Chapter 18: Repairs

"God, I hate fucking computers!" Mark slammed his fist against a bulkhead. He had been working for several days now attempting to get the ship's core to boot. He had traced several faults to the ship's consoles, particularly the navigation control Arron had damaged during his campaign against the pirates. To his frustration the core refused to co-operate with his efforts, a blank screen just stared back at him like a large holographic sightless eye. The Grojan ship's core was a type he had never seen before, which didn't surprise him as his training had been limited to a few ships the humans had managed to salvage during the war that had not suffered too much damage.

He checked his watch, it was getting late and he had worked all day and made no progress. He ran a hand through his close cropped hair. "Time for a beer I think."

Arron and Minara had let him use their town house, which he preferred to being a guest in their country manor. The almost medieval society on this planet, with its servants, social rules, regulations and attitudes irritated him. Arron had been assigned this planet and was used to it, Minara was a Grojan so God knew what went through her mind. He liked the solitude of the town house that other than a housekeeper had no servants. At the end of the street was a hotel that served a passable beer for aliens, and good simple food. He also liked the company of the artisans who frequented the bar rather than the stream of high society guests who frequented Arron and Minara's manor.

When he had first walked into the hotel bar all conversation had stopped and everyone had turned to look at him. With his blonde hair and aquamarine eyes he stood out from the crowd. They instantly recognized him and being 'their' General Arron's friend had meant he rarely had to buy his own beer and he also had to insist on paying for his meals otherwise he would have got them free as well, and he did not feel comfortable with that even though the landlord told him that since he had started frequenting his establishment business had not been better.

He walked out of the ship and sealed the door. It had been one of the first things he had repaired so at least the ship would be secure. He walked down the ramp and made his way out of the palace gardens. He nodded to the guards as he passed them and walked down the street parallel to the high garden wall before turning down the side street that led to the house. As luck would have it he had to pass the hotel on the way. Bright light and a jovial atmosphere greeted him. At least they were used to him and his presence went largely unnoticed. As always a table had been prepared for him and he made his way through the crowd, acknowledging their greetings, and sat down.

The landlord's daughter, with her ample bosom, appeared at his side as if by magic and placed a brimming tankard of beer in front of him, leaning forward to reveal even more of her ample assets. "We have a spiced stew today, Mark, would you like that?" She asked.

"Yes please, Mithoran, and line me up another beer as well please." She smiled, revealing her even white teeth and turned towards the bar wiggling suggestively as she walked away.

Mark sighed. Ever since looking into that woman's eyes, only weeks ago for him, years in reality, all he could see was her face, her amazing eyes and even her strange pointed teeth. This Grojan bonding thing really, really sucks, he thought to himself. His size and looks had always ensured he never lacked female company, and not so long ago he would have seriously considered taking the pretty landlord's daughter up on her overt invitation. Even the beautiful court ladies in their finery who frequented Arron's manor or the palace gardens where he worked on the crippled ship, and openly tried to flirt with him did nothing for him. It was just the face of a murdering pirate and bounty hunter that stirred him. "Shit!" He gulped down his beer and banged the empty tankard on the table. In the hubbub of the busy bar no one noticed so he breathed a sigh of relief not wishing to draw attention to his sudden flash of annoyance. Moments later Mithoran brought him a plate of steaming stew and another beer. He thanked her and started to eat.

The next morning he rose after another restless night and wandered down to the kitchen. The housekeeper had, as usual, left out some bread and cheese for his breakfast. He grabbed a handful of both and sat at the kitchen table to eat. He knew he was breaking local social rules, but as there was no one else about he didn't care. As he chewed on the bread he thought about Varna again. "I have to get that murdering bitch out of my head." His voice echoed in the empty kitchen. "God I wish my sister were here to talk to, she would know what to do." His words echoed round the empty space again. He had over the last couple of days sensed there was something wrong. They had always been sensitive to each other's emotions, even as young children, and he had been relieved once he had recovered from the trauma of the cryochamber to sense even over the vast distances that separated them that she was still alive.

At least she had survived the destruction of Earth, and he hoped his grandparents had survived as well. He had a strange feeling she was getting closer. He shrugged. "Oh bollocks, this is not getting the ship fixed." He rose and made his way out of the house then turned down the street towards the palace gardens.

He had been working for a couple of hours, tracing another fault back to the navigation console when he heard voices. He stood up and walked towards the main corridor just as Minara appeared accompanied by a pretty young Grojani woman in her late teens early twenties.

Minara smiled. "Good morning Mark, this is Theasa."

He nodded to the young woman. "Hello." To his amusement she flushed a bright red. Minara appeared not to notice her companions discomfort and continued. "Theasa knows her way round computers Mark, so she should be able to help you get the ship repaired."

Mark raised his eyebrows. "No offense Minara, but isn't she a Grojani? Aren't the Grojani, on this planet living in a technology free world, for the moment anyway?"

"Ah, but she is special, just give her a chance, all right."

"Yes, of course, any help would be appreciated." He smiled at Theasa and was surprised when she flushed an even deeper red.

"Good, I have a meeting with the Queen shortly, so I will leave you two to get acquainted." Minara turned on her heels and walked back down the corridor to the exit hatch.

"Right then Theasa, the main core is this way."

She smiled nervously. "Yes I know."

Mark shrugged at her confidence. "Oh, all right then." They walked together down the corridor and stepped into the core. He watched as Theasa knelt down and removed what looked like a portable computer from a bag she had been wearing on her shoulder. She pulled out a cable and connected the portable to the main monitor.

She looked over her shoulder as the portable powered up. "I can run some diagnostics so we can see what the faults are. Hopefully it will be something simple. The trouble with these units," she gestured towards the cabinet holding the core, "is they are very sensitive to any errors during the start up sequence." Once they are past that they are very robust and are able to cope with most problems and damage. It's just getting the things to go in the first place that's the problem." She smiled at Mark's obvious surprise.

"Where have you been these last few weeks Theasa? While I have been struggling with this thing on my own, and without any test kit to boot!"

She remembered Minara's warning not to reveal she was a member of Varna's crew, not until he had got to know her better at least. "Umm ... I've been detained elsewhere."

Mark raised an eyebrow at that and opened his mouth to say something, when the screen on her portable flashed up a warning.

"Oh that's not good." She touched a key and a stream of data scrolled down the screen. "There is something attached to the core that should not be there." She walked over to the core cabinet and popped a panel and Mark watched as she felt about inside. After a couple of minutes she stood back and frowned at a device in her hand.

"What is it?" He asked as he moved to stand next to her so he could see what she was looking at.

She turned it over a couple of times. "Ancestors! I think it's an active transponder."

"Why would there be an active transponder hidden in the core?" Mark asked in a puzzled voice.

She shrugged. "I don't know, Mark, the only person who would do something like that was Sisanna, but why is another question entirely." She bit her lip. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" He asked.

"Unless it was the bounty hunters who were after us because Sisanna, the evil bitch, murdered the woman who she blamed for causing her to fail the mating ritual. Unfortunately, the woman was a member of an important family and we were all lumped together because of her ... Oh! I wasn't supposed to say anything." She flushed a bright red.