Galaxy of Empires- Space Pirates Episode #1 (2 page)

“Well, yeah, duh!” Meek remarks with a hint
annoyance.

Caleb Cogg, a male Katin, which is a feline
race, is also with them. He is the ship’s engineer. He usually
wears a jumpsuit with a tool belt and welding goggles. He carries a
blaster when he is outside the ship. He is a good fix-it guy. He is
an expert cat burglar…no pun intended. He is good with all kinds of
security systems, vaults, safes, jail cells, traps, and similar
items. He is a well-known computer hacker, is wanted for
information theft, illegally selling pirated information, murder,
piracy, and other crimes in several empires.

They walk into a huge hangar filled with many
different types of ships for sale. As they enter, a well-dressed,
smooth-talking male Snakekin comes up to them and says, “Greetings.
I am Counselor Fartan Balltail, and I am here to assist you.”

Meek says, “A lawyer selling ships?”

Fartan responds, “Yes. I handle all the
documentation to make sure that you have all the correct papers on
your purchase.”

Meek says, “Well, I never had a ship with
actual documents on it before... hee-hee.”

“Well, they are nice to have if you are
boarded for searches by patrols, not that you would let anyone
board your ship. But you can’t always outrun patrols, if you know
what I mean.”

“Yeah, makes sense.”

“So, what price range and type of ship are
you looking for?”

“Fifty thousand platinum bar range; something
fast with some cargo area. Must have some weapons and shields.”

“Oh, my. I don’t have much in that price
range. Well, I do have this transport ship that just came up for
sale. Come down to the other end of the hangar.”

“Okay,”

“Yes, this is a transport with a lot of cargo
space, can fit 30 people in the suites or just fill them up with
cargo. Takes a seven-man crew to operate.”

A couple of workers come out the shuttle’s
exit ramp carrying a few bags with some feet and hands sticking out
of them. Meek lifts his eyebrow up with some concern as they pass
by. They enter the ship and walk down the corridor. The ship does
look rather new for this price. They go up to the next deck and see
rows of rooms on both sides. They see a work crew cleaning up what
appears to be blood stains in various parts to the hallway. They
also see some painters trying to paint over the words “Cell Block”
in the corridor.

“Um, this was a prison ship, wasn’t it? Looks
like it’s an Elemental Empire design,” Meek deducts.

“Well, I don’t like to put labels on ships as
they can be used for many things.”

“Just how hot is this ship?”

“Don’t worry. I assure you all the
identification transponders have been replaced with new ones.”

“I don’t know, Boss. I think something is
fishy about this one,” Cogg says.

Python agrees, “Yeah. I got a bad feeling
about this one.”

“Hmmm.... What kind of weapons and shields
does it have? Let’s go to the bridge,” Meek inquires.

“Sure, no problem. It has couple of light
cannons in front and back and a light shield. This ship is usually
escorted by a military ship, so it doesn’t have much in the way of
weapons and shields,” Fartan explains.

They enter the bridge, which looks like it
just came off the factory line: six console stations and a
captain’s chair. There is a worker wiping up the bloodstains and
brain matter off the captain’s chair.

“Yes, it is slightly used. I did say that
right,” Fartan adds.

Che says, “Yeah. I would say so. Well, it has
awesome cargo space, good for smuggling, but sucks for pirating
other ships with its lame weapons and shields—not to mention we
can’t dogfight in this fat pig that has no maneuverability.”

“Very good points. Pirating other ships is a
hit or miss on the profitability after all the repairs are done. I
think there is more money in smuggling and transporting people.
This is basically a new ship, and we can attach better weapons on
it later along with better shields,” Meek says.

Cogg suggests, “I can make modifications to
the maneuvering thrusters to make it more maneuverable. Could add a
cloaking device, as this ship is small enough to cloak and has
modern electronics.”

“Cloaking device? Now there is an idea. How
much do those run?” Meek asks with curiosity.

Fartan says, “I have a used one in that Katin
fighter over there I could sell you. Not sure how compatible it is
with this ship. We can try to hook it up. Will need about an hour.
I can let it go for...5,000 bars.”

“Five thousand! Wholly crap! I only have
50,000 for the ship,” Meek shrieks.

“Tell you what I can do for you. Your old
ship is good for scrap metal, so I will take it off your hands and
toss in the cloaking device as an even trade.”

Che, “I think we can get more than five
thousand for our piece of Swiss cheese.”

“Do you seriously want to be hanging around
this place until we can find someone who would give us more for
that piece of crap? Or we could be making some money smuggling
right now,” Python tries to reason.

Che agrees, “True.”

Meek turns to Fartan and says, “You’ve got a
deal.”

“Excellent! I will draw up the papers now.
She will be ready to fly in about hour. It will be fully fueled
with the cloaking device installed. What name do you want to give
her?”

“The Smoking Aces.”

“I will get that painted on the ship, too.
Did you want skull and cross bones with that?”

“Nope, paint this instead under the name,”
Meeks orders, as he gives the famous middle finger hand gesture
known as “The Rod.”

“Um...okay,” Fartan acknowledges.

Meek turns back to the other three and says,
“Tell the others to grab all their stuff off the old ship and move
everything to the new ship as soon as possible. I will contact Lord
Cos and see if he has any smuggling jobs for us on this planet
before we take off. Would like to make some money on our return
trip to Pirate Lord Space.”

“Roger that, Boss,” Che says.

They take off.

“Do you have a long-range vid-com here,
Fartan?”

“Yes, sir. Come to my office.”

A few minutes later, they come into a small
office. “It will give us some privacy.”

Vid-com activates, and a large male Wolfkin
with black hair appears on the screen.

“Capt. Meek, how is life treating you? Did
you get a new ship?”

“Yep, got a good deal on a smuggling ship.
Need to make some money now. We can carry a few hundred tons of
merchandise.”

“Wow! That is impressive! Doesn’t sound like
a fighting ship, so you better watch your back.”

“Yeah, not a fighter, that is for sure. Nice
hauler, though. Got a cloaking device, too.”

“Oh, that makes it an awesome smuggler. Let
me check and see if I have any stuff in that region that needs to
be hauled.”

“Okay.”

“Only got one shipment of stolen arts and
crafts that needs to be picked up on that planet and taken to Laugh
Skull for a drop-off to a fence. Pays 1,000 platinum bars. You
might want to check the market square for regular hauling jobs in
your cargo size range for some extra cash. I will tell the client
to drop off the artwork at Fartan’s place.”

“Sound goods. Will go and check out the
market square and see if I can get some other hauling jobs.”

Vid-com ends.

***

Meek says, “Common Python, need you and the
Shawn to come with me to the market and see if we can get a hauling
gig for our new ship.”

“Sure, Boss. Want me to bring my heavy
machine gun, or just some pistols?” Python asks.

“We not going to war. Just couple hand
blasters will do,” Meek replies.

“Aw, man...how about a few grenades at
least?”

Meek sighs, “Okay.”

“Hee-hee. Python, I never met someone who
always thinks we are going to be blasting our way out of every
place we go,” Shawn says with a hint of sarcasm.

“Better safe than sorry, I always say.
Besides, how many bar fights have we been in lately?”

“True. I am just messing with you. You
probably sleep with your machine gun, don’t you?” Shawn asks
seriously.

“Sometimes, but I prefer lady friends
whenever possible. That is the one big gun I like to show them,
hee-hee,”Python smirks and winks.

“Okay, I could have gone all day without that
image in my head,” Meek says.

Python has been with the crew for a couple
years. He was a heavy weapons specialist when he served in the
Reptilian Military. Since then, he mostly does mercenary work. He
is wanted for murder, piracy, kidnapping, and a list of other
crimes. He is rather tall for a male Snakekin and is striped
instead of spotted as most Snakekins are.

Shawn Belgarion comes from a very good family
background that had money and even sent him to medical school to
become a doctor. Unfortunately, for him, his father was too good
and got in the way of some others with political aspirations that
led to his family getting assassination. He was from the Empire of
Katlin originally, but after his family’s untimely demise, he had
to flee and work off the grid to survive. He has been working with
this crew for about a year as the ship’s doctor. Being a feline, he
prefers to stay out of the water.

After they walk down the corridor of their
new ship, they see a room with Cogg in it working on their android
named M.C.L.O.U.D. No one really knows with that stands for, so
they just call him Mcloud. Cogg, the ship’s engineer, constructed
him from spare parts.

Meek inquires, “Well, did you get it working
again?”

Cogg hesitates, “Got some new parts from the
junkyard down the street and will be able to patch the blaster
holes up for sure. Had to splice some personality and voice modules
together to get them to work.”

“Well, fire him up and let’s see. Otherwise,
I will make you watch reruns of The A-Team for a week,” Meek
threatens.

Cogg flips on a switch in the back of
Mcloud’s head and the android stands up and looks around. Then he
looks at Meek and says in a deep, gritty voice, “Hey boy... you
look mighty cute in them pants.”

“Um...why does he sound like a gay Mr. T?”
Meek inquires.

Cogg replies, “Sorry. I only have parts from
a boxing bot and a pleasure bot. This is the best I can do for
right now.”

Meek looks at Mcloud and sees all the patch
holes from blaster hits.

“Well, just keep doing the best you can,”
Meek says as he hears Python and Sean laughing their heads off
behind him. He turns around and says, “Ho-ho, ha-ha. Let’s go.”

***

“That taxi driver is insane! I’m surprised we
didn’t crash,” Sean remarked.

“No kidding. I was about to shoot him, that
retard,” Python says in agreement.

Meek wakes from a short nap, “We’re here?
Cool. Let’s get to work.”

The marketplace was jammed packed as far as
the eye could see being the largest market in the Reptilian Empire.
Everything is for sale here. Big computer screens are all over the
place to assist people in finding the right merchant for the items
shoppers are looking for. There is even a hauler section for people
needed their purchases delivered.

“According to this monitor, we need to go to
section D, row 11 to sign up for haulers,” Meek says.

“Okay, Boss,” the other two agree and follow
along down the streets. They walk for about 30 minutes and go into
a building with a big “Cargo Shipping” sign outside.

A snake man sitting at a desk says, “What can
I do for you gentleman?”

Meek answers, “We are looking for some
hauling work.”

“Do you have a union card from the haulers’
guild?”

“Not on me at the moment.”

“I can’t sign you up without a union
card.”

“How much does a union card cost?”

“One hundred bars of platinum.”

“Good grief! That’s insane!”

“I don’t make the rules, I just gotta go by
them.”

Another snake man walks in from outside and
says, “Capt. Meek?”

Meek turns around, “Who wants to know?”

“My employer has a job opportunity for you if
you are interested?

“Who is your employer and what kind of
job?”

“He will tell you himself. He will even toss
in the price of your haulers’ union card.”

Python says with apprehension, “Dunno, Boss.
Smells fishy.”

Meek says, “Where does he want to meet?”

The snake man points to a building outside
that appears to be one of the tallest structures in that area.

“Isn’t that the Assassins’ Guild building?”
Shawn says with a worried look on his face.

“Yes, it is. But that is only where people go
to hire assassins. We don’t allow jobs to be done inside, as it
deters clients.”

“Okay, I’ll check it out, but if I think
something doesn’t add up, I’m gone,” Meek iterates.

They go outside and a hover limo is waiting.
They get inside and travel for about 15 minutes. They come to the
front of the building, get out, and walk up the steps. Masked
guards are everywhere in black armor, and search animals patrol the
grounds. Meeks and his crew go up to the door, and three large
scanners scan them.

“You have to leave your weapons here.”

“Screw that,” Python refuses.

“Then you will have to stay outside.”

Meek and Shawn put their weapons in a box
that is put in a safe. They follow their unnamed escort into the
building. They get into the airlift and go to the top floor. As
they walk down the hallway, they notice all the mounted machine
guns following their every move. They come up to end of the hallway
where there are two big doors that open as they approach. As they
walk in, they see a huge conference table with several chairs. The
big chair at the end of the table is turned around looking out the
window. Someone is sitting in the chair facing the window, but Meek
can only see an arm with a cigar in the hand.