galactic Tech Fair, is this the reason for the congestion?"

"Yes! I'm supposed to speak on a panel soon!"

"Do you happen to have some kind of pass that gives you priority landing for the Fair? I mean, if they invited you, they should have given you some kind of fast track to get there..."

"They didn't invite me, I volunteered." He snorted. "I even had to pay for my own pass!"

Not a guest of honor, then. Why am I not surprised. She scoffed.

"Not my fault if this is the worst time of the year to land on Serenaide," she retorted. I wish I could get rid of you in some gory way...

Sometimes she hated customers. Some people showed no respect for her or her job. They couldn't be bothered to drive their own starship and expected her to do miracles!

Even fellow free pilots sometimes showed contempt for a woman "stealing" their job, maybe because she was way better than most of them. At twenty-five, she could beat most seasoned pilots. They didn't hit on her only because they knew she was Sylvanian and assumed she was a lesbian. Sylvanians were tough women, but that didn't mean they always loved their own sex. Although the more she knew men, the more Shanell thought they weren't worth her time and effort.

Sometimes she thought of upgrading to a private transport service, uniform and all. She was good-looking, after all, although some frowned at the mahogany highlights in her dark bob of hair and her fashion sense. But then the uniform would solve that, especially since some companies used hats in their livery.

Maybe she should just drop the passenger at the orbital station and tell him to get the short distance shuttle and fuck off. His stench had filled the small starship by now. If he kept complaining, she'd tell him to get off her vehicle at the orbital station that was five minutes to her left.

"So you own this Tamete?" he asked, fanning himself. "I heard these ships' navigational computers are known to have errors."

"Maybe, and that's probably why they need an extremely skilled pilot to drive them," she replied with a shrug. She had some upgrades in her system that weren't really in the other models. But she had done a lot of work on Zodie herself before putting it to flight.

"Where are you from?"

"Sylvania."

"Ah! The Y-chromosome toxic planet!"

"That provides the best pilots of the galaxy."

"Yes, yes, so I've heard. Don't you have a way to skip this line with this small ship? It's getting really late..."

"I can't afford to lose my pilot license, sir."

More muttering and snorting.

"I can drop you at the orbital station and you can take the shuttle to the planet's surface," she suggested with her most angelic voice. "It's probably faster than waiting for this line to clear... Unless there's a line at the immigration office on the orbital station as well."

"Mm..." She heard him fumble with his laptop case. He was probably checking his options on the meganet. "Yes, please, take me to the orbital station," he said at last, sounding relieved. "Thank you, miss."

Wow, he remembered his manners! Shanell scoffed, steering the Zodie away from the line and reaching the much shorter line at the orbital station. He gave her the due credits and she gratefully let him off her starship.

She needed to refuel before the next interstellar trip, so she went back to the line of starships trying to land on Serenaide. She needed some rest in a real bed as well, and the quarters on the orbital station were too spartan even for her, who was used to a very simple lifestyle. She had some money, she wanted to have a real room in a hotel for a few hours.

The Zodie was too small to live onboard and she often wondered how two or three people handled it. Maybe they only transported cargo and used the passenger space to rest and took turns at the narrow cockpit. The single chair slid under the dashboard and it felt almost like a flying car.

Five hours later she docked on Serenaide, in a corner of the spaceport reserved for smaller ships. She pulled out of the cockpit and stood, stretching her limbs before grabbing her backpack and getting off. Having someone to split piloting duty must be nice.

She took the shuttle to the town center, booking a room in a cheap hotel from her tablet on the way there.

The hotel was inside a restored old building, Her room was on the second floor, but she couldn't find it at first. She looked around the narrow corridor at the room numbers, then realized it was beyond a fire door.

Puzzled, she went down a few steps and up a couple more and opened the door. Six more steps took her to a small room. The double bed occupied almost all the surface and the bathroom was so small that if she leaned on the sink she had to leave the door open.

She dropped her backpack, relieved herself and closed the curtains on the small window that opened on lower rooftops. She slumped on the bed with relief. A good night sleep and everything would be fine!

***

The building might be old and strange creaking sounds came from the nearby rooms, but the bed was very comfortable. So comfortable that she spread all over it in bliss and didn't want to get up. Eventually she got out of it and had a quick shower. She went for breakfast in the basement and as she sipped her warm beverage, she checked her tablet.

The Galactic Tech Fair's tickets were expensive, but she could have a look at the space travel section. Buying a five-day pass was almost cheaper, but three days were already gone, so it wasn't really worth it.

She had a look at the program and the speakers. She wondered which one was her ride, and if he'd made it to his panel the day before. Then she noticed a Sire name, Stan-luc Angelle Meraini, and quickly scrolled down. Yes! Here she was! Kim-ash Silverio had been her classmate at the Sylvanian Academy, but she had dropped out after the destruction of her home-planet.

Shanell grinned. Maybe she could spend one day at the Galactic Tech Fair, rekindling old friendships. She checked the program to see if Kim-ash had any panel that day and quickly finished her breakfast.

She told the reception she'd be staying another night. Luckily the hotel wasn't overbooked. It was too lowly for the Fair's attendees – or better, it was too far from the Fair's grounds. Shanell took the local public transport to the venue and bought a ticket.

Kim-ash had a panel in the early afternoon, so she had all morning to check the space travel pavilion. She consulted the venue's map and went quickly through the boots that didn't interest her and stopped in the space travel area, especially at the stands that showed the latest models of starships on their big computer screens.

The Fair was held in a former factory with big hangars and warehouses, but not big enough for real starships. The virtual tours were equally fascinating, though. She asked about upgrades and improvements for the Zodie and talked with other pilots about their beloveds – those vehicles that could cross the stars and travel the galaxy.

Time flew and she grabbed a sandwich at the closest food stall before heading for the panel room. It was a talk about what had been saved of the Sire technology after the destruction of Marc'harid. Luckily most of it had backups on New S.E.T.H. World, Serenaide and Ypsilanti, but all the non-technological treasures, as well as most people, were lost forever.

Shanell slipped in a seat at the back of the room as the eight panelists were starting to introduce themselves. The room was still filling up and it promised to have people standing. Kim-ash's raven hair was an old-fashioned, shoulder-length bob, which meant she hadn't cut it since she'd left the Academy where she had sported a short, almost boyish hairstyle.

Next to her sat a handsome man with brown hair and blue eyes who was introducing himself as Markandeya Sumirasko, head of cybernetics at the Serenaide Labs. Next to him was a twenty-year-old with black hair and eyes who seemed a little young to sit at that table, but he was introduced as "genius hacker from Ypsilanti with Sire genes, Stan-luc Angelle Meraini," sent from the Ypsilantian Labs as their representative.

On the other side of Kim-ash, Shanell saw a young man with a blond shoulder-length mane that somehow looked familiar. She glanced at the name tag. Jes-syd Rossum. She pondered the name and the face, then suddenly remembered. Aya's boyfriend.

Her roommate was also a Sire, who had been spared because she was on Sylvania when Marc'harid had been destroyed, much like Kim-ash. Shanell had seen a picture of Jes-syd years earlier, although she knew after the catastrophe Aya had let him go.

Wow, what a hunk! she thought, staring at the young man. If only she had known! But maybe he was still free. She was certain Aya hadn't gone back to him when they'd finished their course.

She didn't really listen to the panel, but she waited for the panelists to leave the room before stopping Kim-ash.

"Hello, Kim-ash," she greeted. "Remember me?"

She noticed that Jes-syd and Stan-luc stopped with her while the others moved on waving good-bye.

"Shanell?" Kim-ash brightened. "Where did you get that outrageous outfit?"

Shanell laughed. At the start of the Academy, Kim-ash had worn corsets and lace gloves while Shanell wore simple civilian clothes. Now the opposite seemed true, since Kim-ash looked like a very respectable lady and Shanell like a rebel who didn't know how to dress for the occasion.

"I had enough of uniforms on Sylvania," she replied cheerfully. "Look at you, you now look like a Sire princess!"

"I'm not a princess." Kim-ash blushed as Aya – Iso-bel Aya Shermac, great granddaughter of the last Sire emperor – flashed between them. "What are you doing on Serenaide?"

"I took someone to the Fair, but I didn't ask his name," Shanell answered, amused. "So you've become a tech expert?"

"After I... dropped out of the Academy, I didn't want to finish my studies," Kim-ash admitted, blushing. "I mean, what was the point? I had nowhere to go back to. But then Jes-syd gave me a new reason to keep going, so I changed course, got my degree on Serenaide, and now we both work at the Serenaide Labs." She smiled proudly, holding Jes-syd's hand.

"I see." Shanell grinned at both. Jes-syd was serious, though.

"Have you heard from Iso-bel... I mean Aya?" he asked. "I couldn't get in touch with her since we parted on Gweltaz."

"I know, she changed." Shanell sighed. "I call her Icy Aya these days. She did finish her studies, and then I took her to meet with Leo-will Khamisi. I know she has done a master degree on Ulba'wis, but during the past year I don't know where she's been."

"Laura is on Ulba'wis," Stan-luc said. Shanell stared at him, puzzled. "Laura Dubois, former singer of Italian Ignorance and Planetary Mix. She married D'oji'mon N'ardi, Astrid's cousin and drummer of the band, and moved to his home planet long before the Mega Arena clashed on Marc'harid."

"And you know this because...?" Shanell asked him.

"I'm Kay-low Meraini's son, I was born on Marc'harid at the time of the Planetary Mix," he explained with a grin. "But then my mother took me back to Ypsilanti – and my father, his beloved and his mother escaped the disaster because they were visiting me."

"Small galaxy." Shanell shook her head. "And now you're here as a wonder because you have the Vaurabi genes. I thought they were only good singers."

"Actually, Kol-ian Vaurabi was also a very good hacker," Jes-syd said. "I was hoping to complete my education with him and work at the Vaurabi Labs, but..." He shrugged. "And what do you do, Shanell?"

"I'm a starship pilot. I bought myself an OST-310 and now I have a couple of ideas on improvements... although until I transport passengers, I don't really need them. But I'm kind of bored with being a galactic taxi driver and I wonder if I should get on a bigger starship or work for a company or..."

"I came here with the Nova Falstelo of the former Shermac fleet," Stan-luc said. "You might want to talk to the captain, David Sommaruga Dubois... My mother and his sister grew up together on Marc'harid. Iso-bel told the fleet they could keep the ships and do what they wanted with it, so the captains now live mostly onboard."

"Although David could move to Earth, since his parents were from there, but I guess he prefers wandering the Star Nations..." Kim-ash added, thoughtful.

"I'd love to talk to him," Shanell said.

Stan-luc gave her the name of the hotel where David was waiting for him with his crew – who was enjoying planet life for a few days – and they decided to dine together near the venue. Then Jes-syd would take Shanell back to her hotel. Stan-luc was their guest until the end of the Fair.

All three had meetings and things to do, so they parted, deciding to meet at the exit of the venue at dinner time. Shanell resumed her tour of the Fair, feeling very happy with the encounter.

***

David Sommaruga Dubois was one of the few non-Sire who'd been born on the Sire planet and had survived its destruction not because he had decided to go back to his ancestors' homeworld. In fact, his parents had died on Marc'harid in spite of being born on Earth.

David had had two dreams when he'd finished secondary school, writing and space travel. He'd ended up a pilot for the Shermac fleet and had been assigned not to the flagship, since he wasn't Sire, but to a spacecraft with a name very close to the Shermacs' heart, Nova Falstelo.

The "new shooting star" was a star-cruiser of the Faraday Trader FTR-4816 class with good sensors, average speed and good fuel supply, but some things had been implemented. The above average weapons had been paired with above average shields, so the ship could be used also as a warship in emergencies. The passenger space had been upgraded to luxurious cabins in case the ship should ever transport family members – although as far as Shanell knew, Aya had used the Galaxy Express to move around – using some of the mostly unused cargo space.

The crew was anywhere between fifteen to thirty members, depending on the needs of the voyage. At the time of the catastrophe, there were twenty people who had lost their homes but kept their lives and most had stayed and now lived aboard the starship.

It was very simple to pilot, so Shanell thought it couldn't be very fun to work on such a ship. She enjoyed the tour after another good night of sleep and could understand how one might decide to live onboard such a ship. David suggested she tried other fleets, or even the Galaxy Express, but Shanell felt her pilot skills would be wasted on big ships that might need two navigators.

"Have you ever considered having your own starship?" she asked the ship captain, looking around his spartan cabin that was almost as big as her passenger space. No wonder the fat guy complained for lack of space, but he'd known the size of the ship when he'd hired her!

At thirty-seven David was tall and well built, but since the destruction of Marc'harid he seemed to be quite lazy with the razor. The picture on his badge showed him clean-shaven, but he now had a stubble and his uniform wasn't as clean as it probably used to be. As if he couldn't care less anymore, since he was on his own and didn't have to keep someone else's name high.

"I have my own starship now," he replied with a grin. "Iso-bel told us we could keep them. She didn't need us, so she gave us the ships we were serving on. Some decided to start anew on some other planet, but most of us are space junkies. We like traveling and we don't need a place to call home except the Nova Falstelo."

"I don't miss Sylvania either, even though I can go back any time," she admitted. "It's just that sometimes, some customers are so... irritating, it makes me wonder if I'm in the wrong trade."

"We're in the same trade, Shanell," David replied. "Even though we don't ask friends like Stan-luc to pay us, we offer passage for a fee, and since we have a bigger ship, we can accommodate families or meetings. Of course there's almost twenty of us to deal with the customers, so it's less daunting than having to do everything yourself."

Shanell pursed her lip and pondered. "Maybe I should find an associate," she said. "I wonder if Aya would like to join me!"

"Have you heard from her?" David asked, frowning in worry. "We haven't heard anything in five years. None of the captains or the admiral has heard from her. She vanished."

"Last I heard her, she was on Ulba'wis. I've been told your sister lives there."

"Ah, yes, but she didn't mention seeing Iso-bel... I guess she stayed away from anyone who reminded her of her home-planet." David sighed and looked away. "Me, Laura, Jes-syd, Stan-luc, Kay-low..."

"I took her to the Khamisi Pride. But then yes, I guess she cut all ties with the Sire." Shanell rose from the chair David had offered her. "Thank you for your time, captain. I wish you all the best for this ship and your new trade..."

"If my other career takes off, I might just stop traveling and settle on Earth," David said with a grin. "But I'm still gathering ideas..."

"So what do you write?"

"Space pirates and other adventurers' stories, mostly. Although I'm not a space pirate yet, but I know enough about starships to come up with new story lines for my series... And I've talked extensively with many adventurers, since there were plenty in my life!" He winked. "From different planets too! Sylvania included!"

"Wait, you're David Somma, who writes the series of Harvey Rose, the former air force officer turned pirate who is annoyed by excessive alcohol and is a sucker for gratuitous violence?"

He chuckled. "Yes, his favorite sin is lust, his favorite virtue is kindness, he has a dog and a wife on his home planet, and he is obviously not me!"

She smiled. The character was described as short, lanky, with strong features, gray eyes and short, pale red hair. Definitely not David, no.

"I love those stories. How come you didn't use Dubois like your sister as a pen name?"

"Somma means 'sum' but also 'highest', and it's shorter than Sommaruga – which, by the way, means 'highest wrinkle' in Italian, my father's mother tongue – so I chose that one. Not because I don't want to be connected to Laura, but it sounded better than 'from the wood', which is more or less the translation of Dubois in French..."

Shanell giggled. She knew nothing of the old dialects of Earth. She found it funny that he spoke so many languages, some almost gone. He was fluent in Intergalactic, the Sire language and two Earth dialects. Not bad.

"I will look forward to the next adventure of Harvey Rose," she said. "And if I hear something that might inspire you, I'll send you a message."

"And if you hear from Aya, please let me know she's all right," he added, shaking her hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you."

Shanell got off the Nova Falstelo. As she headed for the Zodie in another side of the spaceport, she received a call. Frowning at the unknown number, she answered and was surprised to see the face of a female Galaxy Police officer with black hair and almond-shaped eyes.

"Shanell Katherina? This is Officer Ikagoru of the Galaxy Police. We got your starship."

"My... what?" Shanell raised her eyes and saw that indeed the Zodie was gone. "Shit!" she muttered. "Where are you?"

"We're heading back to Serenaide with the stolen ship. Someone hoped to get away with theft in the confusion of the Tech Fair." The policewoman smiled. "We should be there soon. I would like to have a word with you as well."

"Regarding?" Shanell asked, raising her eyebrows, skeptical.

"You're from Sylvania, is that correct?"

"Yes." It was also plain obvious if they got her starship.

"Did you know Iso-bel Aya Shermac?"

Shanell held her breath. Her former roommate kept popping out a lot, lately.

"Haven't seen her in years," she said quickly.

"We're cousins." The policewoman smiled. "I only want to have news."

"I have lost track of her after we finished the Academy."

"Oh. Pity. Stay there, we're coming."

Shanell signed off and frowned. Aya had a cousin in the GP? She quickly surfed the meganet. Well, Aya's mother was called Mayumi Ikagoru. So it made sense that Aya had a cousin on Xi-kong. Aya was a Xi-kongian name anyway.

Interesting. Everybody seemed worried for Aya. She had clearly vanished with everyone.

She went to wait in the food area of the spaceport. Eventually Officer Ikagoru called her again and she met with the petite Xi-kongian woman.

"Kaori," she said with a smile. "Please sign the paperwork and you can take back the Zodie. And if you run into my cousin, please send her my greetings."

"I will. Thank you, Kaori."

She was now ready to take off from Serenaide, before the Tech Fair ended and the air traffic was again one big, messy congestion. She checked the fuel and was ready to depart when her videophone rang again.

"Aya!" she squealed in delight at the sight of her roommate on the small screen. "Did you hear us talking about you?"

"Ah, no, I called to know if you're available for a pick up," Aya answered, slightly puzzled.

"I am," she answered cheerfully. They'd have time to catch up when they met. "I'm currently on Serenaide, but was about to leave. They had stolen my Zodie, but your cousin Kaori brought it back to me! Where are you?"

"Can you get me on the Galactic Showboat?"

Shanell frowned. "Do you have its itinerary?"

"I'm sending it to you right now. Let me know when you can pick me up."

"I'll check how long it will take me to reach you and will let you know. You're not in a big hurry are you?"

"I need to get off before the end of the tour, but it doesn't matter where. Just let me know when you can get me, and I'll make sure to do what I have to do by then."

"Wow, you're sounding very mysterious... are you all right?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Shan, see you soon. Oh, and by the way... not a word with Jes-syd or Kim-ash. You haven't heard from me and I didn't call you."

Aya signed off. She hadn't smiled once. She was still Icy Aya, and she didn't care that there were still so many people worried about her. She obviously knew her ex and her friend were on the planet, but she still didn't want to talk to them.

Shanell sighed and put away the phone. She sat in the cockpit and entered the data Aya had sent her on the navigation computer. She adjusted the computations manually and decided that with a stop on Vilas Lok to refuel, she could reach Aya in a couple of days.

She sent her message and started the engine. She was glad to fly off empty of passengers and have some "me" time before meeting her friend. She'd have time to notify Jes-syd and David after seeing Aya, unless she managed to convince her roommate to call them.