Star Traders

However,” Eric the Elder stated with a smile, “Eric will be able to be with you during your training period, should you accept the job as commander, that is. We do need you…. desperately. Our lack of manpower is critical. We don’t even have enough Larn crew to give our ships a full complement. We have found that we can easily pick up sufficient Larn help from the worlds we have landed on so far, however. They are quite eager, in fact, to serve with us. Commanders for our ships are at a premium. We have only the five I mentioned earlier.

“We have been gathering together a crew with some experience for you. Your co-pilot, Peter Johnson, has been on at least 6 missions. Your communications officer, Jake Armitage, has been on the same. Your quartermaster, Lars Pierson, was a professional ship quartermaster on E-1 for years and knows the art of gathering sufficient supplies. Your weapons system officer is Kristin Krueger. From the looks of it, your mission will take about 4 months.”

“Four months! Where the hell am I going?” Jayne cried.

“Your destination is called Epsilon 4 by the Dran, about 50,000 light years away.” Eric the Younger informed her.

“Why so far? Don’t we have any close than that? Somewhere I can go just for practice a few times? 50,000 light years! Shees!”

“We need information from a destination outside the 50,000 light year destruction sphere estimated by the Dran.” Eric the Younger explained. “This is our opportunity to do it. We want to know if there are plans to expand in our direction, now that the time element for the destruction is over. We want to know if the Dran are aware the destruction did not happen. Basically, we want to know if they’ve forgotten about this section of their universe.”

“To continue,” Eric the Elder said. “Dr. Yukov is a Russian with impeccable qualifications and he has chosen his own nurse. Your electronics expert is very young, but has considerable experience, having already crewed on three missions. You will have three trading experts for training the 12 cadets you will have on this run. You will have two runners. A runner is a person who can fill in temporarily for any job. He or she is a person who will run errands, do some training, get coffee; be the Jack of all trades. They are the glue that keeps it together up there!”

“Along with your professional crew, you will have 20 Larn helpers. These people do the bull work. They will load and unload the ship, do the cleaning and cooking and laundry and be your gophers at all times. In the chain of command, they are directly under your runners. If possible, always go through your runners or your quartermaster to get something done by the Larn. They are quite easily confused, especially when conflicting orders ensue.

“Your training will take three weeks. The first week is just for your own training. Eric here will do that. The second week will include your crew. The third week will see the inclusion of your Larn, trader trainers and cadets. At the end of the three weeks you will leave for Epsilon 4. The trip will take six weeks each way and you will have a month of trading on Epsilon 4. Now…. Think you want to do it?”

Eric the Elder was smiling. He knew damn well that he had her. He knew she couldn’t resist the excitement of space. He knew she couldn’t turn him down.

“You bastard!” Jayne said with a smile. “Both of you! You know damn well that I can’t resist this. That’s why you gave me a free reign lately with the ships, isn’t it? You sucked me in with the excitement of space travel. Damn it! I hope you’re satisfied!”

Eric the Younger laughed as he gathered her in a bear hug. “Well,” he said, “We could only hope!”

“When do we start?” Jayne asked with a glint in her eye.

“It’s going to take you three days to get to E-6 where your training will begin. As soon as you get there you will set up a training schedule,” Eric the Elder said. “The chances are I won’t see either of you for some time. I have some study to do on just when we will be introducing the gravity well to E-1. It won’t be easy to do that. Can you imagine the resistance we are going to have? A large percentage of the population of E-1 is either directly or indirectly connected with the power industry. I have to figure out some way to take care of those workers.”

The new ship was a dream. It was built to the exact size of the Dran ships; 300 ft across and 150 ft high. Every possible comfort seemed to have been thought of and installed. Jayne’s cabin was plush, with three rooms. The bridge had the latest and best electronics imaginable. The Earth Princess handled like a Cadillac. It answered immediately to the helm. The entire ship was impressive. Eric the Elder had the ship built in an obscure airplane factory in Germany. Germany had long been known to have built some of the best airplanes in the world during their empire period, and Eric didn’t want to have the ship built in the open society of the United States for security reasons. Some of the Dran electronics were superior to that of earth, and Eric had those components included in the ship, modified to E-1 standards.

Jayne and Eric trained intensively in the Earth Princess over the next week. The new ship had several innovations not found in the ships she had used in the past. This one had controls not necessary in other ships that would not ply the stars. This one had climate-controlled rooms outfitted with peculiar couches. The couches had gentle water sprays built into them along with air dryers. The rooms were kept at body temperature. The couches had a drain at about the pelvic area and the water was sucked down into that drain. The couches looked comfortable, however. Eric explained that there were couches for all the Earthmen aboard.

“It’s here the crew will stay for about 48 hours, periodically being washed by the spray and dried by the dryers. They will be too sick to move. You, as the only one aboard other than the Larn who is not sick, will take care of them, making sure their IV drips are changed and making them as comfortable as you can for that time or until they can get back on their feet. 48 hours is the minimum. Some will take longer. The Larn seem to be immune to the motion sickness that is so terrible for the Earthmen. They will stay in their quarters until the Earthmen are back to normal. This is because they only have the mentality of a 12-year-old and all that goes with it. We cannot afford to have them believe that the Earthmen are somehow weak and helpless. It simply would not be to out best interests.”

Other training included the operation of the weapons systems placed aboard the vessel. All systems were controlled from the bridge from the various stations provided for them. There were two side by side stations to be manned by the pilot and co-pilot, one for the navigation officer, one for the communications officer and one for weapons systems.

“You think we are going to need guns for Gods sake?” Jayne asked apprehensibly.

“Probably not,” Eric said, “But, if you do, won’t it be nice that you have them? By all indications, no arms will be necessary, however. These are all defensive weapons anyway. Anti missile defense. The Dran is known to have gravity well powered missiles designed to penetrate the hull of vessels. Such an action would release the gravity well that powers the ship and make it vulnerable. Let’s just hope you won’t need them. The only problem seems to be that it takes an hour or so to make your weapons systems ready for use. If you feel you might be in a situation, you should be ready a few hours before it happens. Another safety feature is the dual controls for going into Hyperlink. It wouldn’t do for the ship to accidentally drop into Hyperlink because someone inadvertently hit the button. So we have added an override in the co-pilots controls. The co-pilot must first hit the override before the pilot can use his controls to go into Hyperlink.

“Here’s a little more about the Gravity Well power source. All Gravity Wells are pliable. They are distributed throughout the skin of the ship in a thin sheet. The ship is designed to have several openings for ingress and egress, but for all purposes it consists of an outer shell and an inner shell a fraction of an inch inside of it. Supports for the outer hull are easily installed because the gravity well will automatically surround any obstructions. As long as the integrity of the Gravity Well is not interfered with, its configuration will mould itself to any form. The Gravity Well is forced into the thin layer between the hulls. A breach of a foot or so in the outer shell will allow the Gravity Well to escape so one must prevent that from happening at all costs.

“One of the few things where the Dran are superior to us is in their radar. Where ours merely find the blip on the screen, theirs will actually identify what that blip is. It seems to work the same way as ours and I’m not sure just what it is that makes it superior.”

“I don’t have to know why, Eric,” Jayne commented. “Just show me how it works.”

“OK. Here’s the control for distance and direction….”

Jayne practiced diligently for that week, interspersing that training with learning the Larn language. By the end of the week, she knew every part of the ship, from the laundry room to the kitchens where the Larn would be preparing food for the crew. She even made suggestions for the kind of food she would like aboard and was able to hold short conversations in Larn. Learning the language was important, for it was the only language used on all the known planets.

Jayne and Eric watched their crew arrive through the portal from E-5 to E-6 aboard a ship remarkably like their own vessel. Jayne was again impressed by the passage. The ship waiting to make the crossing in the other direction was also similar to theirs. One ship seemed to replace the other on the dais, or platform, designed to hold them. Jayne was dressed in her command uniform, as was Eric, her four pips of command prominent on her collar.

“I’ll never get over how this site is so similar to Stonehenge in England!” she said. “I’ve been wondering how come that is so.”

Eric chuckled. “Dad has a theory about that. He feels the original portal to E-1 was in England. Over centuries of abandonment, time and weather destroyed the original site. The custom of taking care of the original site was no doubt carried on for centuries after the closing of the portal. As the population became larger and larger, the people traveled and settled areas far from the original site, but the legends of previous riches and power were carried with them. As time passed the natives who had immigrated to other places constructed similar sites to worship what had become their Gods. In other words, they merely copied what they thought was their way into heaven when they built Stonehenge and similar sites. Not on such a grand scale as the real thing, of course!”

Jayne’s crew trooped aboard their ship immediately and, since they were all seasoned veterans, knew where to put their gear. The quartermaster was the only one who needed direction and that was minimal. A large man with a full black beard, he was quite swarthy and seemed to intimidate most of the others. Jayne sent for him immediately.

“Mr. Lars Pierson!” she read from her clipboard. “I see you were quartermaster aboard several freighters. I assume you’ve the experience to outfit this ship for four months or so. I also observed the rest of the crew giving you a wide berth as you came aboard. I assume this is because you are big and bad! Maybe that has gone to your head. I will tell you now: If you give me any grief on this mission I will see you expelled from the ship. It won’t be pretty. We will be in space. I will tolerate no friction among my crew! Are we understood?”

Lars’ eyes opened wide. “Yes Ma’am!” he replied.

“See that it is so. I expect you to have your supplies aboard by noon tomorrow. You have been apprised of how long the ship will be out and who and how many will be aboard. Most of your supplies have been sitting on the docks here for some time. Inventory them and decide what you are missing or what you wish to add. Your help will be here at dawn in the form of 30 Larn workers. Your field of operation will be the entire first deck. That deck will be used for your storage, laundry, kitchen, mess and for the Larn quarters. Do you know the language?”

“I can get along in it,” Lars said with some degree of surliness.

“You have only a few chances to gather my ire Mr. Pierson. You just used one of them!” Jayne pointed to him and she and Eric walked away.

“Shees!” Eric said. “You just scared the shit out of that man!”

“Hey, if I’m going to have to keep this crew in line, I have to start out tough. I can always let up some after I get to know some of them. It’s easy to let up later but impossible to crack down if one starts off too timid. So, let me run it my way! Besides, I hate bullies, and he reminds me of one!”

Eric held up his hands, laughing. “You got it! I was just commenting, not interfering!”

“Ok. By the way, I’d like the Larn who are in the crew to start as soon as possible. I want them to take care of the cleaning, cooking and such while we are here in port. If you think I’m going to scrub floors for the next two weeks, you have another think coming!”

“OK. They’ll be in sometime tomorrow,” Eric said. “We didn’t think of that part.”

“I know. It seems there’s a lot of stuff you guys haven’t thought of,” Jayne commented as she headed for the off ramp of the ship. “For instance, did you ever think of looking at E-6 here when you were thinking of things to trade?”

“What do you mean?” Eric asked.

“I noticed we had to import all our sugar from E-1. They don’t make it here?”

“Not that I know of. I don’t think the plant is anywhere on this planet.” It started to dawn on Eric. “You mean…?”

“That’s right,” Jayne cut in, “Part of our cargo for trade should be lots of sugar. I noticed they go for it in a big way here on E-6. And if you can think of anything else they don’t have on E-6, include it in our cargo.”

Eric looked at her in wonder. “How come nobody thought of that?” he asked.

“Probably too close to it. I’m somewhat of an outsider. It makes sense to me.”

“Me too. I’ll pass this along. I wonder….The Dran here get a huge kick out of our sports tapes. Maybe we can overlay some of the commentary in the Larn language and trade them on the Dran worlds.”

“Could be,” Jayne agreed. “I wouldn’t put too many eggs in that basket though. It’s probably a temporary thing. Following a team would be difficult for them and difficult for us to provide. Imagine having to get a weekly tape out to them!”

“We could put together a whole season and parcel it out,” Eric offered.

“That would mean we would have to either hire someone on that world to do it or leave someone there to do it. I remind you we are short of personnel according to your father. Besides, I’ve always felt that grown men should find something worth while doing. I have little time for those who can’t get along without their Sunday afternoon dose of stupidity.”

“Wow! You sure can be hard on the American Way. Baseball, Chevrolets and apple pie aren’t your long suit?” Eric asked, smiling.

“I can stand the Chevies and apple pie, but baseball ceases to be a game after 14 years old, I think.”

“That’s true,” Eric said. “Maybe in the long run…”

“Something to think about for the future,” Jayne nodded. “I think we should think about specific items, however. The Larn and the Dran women would be a good market if we could find something for them. Nothing here on E-6 jumps right out at me, however. Not yet, anyway.

“You know,” Jayne said wonderingly. “I can’t remember ever seeing a sick Larn or Dran while I’ve been here. I mean the cold and flu type of thing. How come?”

“That’s another area where the Dran excel,” Eric admitted. “They have an oral cocktail that works wonders! They take it about once every fives years or so, and it seems to give their immune system such a boost that even viruses don’t stand a chance! We are in the process of manufacturing it for use on E-1. The problem right now is manufacturing it in sufficient numbers to cover everyone on E-1. Another item we have to watch for when we try to import such things on E-1 is how many people we are going to put out of work by doing it. Whole economies could be destroyed. We can do it, but slowly. What we want to do is to go through the existing infrastructure when we do import such improvements; the present workers will do all the work. The same will be true when we introduce the gravity well power source. We’d like to introduce it within the present structure. That is; give the present manufacturers the contracts for building the vehicles, ships, planes, homes and so on. This, we think, will overcome the impact of getting rid of the old infrastructure from the use of fossil fuels. It might even spur all the economies of E-1 to greater levels.”

“Well!” Jayne said with a smile. “Its good news that such a medical miracle is at hand! I was concerned about the introduction of mutated viruses and bacteria apparently being passed from world to world. I have heard so much about how quickly these little creatures mutate, I was concerned of our introducing a plague on the worlds we visit, or bringing one home with us. I am reminded of the smallpox brought over from Europe during the 1600’s that just about wiped out the American Indian population. Evidently we won’t have to worry about that!”

“Not a bit,” Eric agreed. “Dad thought about that long before he agreed to go off into space. We have never had to use the antibody in all the years we have been here, however. It seems we are compatible with the Larn and Dran in every way.”

The Larn came early the next morning. Lars put them to work immediately loading and storing the supplies into the ship. Jayne had to admit he seemed to know his job, and the Larn seemed to love the big man. It was apparent before long that Lars loved them too. She even saw him smiling a few times.

The rest of the crew was aboard by early afternoon. The Larn also helped them load their equipment.

The runners took over from Lars, organizing the loading of the equipment. The hospital was set up and everything was ready to go by early evening. The smell of cooking drifted through the ship as the Larn took over the kitchen duties. The meal was served in the mess hall on a long table, Jayne sitting at the head. She used the meal as an opportunity to get to know a bit about her crew. All of those present had a great respect for her. She wondered why, since they didn’t know her at all.

“They know what is coming,” Eric whispered. “You are going to take care of all their needs for two days. You’ll see them at their weakest, and they are somewhat embarrassed about it. I’ve seen it before. I’ve been there. Believe me, the experience is a demeaning thing for most people. It makes no sense to feel that way, but the fact remains that it exists. They are in awe of you in that you don’t have to go through that experience.”

“Silly!” Jayne whispered back. “No reason to feel that way!”

“You know it and I know it and so do they, but the fact remains they do feel that way. That sickness is terrible!”

Everyone was in uniform. Eric had already explained that most of the crew were ex-servicemen from E-1 and were used to a chain of command. Her uniform was form fitting and was the black of command. Red piping outlined collars and cuffs on her ships command team. The blue of quartermaster and runners were on her left. The green of hospital staff on her right. Her command occupied the other end of the table. Another table was sitting empty on their left. The traders and staff and the cadets would use this table. The Larn crew not helping in the kitchen used the table on her left.

The food was plentiful but drab. Spices seemed to be missing in the cooking. Jayne glanced over at Lars Pierson.

“Mr. Pierson,” she began. “Make sure you order and have delivered a supply of spices and instructions in their use by lift off. And please give the traders the message that perhaps spices would be a good trading item. It was true in the Middle Ages, and may very well be true today. Spices were the motivating factor in establishing trade with the Middle and Far East at that time, and if this cooking is an example of what we will be facing on the Larn worlds, they will welcome the change! We should learn by studying history.”

“Aye, Aye, Ma’am!” Lars grinned.

Jayne looked at Lars sharply, trying to determine whether his quick agreement had any underlying meaning. She saw none. In fact, she was sure the smile was genuine. Well, Well! she thought. The leopard might very well be changing his spots!

“Captain?” Lars asked. “I would like to talk to you privately, if possible.”

“Certainly, Mr. Pierson,” Jayne said, “My office is always open to the crew.”

The meal went well, regardless of its tastelessness.

As it ended Jayne stood. “Your time is now your own until morning,” she said. I will expect you to report for first training at 0800. Good night, ladies and gentlemen.”

They had all stood when she did, and stood at attention until she moved to leave the room. She shook her head in wonder as she and Eric made their way to her cabin.

“I think you did great!” Eric said as he hugged her tight. “My God, even Lars had a lot of respect for you!”

Jayne laughed. “I think he has found his niche. He has a crew of Larn who seem to like him. He probably never had that back on E-1!”

At 0700 the next morning, Eric and Jayne were having breakfast in the mess. She wasn’t sure just what breakfast was, but it looked a lot like lumpy oatmeal. And about as tasteful as an old shoe. The only saving factor was imported orange juice and coffee from E-1. She reminded herself to put in a supply of both before leaving for Epsilon 4.

Lars came into the mess hall as they were finishing.

“Ma’am,” he began. “I know I got off on the wrong foot with you yesterday, and I’d like to apologize for that. I left E-1 for several reasons, not the least of which was an unhappy life. It only took one day here with these little Larn people for me to realize what I had been missing. These people are so damn happy it’s catching! I’ve never felt this way in my life, and I want to thank you for allowing me to crew on this vessel. Don’t worry; you’ll have absolutely no trouble from the likes of me!”

“I appreciate that, Lars,” Jayne stuck out her hand and grasped his. “I look forward to working with you! And thank you. You will no doubt make my job a lot easier.”

Lars gave her a small salute and left the room.

“Well, I’ll be damned!” Eric commented, balancing back on his chair. “Here I was worried about you having trouble with that guy! The rest of the crew seems to be just fine. I think you have a good bunch here. There is one other possible exception. Your Executive officer, Peter Johnson seems to be a bit put out that he isn’t commanding this mission. I think he feels his experience of six other missions gives him that right. He hasn’t actually said so, but it’s a feeling I have. Keep an eye on him.”

“I will do that, Eric,” said Jayne. “Now, if only the cadets and their trainers are well chosen!”

The training of the crew was almost anticlimactic. They had all been there before, and, with the exception of Lars Pierson, had more experience in space than Jayne did. The week seemed to be for her training rather than for the crew. They were a big help to her, and by the end of the week, they operated like a well-oiled machine.

Even the Larn were getting along well. She had taken time to explain to the cooks what she expected by way of improving breakfast and the use of certain spices. Stewed tomatoes and roast chicken soon graced their table. Deep fried lake perch with tartar sauce was a favorite of the crew. Pork and beef roasts together with mashed potatoes and gravy and rutabaga turned out to be the favorite of the Larn. Jayne brought mealtimes the most looked forward to time of the day for her crew. It was here that they had most of their discussions; among the relaxed atmosphere of the evening meal. She had a happy crew. By the end of the week they were all looking forward to meeting with the trainers and cadets.

Jayne hated exercise. She’d rather do just about anything than run uselessly around a park or road somewhere. Two years ago, about the time she was finishing her last novel, Sometime After Midnight, she took a long look at herself in a full length mirror and decided that she would make another effort to take off the growing roundness all over her body. She felt that losing about 30 pounds would do it. She began walking every morning for an hour. It soon turned to running. Running was just a little more fun that walking, even though she felt watching grass grow was more exciting than either. She dressed in her sweats and sneakers and walked down the ramp of the ship into the fresh air.

Lars and five Larn waited there dressed similarly.

“What the hell are you doing?” she said irritably.

“We’re going to take a run with you,” Lars informed her. “Not my idea. It was theirs,” he indicated the Larn. “They want to run with you. What could I say? They love their captain!”

Jayne looked at them skeptically. “You’ve got to be kidding!” she said.

“Nope. Look at their faces and tell me they aren’t having a great time! And they adore you!”

Jayne studied them for a moment. Then she remembered they were all of 12 years old. She recalled the 12-year-olds she knew, and shook her head a bit. Lars was right. The Larn were as eager as new pups.

“Are you going to be able to keep up with me?” she asked them playfully. “I’m pretty fast you know!” They laughed and cavorted into position around her.

The Larn not only kept up with her and Lars, but ran circles around them, laughing and playing. It was great sport to them to be running with Lars and their captain.

Jayne noticed several things about the way they were dressed. They had jeans and sweatshirts.

“Where’d they get the clothing?” she asked Lars upon returning. “These are jeans from E-1 and so are the shirts.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “They can’t get enough of our earth clothing, and jeans and sneakers seem to be their choice of wear.”

“Remind me to have those items included in out trading inventory,” she told Lars. “If they like them here, I’m sure they will like them on Epsilon 4. We may just get some tradable items yet!”

The traders arrived on the next shuttle from E-5. They brought with them 20 new graduates from the trader school on E-5. Jayne met with the leader, Joan Kessler, in the kitchen over a cup of coffee.

“I have some ideas for trading items, Ms. Kessler,” she said.

Joan looked at her skeptically. “Oh?” she commented. “And what would they be?”

“I would suggest we set in a large supply of sugar. They don’t have any here on E-6, and I’m betting they don’t have it on Epsilon 4. Also, the cooking done by the Larn is atrocious! They have salt, but not a spice in a truckload. I’d also suggest a variety of spices be included in our inventory. It’s a bit chancy, I know, but I remember that the spice trade was heavy and successful in the middle ages. Another couple of items include a supply of jeans and sneakers. The Larn here love them, and I would imagine the Dran will follow suit.”

Joan seemed to perk up at these suggestions. Soon a small smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.

“My God!” she said. “I think you may just have something there! Here we have been wondering what technical items the Dran may need, and ignoring the obvious! I think you may be exactly right! I’ll order those items today, and have them sent directly from E-1. I want them aboard tomorrow, not three days from now!”

Ten tons of sugar and a like amount of various spices arrived the next day, along with thousand of pairs of sneakers and jeans. Fortunately, the Larn were almost of a size. There was very little variation in either their color or height. Each remained between 5’3 and 5’5. Their weight was also close. Variety to be sure, but much less than expected. They were a coffee color and fine featured. The women were only slightly smaller than the men were, and quite beautiful, in a childish way. Even at maturity they reminded one of children at play.

Dinner that evening consisted of sautéed chicken breasts, stewed tomatoes and onions, cauliflower and green beans. The chicken breasts were basted with a sauce consisting of a dash of crushed garlic, salt and pepper, chopped green onion and vinaigrette. The stewed tomatoes and onions also had some garlic and chopped celery, and simmered in a dash of vinegar and sweet red wine. The cauliflower was chopped to a consistency of mashed potatoes with milk and butter added. The cooking had finally arrived at something edible. Everyone dug in enthusiastically.

“I expect everyone to share their own special recipes with the Larn!” Jayne said with a grin. “We’re going to have to eat their cooking for the next three months and I, for one, have no intention of eating without some kind of taste to it!”

Training for the week went well as they spent a lot of time in space around E-6 perfecting their timing and inventorying their trading goods. The time for training was soon over. Jayne was somewhat apprehensive as the time for the mission drew closer and closer.

“You’ll be fine,” Eric consoled her. “I’ve never seen anyone so respected by a crew as you are with yours. It’s wonderful to see. I’m sure you’ll do well.”