This is a chapter of the science fiction blog novel, Stardiver Four. In the story so far Tom has gotten left behind when the ship surrendered to the pirates and the crew was evacuated. Tom was forced to join the pirates and serve as Captain Stone's cabin boy.
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Chapter 50
Roommates
Tom carried the Captain's boots out into the hall. Ollie followed. Tom found the cabin he would share with Lieutenant Ratts. It was small, with white walls and a black floor, but cluttered like a forgotten storage room. Next to the door was a work table, with many pieces of machinery on it. At an angle to it against the wall was a couch. There was another black work table in the middle of the room, and a desk against the bulkhead, the exterior of the ship. Over the desk was a large viewport. It was open and through the glass, the stars sparkled in the black beyond. On the floor were packs and boxes and more parts of machines, and parts of robots.
He sat down on the couch and picked up a rag from the floor and began to clear gore off the black boots. There was black soot and brown crust that had to be rubbed hard to get off. He tossed the boots down.
Looking at Ollie he asked, "Was it wrong to use the gun?" He felt guilty, "I used a weapon but I was defending us- you and me." Ollie looked at him and wagged his tail. "Besides, we are still alive after all. Dad always said that a gun makes you feel big, and powerful, Dad said that the feeling was a lie. I let my dad down."
He pulled the taser out of the holster. It was heavy. Holding the gun did make him feel big. He pointed it at the gray door. He imagined the Captain in front of him. "This one is for you." He would aim, shoot a laser blast and the bully would flip backward, his arms flapping like a fish and the universe would be rid of a bully.
The door hissed open. Lieutenant Rats and a human form robot were about to step into the room but the Lieutenant found himself looking directly into the barrel of a gun. He stood still.
"O.K," Ratts said in a flat voice. "Kill me."
For a long minute nobody moved, the man waited to die, the boy waited to kill. Tom lowered the gun.
"Sorry," he was embarrassed at being caught playing with a gun like a kid with a toy. "Say, um, I’m really sorry about what happened in the common room. I didn’t want to hurt anybody, it was self-defense,"
"Forget it, son. No one here will blame you." The man’s voice was soft though his face was hard and cold.
The lieutenant walked through the door and the silent blue robot followed. The robot put a box on a work table and opened it. The box contained hundreds of electronic parts, wires, circuits, and assorted junk; Ratts held up his silver robotic hand and opened a small door below the wrist. He took a screwdriver and popped out a small black burnt part. He studied it for a while looking at it the way someone would look at a dead pet. Slowly he looked up at Tom; it was an icy look. “Here kid. Good job, you did,” and tossed the small part to Tom.
The Lieutenant rummaged through the box to find a replacement and popped it in his artificial wrist, he held his hand up. Tom thought he looked somehow like an artist admiring a finished painting. The fingers opened and closed with a smooth rolling motion until it stopped with a fist. The color went from cold silver to warm flesh.
Ratts held out his hand for the gun. Tom sat on the couch, with the gun in his lap. Ratts said nothing but held with his head, a sad blank expression on his face. Tom thought of holding on to the gun. The feeling of the gun in his hand was becoming a comfort to him. "I bet I’ll be sorry." He thought to himself and held out the gun.
Ratts set it on the black table. His expert hands worked over the gun. Soon it was in pieces all over the table. He rummaged in his box of parts and pulled out a wire with a clear bubble on the end. With it, he quickly fixed the charge light. Rummaging through the box again he brought out a new battery pack and other parts. Then with blurring speed he rebuilt the gun and handed it back to Tom.
"I can't stand to see a beautiful piece of machinery not in full working order," He said softly, "Never give your gun to anyone. Take good care of it. It’s set for maximum kill. Keep it there. It has extra charge now with one of my own modified battery packs that will last longer." An uneasy silence settled between them. Ollie panted.
"Give your dog some water from my canteen. What’s his name?"
"Ollie."
"What’s that collar he has on?"
"It’s just an activity data recorder. It records things, like if he kills a sheep we will know it was him. Stuff like that." Tom decided it was best to keep the radio a secret.
Lieutenant Ratts stared at the collar for a moment, shook his head and turned to work at the desk. The desk was covered with large rolls of white paper like film. Tom saw that they were plans for the ship. The lieutenant studied them. As he touched a part of the drawing it would enlarge and give more detail. Tom watched for a while then picked up the boots and finished cleaning them. When he tried to stand up but the over-sized suit bunched around his legs and he fell.
The lieutenant looked over at him sideways. "In the bag by the door is a pair of tool belts take them to hold your pants up and try rolling up your sleeves."
"Thanks." Tom wrapped a belt around each leg and then looped them into the gun's holster. He could walk but it was uncomfortable.
He took the boots to the Captain’s cabin. When Tom returned the Lieutenant was still studying the plans of the ship. He read them like a love letter. The gray robot still stood beside him.
"Lock the door. You can sleep on the couch. The dog can sleep on the floor." The lieutenant was bent over the desk and never looked up from the drawings of engine power systems.
"This will be easier when we figure out the command code for the computer. You don’t have the command code do you?" He looked at Tom, his hard face gave a weak half smile. "No, of course not, why would you, a kid, have the command code to the largest spaceship ever built?" He turned his face back to the plans he was studying. Tom was relieved not to answer.
The Lieutenant stood. He took a round object the size of his fist out of a bag and began to twist a metal ring at the back turning it over and over. Tom thought he was trying to break a part off of some machine. Ratts set the thing down on the desk. Tom recognized the face of a clock. It made a strange ticking.
“What is that Lieutenant?"
"It’s an ancient alarm clock, it came from earth."
"What does it do?"
"After a while, a bell will clatter and wake us up."
"Don’t you have a personal pocket computer or a wrist computer?"
"Before, uh, before, just say before all this began I was a Professor of robot history and robot engineering at the University in Alpha City. I may have taught engineering but I have a love of history too. This is a piece of history and a piece of engineering."
"That is why The Captain called you Professor."
"That seems like a long time ago when I taught. Look at this." Lieutenant Ratts brought out a little cloth bag from his tool box. The bag was tied shut with string. He untied it and opened it spilling small round pieces of metal on the desk. "Have you ever seen money before?"
"No." Tom came closer. His heart beat with excitement.
"These copper ones are called pennies. Silver ones are called quarters, dimes or nickels depending on their value. Money. People would kill for it."
"They look old. How old are they?"
"Very. Some go back to the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries."
"Wow, Is that what the Brotherhood is fighting for? Money?" Tom was afraid to ask.
Ratts looked into Tom’s eyes. “No. We started out by protesting for our rights and freedom from those who were keeping us from governing our lives ourselves. Now, well, we are just fighting. I guess we don’t remember how it all started," his gaze drifted away. Whatever his dark thought The Lieutenant did not finish it.
"Is that how you lost your hand?” Tom couldn’t help asking and as soon as he said it he felt bad as if he had stepped on a person’s grave when they were watching.
"Not fighting, no." The man’s voice was almost a whisper. He was staring at the blank wall as if seeing something only he could see. "That was before. We were victims. The central government killed my wife, my son, and my little girl, my beautiful, beautiful Julia. Becoming a father to a son made me a man, but having a daughter gave me a soul. She made me into a poet. After their murder, I felt like I became a ghost. I buried them then I started drinking, but the Brotherhood found me. That is what we called ourselves then. I joined the Liberty Brotherhood. We tried to start a revolution but we lost badly. We have nothing left but to be pirates now." He closed his sad blue eyes and whipped them with his hand. With a long sigh, he turned to the plans on the table. There was nothing else to say.
"Go to sleep, son. I’ll be awake for a while."
Tom lay on the couch. Thankful that this man was too caught up in blueprints of power systems to talk more. He tried to sort out everything that happened but it was too much, "Where would we end up? How long before I take the charged gun and use it? What if I kill someone, would that be crossing the point of no turning back?"
He was so tired, he had no idea how long it had been since he had last slept. His arms and legs felt heavy.
Ollie slept on the floor next to him. Though asleep he was alert that danger was still near. He was still on guard.
(c) Adron
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Adron
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