Chapter 3: SS Sarina - Secundus

The Sarina was floating about two hundred kilometers from the station. For a storage location it was very close, but Jason assumed they parked the ship there because of the court case, since the ship was the prime location of the crime. Dania was handed a headset and was talking to the pilots as they approached the smooth cylinder.

As they got close enough to make out details, the rearmost quarter of the ship started changing shape. As they got even closer Jason realized a huge section on the ship were now exposed to space. He watched as the shuttle slowly drifted into the cavity. There were some colored light bars against the bulkhead of the Sarina right in front of the shuttle’s cockpit, guiding the pilots until an orange light turned green and Jason felt a slight bump. Some mechanical sound traveled through the shuttle hull as the pilots shut down the shuttle.

“Docking bay power is connected,” Trudy said as she flipped a switch. “Airlock seal secure. Let’s go check out the boss’s new toy,” she gave Jason a saucy wink as she got out of her seat.

“The stowaway stayed hidden the entire time,” Sam muttered as she met Jason at the shuttle side hatch. The marine sergeant and two other marines were floating with Sam and Ron.

“Wait until she gets out of her hiding place and then bring her to me,” Ron instructed the marines. They just nodded before floating back towards the rear of the shuttle.

When Jason floated into the airlock chamber, he found Selene bouncing around from wall to wall. It was obvious she was used to weightless conditions and loved to bounce around. The airlock chamber opened up into the main passageway that now looked like a spiral passageway surrounding a central shaft, until Jason orientated himself with his head towards the front at which time the spiral tunnel looked like a typical spiral staircase. The group were met by three men floating in the passageway.

“Chief engineer Rumba, Your Grace,” the oldest of the three introduced himself. He then introduced the two other younger engineers. Before Jason could say anything, Lady Val floated past him and addressed the three engineers.

“I’m Imperial Judge Kemp,” she said. “You’ve obviously met Lord Jason before. Well, your previous employer, Carlos Mondragon, is dead and by order of the Imperial Court, Duke Jason is now the new owner of this ship. The court also sentenced Dania Mondragon to life-long servitude under the care of Duke Jason for her part in the attack on him.” The three crew members glanced at Jason before looking at Dania. When she did nothing, they turned their attention to Jason and made an awkward weightless bow.

“We are at your service, Duke Jason,” Rumba said.

“This is Captain Shelly Crocker, I guess we should address you as major on the ship. She is the Chief of Staff for House Taurus,” Jason introduced his Chief of Staff. “Talk to her about your new employment conditions. I want to place the Sarina in a parking orbit close to the space elevator above Secundus,” Jason said. “Dania, under supervision of the two shuttle pilots, will act as master of this ship until we are secured in a parking orbit. Dania, please move the ship to the space elevator.” he ordered her. She bent her head before telling the engineers she would talk to them from the bridge. “Let’s go hang out in the conference room behind the bridge,” Jason said to everybody else.

As he started pulling himself after a bubbly and playful Selene, he noticed as more of the marines were posted. Two of them followed the engineers while one anchored himself just outside the airlock hatch. The rest followed Jason.

“This is now your office,” Selene said as she pulled Jason into another hatch across from the conference room. Sam grabbed hold of Jason’s leg and held him back and then entered the hatch before him.

Inside was a spacious and nicely decorated office. There were two more doorways out of the office. Sam and Elena were already through the two doorways while Jason activated the computer built into the desk. The terminal was obviously locked and required a password.

“He always forgot his password, so Mom had to come and unlock it for him,” Selene commented as she watched what Jason was doing. “Here, let me show you,” she said as she brought up an admin screen and typed in a password. While typing it she spoke out loud what she was typing. Jason just smirked when he realized he’d just gotten the ship’s master password, from a six-year-old girl. He distracted Selene before he changed the password and then sent the new password to Lisa’s tablet.

“Nice,” Sam commented when she and Elena rejoined Jason. “You have two luxury cabins back there, each with its own head. I still prefer the rotating space.”

“The stowaway, Your Grace,” Sergeant Coleman said as he poked his head through the office hatch a short time later. The ship had left the orbit of the space station and was decelerating so it would fall inwards to eventually meet up with the lower orbit of the planet. At that moment the gravity in the office was about a third of standard so Jason was sitting behind the desk with Selene perched on top of the desk with her legs crossed. Sam, Elena, and Ron were in front of the desk and turned as the sergeant spoke up.

The stowaway was indeed the hostess, Nina. She was dressed in layers of clothing with a fully unzipped coverall on the outside. Her ankles and wrists were shackled together as well so she had to take short little steps. Jason just stared at her as the marines pushed her into the chair in front of the desk and took up station on either side and behind her. Right behind the two marines and Nina, Lady Val, Soria, and Lisa walked in from somewhere and sat down on the couch against the wall.

“Are there any laws governing stowaways?” Jason asked in a conversational tone.

“Officially no,” Lady Val said in a casual tone as she examined her nails. “I have read that on Terra, that the ship somebody stowed away on had to pay to return the stowaway to the port where the stowaway got onto the ship, something ships owners didn’t like doing. It is effectively a way to steal from the ship owner. There were unsubstantiated reports that when stowaways were discovered during a sea voyage, the crew would just dump them into the sea rather than having to pay to get them back to where they belonged.”

“I guess on spaceships it would be just as easy to space a stowaway,” Soria said with just as much of a neutral look as Lady Val.

“You can be glad we have an imperial judge onboard,” Jason said to Nina.

“I think she just wet herself, Your Grace,” one of the marines said as he frowned down at Nina, who was looking worried when they brought her in but then became really scared while Lady Val and Soria were talking.

“Does this ship have a cell?” Jason wondered. He found and pressed the communications button to the bridge and asked Dania the same question.

“A single cabin down next to the engineering section, with a toilet and shower, which is disabled during weightless conditions. Ask the chief engineer to give you access to that cabin and lock her in there. Remove all her clothing and ask the chief engineer to supply her with a coverall.” Dania responded. The two marines saluted and dragged Nina out by her arms.

“She really thought you were going to space her,” Lady Val said with a surprised look on her face. “I hope you were not actually considering that?”

“You two were the ones who brought up Terran history,” Jason said. “I would have let her go where she wanted to go. There’s no rule about not being allowed to go down to Secundus. She might have had problems paying the elevator fee, but I would have just taken her all the way to Dawson city if she asked. Maybe I should ask one of the ladies to have a talk with her and find out what she wants. As soon as she comes clean, she can get out of the cell and wash her clothes.”

“I will go talk with her,” Soria volunteered as she stood.

“I’m curious about her,” Lady Val said. “I’m going with you.”

“Wanna play ‘good-cop-bad cop’?” Soria asked Val with a smirk.

Jason lifted Selene off the desk and carried her with him onto the bridge. It was his first visit to the bridge of the Sarina. He had only experienced being on the bridge of the Electra. To his surprise the Sarina’s bridge looked more like an oversize shuttle cockpit. With the ship under acceleration, they effectively climbed up the staircase and through the floor of the bridge. It was four times the size of the shuttle cockpit but instead of having several separate workstations and command seats like the Electra, the layout was very similar to the layout of the shuttle cockpit.

Dania and Trudy were sitting next to each other at two identical wrap-around consoles with a huge number of instruments and computer control screens. Gloria was sitting behind and slightly above them at one of two more consoles. In front of them was a huge display screen, easily the same size as the display screen of the Electra.

“This is one cool ship, Your Grace,” Gloria said with a big grin as she patted the arm rest of the command seat next to her. “Have a seat so I can give you a crash course in the operation and feeding of your own space yacht.” Jason sat down and tied the safety harness around him and Selene.

“Too tight!” Selene squeaked.

“But you are my prisoner,” Jason teased the little girl as he released the harness again. Selene hopped off his lap and hung onto the back of the console, looking over Jason’s shoulder, as Gloria gave him a quick overview of what each control and screen did.

“My niece is a lot more at ease and friendly towards you than she ever was with her uncle, Your Grace,” Charlene commented as she and Lin entered the bridge.

“Are you qualified to operate a ship like this?” Jason asked his shuttle pilots.

“I have my captain’s license, Your Grace,” Dania said shyly.

“We are both qualified for various command seats on a cruiser as well as a frigate,” Segar responded. “This bridge looks more like a cut-down version of a frigate. Strictly speaking, this ship needs a captain and a first officer but the controls are laid out in such a way that one person can do everything, as long as it is a peaceful cruise and not a chase after a pirate ship.”

“My guess is by the time we dock at the elevator we will be ready to be certified to operate this ship,” Trudy added.

“I need to ask the judge about Dania,” Jason commented. “There is a law that states slaves are not allowed into space. I might have to leave her on Secundus.” Dania jerked her head around and gave Jason a glaring look, which instantly turned into a pleading look.

“You will have to tell him what you want, Dania,” Charlene said to her sister in a soft kind voice. “He is gentle but also young and inexperienced with women, according to Lady Lisa and Lady Carmen anyway.” Dania gave Jason another look but then she concentrated on the control screens.

“We can switch to autopilot now,” Dania said a while later. “From here we have to just wait for Secundus to catch up with us. The habitation ring is spinning so you can wait there while we are under zero acceleration.”

“You guys can go,” Gloria said. “Trudy and I will stay and keep watch. This is way too much fun.”

The forward habitation cavity of the Sarina reminded Jason somewhat of the garden of House Taurus, lots of potted plants and walkways with small patches of lawn midst paving with trellises and ornamental features everywhere. Jason was dragged into the cavity by Selene who wanted to show him everything in record time, even if he already knew the layout.

She first took him into the living spaces, the quaintly decorated cabins, each with a clay-tile patio and a low patio wall in front. The first time Jason was in the Sarina he only glanced into one of the six cabins without entering them. Now Sarina was dragging him into one of the furnished cabins, which was more like a large suite with two separate cabins, an open central living space, a kitchenette nook and a sizable bathroom. Selene didn’t stop as she dragged Jason into one of the two bedrooms where she went down on her knees and dived headfirst under the free-standing bed. The bed was not overly large, about large enough for three close friends.

“Millie!” Selene called excitedly as she crawled out from under the bed with a stuffed toy in her hands. The toy vaguely reminded Jason of a dog, but it could have been any type of four-legged animal. “This is Millie, my bestest friend, and mom, and now you. Millie, this is Jason, mom’s new boss and my new bestest friend.” She introduced the toy, which she must have lost earlier, to Jason.

Jason, Charlene, and all his female partners were relaxing in the garden in front of the suite where Selene and Dania lived when he saw Lady Val and Soria entering the torus-shaped entrance to the cavity. They had Nina with them. She was still dressed in a coverall too large for her. They came down slowly because all three of them kept stopping to gape in surprise at the space they found themselves in.

“Wow, just wow!” Lady Val exclaimed under her breath when the three joined Jason and his companions. “You really lucked out with this ship, Your Grace. What type of ship is it?”

“It was built using a standard frigate frame but there all comparisons end,” Charlene explained. “Officially it is a private space yacht. You can rename her if you want,” she said to Jason.

“How about the Empress Olivia?” Jason asked, half as a joke. To his surprise everybody nodded their head.

“If you name her after the empress you can even let the emperor, use her for his official trips,” Shelly added.

“Provided a navy cruiser accompanies them,” Lisa added. “At least this will be a lot more comfortable for the empress as well as the emperor’s concubines.”

“Nina, tell his grace what you told us, about your reason for stowing away on the shuttle,” Lady Val instructed the girl. She looked much younger than Jason at first thought her to be. She also looked terrified of Jason as he stood. She looked panicked but stood her ground as Jason took her by her hand and led her to a seat next to Carmen before he sat down across from her.

“I am from the Glamor system,” Nina said shyly. “A year ago, my uncle suddenly went crazy. He raped all the servant girls and when his wife objected, he killed her, strangled her in front of everybody. He has been talking about starting his own secret colony somewhere. He wanted me to be his new wife, but I hid and ran away. I managed to sell some jewelry I stole from Ranul’s wife and made my way here. I lied about my age to get a job.”