The Maiden Voyage - Part 2
Life In The 31st Century - The Misadventures of Derek Dark, Intergalactic Courier.
Welcome back to part two. You join us just as Derek is about to discover just what (or who) triggered the intruder alert.
This series is being serialised every Friday but if you’d rather skip ahead and get the entire story (and my deep gratitude) direct to your reading app of choice over at https://books2read.com/themaidenvoyage
An Uninvited Guest
Dreams are weird. One moment you’re getting ready to speed drop a cargo pod, the next there’s a naked blue woman standing over you. Then just when you think it might get interesting it all goes dark and fuzzy, and it feels like you’re being dragged around the ship by your ankles. I must remember to ask Angel to check the expiry date on those tablets.
Angel? Dammit, did I fall asleep again, I need to finish unloading that pod. Wait a tick, did I even start unloading that pod?
I woke up with a start. “The pod? Huh, where am I, what’s going on?”
“Oh good. You’re awake.”
I sat up quickly. “Ow”. Then lay back just as quick rubbing my head. It would appear that somehow I was back in to my old childhood bunk in the crew sleeping rack. Sleeping there you learned quickly about the lack of headroom.
“Sorry, that was the closest bed.”
“What? Who are you? Wait, you shot me.” I said carefully trying to prop myself up in a sitting position in the limited space available.
“You surprised me.”
“I surprised you? Who the hell are you and what are you doing on my ship? Are you a stowaway?”
In the battle for dominance the limited space won and so I gracefully accepted defeat by rolling off the bed and landing on the floor in a heap.
“I’m really sorry. I tried to help, but you are kind of heavy and this was the closest bed I could find.”
“Wait, What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You snuck aboard my home, hid in my cargo bay, shot me and now you’re fat shaming me? Who the hell are you?”
Using the edge of the rack for support I tried to stand but the after effects of the stun bolt meant my legs felt like jelly and I collapsed back on to the floor.
“Maiden. Iam Maiden.”
“Iron Maiden? Is that some kind of threat?” Raising an eyebrow, I looked across at the nubile young blue woman standing in the doorway of the crew cabin, at least I hoped she was a woman, she certainly seemed to fit all the criteria, “or a promise?”
“No. I. am. Maiden,” she said, articulating the words slowly so they could work their way around the throbbing pain in my head that was vying for dominance over all the other throbbing pains running through my body, “it is my name… in your tongue.” she added.
I tried again to stand, this time my legs were more compliant and I managed to stay upright whilst trying to keep as much distance as possible from my uninvited guest.
The nomadic life of an intergalactic delivery driver is quite solitary and the vast majority of interactions with other races and cultures come from downtime on the nearest Unizon delivery hub. But even there, with all the variety you could imagine, most of the people just look tired and worn out. This Maiden was something different, unique even. She was in a word - beautiful. In trying to describe her posture the only thing I could think of was if I accessed the ships on board database and searched for statuesque, then I’m sure I’d find a picture of the woman who now stood opposite me.
Apart from the blue skin, her most unusual and striking feature were the incredibly long eyelashes that seemed to fan out and frame her face. The weird part was how they expanded out of the ends like some kind of iridescent plumage. I’d never seen anything quite like it before.
Stop staring Derek, you’ll make our guest feel uncomfortable
“Why are you naked? You’re not going to do things to me, are you?“ I blurted out. My brain was having trouble processing what was going on, torn between trying to make me sound cool in front of the imposing stranger and deciding where to place getting stunned in the cargo bay in the top ten of the worst things to happen to me aboard my ship.
“What? No, I’m not, ew,” she paused, a look of disgust rolled over her face. “And I’m not naked. I’m wearing the traditional garb of my people.”
The traditional garb appeared to be some kind of skin tight all-in-one body covering that was a mottled blue colour and covered her from chest to mid-thigh. I noticed a gradual purple swirl to the side. To be fair, the pattern blended into her natural colouration. From a distance, it was hard to see where it ended and her actual skin began. It was a simple mistake to make.
“But you did shoot me.”
“I’m sorry. I never meant to. It just went off in my hand.”
“Two,” the word just escaped out of my mouth.
“Pardon?”
“Err… two, what two, what do you want? And where did you come from?”
Maiden paused for a second and looked at me quizzically before breaking the awkward silence. “This is the Darke Intergalactic Courier Vessel Star Voyager?” she asked.
“Err, yes, yes it is.” I said, straightening up and trying to look semi professional at the very least.
“Why is there a sign that says welcome to The Rust Bucket on the wall in the entrance foyer?”
“Entrance foyer? Oh you mean the cargo deck. I err…” being lost for words is not the best way to start a potential professional relationship.
I didn’t want to admit I was drunk when I signed the Unizon delivery contracts and jokingly put Rust Bucket down as the ship’s name. “It’s, err, a joke, designed to put passengers at ease, a welcome aboard thing.”
She nodded and looked relieved. “Good, I booked passage for myself and my grandfather aboard your vessel.”
“Err, yes, wherever you need to go, you can…”
“Count on D.I.C. to deliver. Yes, I saw your notice on the station register.” Maiden said as she completed the company slogan for me, “I need you to deliver me and my grandfather to the Andorian quadrant.”
I hoped my wince wasn’t too noticeable. Another slice of family legacy to endure. My father in his infinite wisdom thought it was a catchy slogan, the rest of the family just cringed and over the rotations I’ve done my best to try and forget it. “Um, yes,” my mind was racing, “I have a scheduled delivery in the first system and we can adjust the course to return via Andor Twelve, if that’s where you want to go.”
Andor Twelve was the largest and most densely populated planet in the system and throughout the galaxy was recognised as a melting pot of various alien cultures and customs. We regularly had deliveries there.
Derek?
Angel’s metallic voice squeaked to life once more over the ship’s comm system.
We have a priority override. It has replaced our current delivery schedule with a booking to transport two guests to Andor Six
I looked again at Maiden who seemed a little sheepish, “Angel, when was the booking made?”
Two sol cycles ago.
“And… you’re only just telling me now, why?” I asked.
There was a whirring and clicking noise that always happened when the ship’s ancient systems were processing a difficult query.
Most peculiar, according to my records, the booking was confirmed two sol cycles ago, but the system was only updated a few moments ago
“Wait, what? How is that possible? Is Louie responsible for this? Is he messing with our schedules again? He knows I’m on a final warning after the Brovide run and if we don’t make our next delivery on time, then—“
“Err, I think that would be down to me,” Maiden said.
I returned my attention to the half naked, blue alien woman, who, after shooting me on the cargo deck, dragging my apparently overweight unconscious body back to my childhood bunk, was now standing with her arms folded, looking somewhat impatient.
“I’m sorry, Mr Darke, I should probably explain. My grandfather and I need direct passage to Andor Six and we need to get there quickly and discreetly and so we chose a small independent courier. I arranged for the booking confirmation to be postponed until the point of departure. We’ve been subject to a fair amount of scrutiny so far and…”
“I’m not surprised, wandering around half naked.”
I winced again at my blunt response, and Maiden appeared to blush. At least I think it was a blush. Her skin tingled with reddish purple blooms that lit up on her face and travelled down her body before fading back to what I assume was her natural blue tone.
“I am Cerulean. My people have no need for excessive bodily coverings. My garments are few, but they suffice.”
“Barely. So that was you, wearing the cloak?”
“Yes, I anticipated the need for stealth and adorned my travelling cloak before my departure.”
“So why shoot me then?”
“Stunning you was an unfortunate accident that has delayed our departure and something I deeply regret. I became worried when the docking reception was empty and your sudden arrival surprised me.”
“I surprised you? I was expecting a cargo pod full of crud for the outer rim, not some alien princess on a secret mission.”
This time it was Maiden’s turn to look at me inquisitively. She raised one eyebrow and the plumage at the end fluttered gently. The effect was quite disconcerting.
There was a pregnant pause, which neither of us seemed willing to break. But there was something else as well, a half formed thought that was struggling to be born. I tried to zip back, replaying the recent events over and over in my mind.
Could this cycle become any more surreal?
Something was missing, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. “Angel? What happened to our original delivery schedule? Is it still booked in?”
The priority booking has replaced the previously scheduled route. An exception report was logged with Unizon, the cargo pod has been rerouted and the ship’s delivery status has been updated for the duration of the contract
No, that wasn’t it. There was something else.
“Hang on. You were alone in the cargo bay. Your grandfather. Is he joining us later? Do we need to pick him up en route?”
“No, my grandfather is dead. I secured his remains in your cargo hold.”
“Oh,” I remembered, the oblong container. That must be his casket. Ok so this isn’t the usual run-of-the-mill delivery job, but it’s not the strangest one I’ve ever had. “Can I offer my most sincere apologies, Miss, err, Ms, Maiden, my, err, our condolences for your loss.” Straightening my jacket I tried to present a more formal, sombre appearance, hoping that the stains from last night’s prefab meal didn’t show too badly.
“To my people, death is a natural part of the cycle of life. We are born, we live, we breed, we die, we return, that is all.”
“Oh,” I cleared my throat and rolled out my best company spiel, “well please be assured that The Darke Intergalactic Courier service will be happy, nay privileged to act as your grandfather’s final escort and you can be certain that I, er we are at your disposal to render any service that you need.”
“Mr Darke,”
“Derek, please,”
“Mr Derek, all that I require at the moment is for us to get underway to the Andorian system as soon as possible and if you could show me to my cabin, then that would be a bonus.”
I nodded, “of course, right this way.” I said as I excused my way past her and along the corridor to the master suite.
“Thank you.”
Over the last few rotations, I’d gradually ripped out the staterooms to swap living space for extra cargo space. The only suitable one left was mine. I’d have to bunk up in the crew rack.
“So… umm… your room… it’s not, err… quite ready. As I’m sure you’re aware, I, we, umm… didn’t have much notice of your arrival. If you’d care to wait here on the viewing deck, I’ll have…”
Maiden nodded, “I understand. My needs are few, so don’t worry about the room.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. The crew racks were never that comfortable.
“I’m sure it’ll do as is. Now please lead the way, as I would like to rest.”
Maiden followed uncomfortably close behind and I had no choice but to lead the way to our one and only functioning state room and I could hear the “oh” from behind me as the door opened, revealing the state of my bedroom.
“My apologies Mr Derek, if I’m inconveniencing you, please allow me to use the crew quarters, I’m sure they’ll be more than acceptable,” she said, raising an eyebrow as I scrambled around balling up dirty laundry and a few stray personal items.
“No, no, it’s fine. I’ll have this, err… shipshape in no time and have your, err, do you have any luggage?”
“There is a small valise with all my possessions next to my grandfathers remains. I’ll collect it shortly, please don’t trouble yourself any further.”
“Err… ok, as you wish. Is there anything else?”
“No, that is all for now. You’ll find the updated course details for your astronav attached to my booking.” She paused slightly before adding, “thank you.”
I took that as my queue to leave. The door hissed shut behind me as I dropped off the laundry in a heap by the flight console and made preparations to get underway.
Thanks for reading, part 3 will be out next Friday. I’ve also updated the index page if you’ve missed part 1. (Life In The 31st Century Index Page).
If you can’t wait to see what happens next then you can get immediate access to this ebook from your favourite ebook retailer of choice for the princely sum of $2.99 (US) over at https://books2read.com/themaidenvoyage. Alternatively please consider subscribing to my publication to get notified when each new episode drops.
If you’ve enjoyed this then please consider sharing it using the button below.