High-Velocity Object

A short introducing Eddie Thornton, one of the protagonists of this story universe.

The sight of Jupiter from orbit always seemed grandiose to Charles. For him, the king of Olympus radiated more magnificence than any other heavenly body in the Solar System. The raging global storms made for an ever shifting canvas of color. And contrasted by the light of from its satellites, the planet itself appeared more like an aether from the old myths. Yet most other travelers treated the planet as little more than a gravitational anchor. How rude.

Jupiter was one of his two loves; the other was the Starlight. His ship. It was an older medium transport from the Helios class. Back in its heyday, they were often used as troop transports since they were fast vessels for their size. This ship in particular was reinforced with additional plating and a small deflector emitter to help protect itself while flying the dangerous routes near Jupiter.

“Hey Cap, keep an eye on the instruments, will ya?”

Charles ignored the interruption. Over the years, he's grown tired of responding to unqualified whiners. He's one of the most experienced outer commerce pilots in the area. Yet every new client offered him unwanted advice about navigation. This one was especially obnoxious.

“Hey! Do ya hear me?” the sweaty man demanded.

“Yes, Mr. Loun.” Charles relented.

Charles let out a sigh, and smoothed his dirty gray matted hair with his prosthetic right hand. The false limb was reminder enough to keep proper vigilance. He lost it in an accident when he was still a rookie pilot. The ship he was on encountered several HVOs when his captain opted to take a shortcut off the safer trade routes. It was shredded by a cluster of meteoroids within minutes. Out of seven crew members, he was the only survivor. Almost forty years later, he still remembers those hours before his rescue, floating in his EVA suit while bathed in the glow reflected by Jupiter. The light seemed to embrace him, and sang him to sleep.

Since then, he hasn't wandered into those dangerous corridors. The path for this trip was the Grady Route. It was one of the only safe passages between Titan and Europa at this orbit cycle. The rest of the area was a veritable minefield littered with ice and rocks from the rings whizzing around, being pulled to and fro by the tides of Jupiter and the gravity of its many moons.

Nevertheless, travel on the “safe” routes could also turn perilous. When most rocks were broken apart by action among the rings, the resulting debris remained close. But the larger collisions often sent deadly HVOs out in unpredictable directions. Though these swarms of meteoroids were hard to detect, Charles saw plenty of them during his career. There were a few subtle signs to watch for. But since they're easy to miss, the life expectancy of so-called Jovian Run pilots was a grim affair. Charles was quite an exception, making it to his advanced age.

That fact though, seemed lost on Loun, as a frown of fantastic proportions formed on his plump face. “Look buddy, I know you know these parts in and out. I ain't telling you how to do your job, just make sure we get there quick and safe! I've got perishables here. I can't afford no accident delay.” he prattled, flailing his arms about.

Instead of a giving another pointless response, Charles decided to continue admiring the view. Frustrated, Loun left the cockpit, mumbling angrily to himself. With the bothersome man gone, Charles relaxed and let a thin smile form on his face. Before long, a young man entered and took the co-pilot's seat.

“Old Man Winter, you should be nicer to our clients. Otherwise, pretty soon the plural will go away, leaving us with client. And that's just 'cause Freddy can't charter anyone else without worrying about the cops finding out.”

“Relax, Eddie. Just sit and watch the view. Isn't it amazing?” the old man murmured.

“It is, but I've seen it a million times.” he replied, irritated. Though he had to admit the sight hadn't lost it's luster. “C'mon, let's figure out the last course correction.”

---

Eddie Thornton was no stranger to the Jovian runs either. For the past seven years, he apprenticed for Charles Winters. He affectionately called him Old Man Winter. Though the old man was sometimes taciturn and hard to work with, Eddie had great respect for him. By only 24, he learned more from flying alongside Charles than many pilots did in a decades-long career. Still, he wasn't planning on remaining a Jovian Run pilot forever. Even though he found it difficult to leave such a great teacher.

Another reason he stayed was the lack of crew. A ship of this class was supposed to have ten crew members. With just the two of them, some maintenance had to be put off. Actually, a lot of maintenance. Though that hardly mattered as repairs weren't cheap and Old Man Winters wasn't flush with funds. And it's a fact Eddie was well aware of and fussed about to great lengths. Despite the Starlight's hardiness, its hull showed much wear. They couldn't afford to lose any more clients.

Still, even for their desperate situation, this one was more annoying than most. The pay was right, so Eddie couldn't complain too much. He left that sort of thing to Loun to instead. That's all he's done since he's been aboard. That's why Eddie found himself in the engine room more often than usual this trip. It's one of the few places he's sure not to be bothered by that loathsome man.

There, he often whiled away the time by learning navigation routes for throughout the Solar System. In particular, he was fascinated by the complex routes in the Great Asteroid Belt. There were so many small communities living on planetoids and large rocks, that it seemed like an archipelago on Earth. Except it's length was immense. A circumnavigation would take years. And there was a fanciful legend about treasure there, hidden in an obscure asteroid. No one knew if it was true, or what the treasure was. Guesses ranged from an unequaled cache of Entropium to a prototype ship with a faster-than-light drive.

“Eddie, get up here.” the intercom chimed, snapping him out of the daydream.

Old Man Winter sounded irritated. Must be the client again, Eddie grumbled.

---

Sure enough, Eddie walked into the cockpit and found Loun complaining again while Charles sat there with his arms crossed. The old man looked like he was discerning some sort of trick painting, trying to cross his eyes to see the hidden picture.

“I heard you were some kinda expert about this area! Why can't you just cut through?!” Loun demanded.

Charles takes on an air of unmatched irritation. He normally kept this in reserve for people who took too long at the front of a restaurant line. They've had ample time to review the menu, the louts! But for this occasion, he made an exception for Loun. “Eddie, tell this man what happens when you try to cut through the Gallery.”

“You don't do it. It's too unstable. HVOs pop up from everywhere, and the radiation clouds up scanners.” Eddie recited. By now, he could say those sentences forwards, backwards, sideways, and whatever other direction one could imagine. It's become one of his stand by explanations as to why he and the old man didn't specialize in suicide missions.

“Exactly.” Charles replied. And with that, he redoubled his efforts for ignoring anyone in the immediate area not named Charles or Eddie.

Unexpectedly, a wide and comical grin appeared on Loun's face. After stroking his chins in thought a few times, he became convinced of what this situation meant. It was obviously a matter of money. “OK you two, I know what you're after... I'll pay you double to take me through!”

Eddie sighed heavily at the offer. “Mr. Loun, the pay has nothing to do with it. What use is the money if we're dead?” Though it was the truth, it was a difficult statement to make since they were so low on funds.

And in a shocking turn of events, Loun did something completely expected after that comment; he scoffed and stormed out. Eddie and the old man exchanged looks of exasperation after he left. In a way, Eddie understood the attitude of their merchant client. In most of the Solar System, transport from one trading center to another was as simple a matter as Point A to Point B. And more money meant more afterburners to rush the trip along. But this was the Jovian Run. There be monsters here.

“Maybe we can lose just this one client.” Eddie joked.

---

Eddie tried to get some sleep. All he could think about was where he would start his journey on the Belt. He'd need a ship of course, and a crew. He often wondered if the old man would come if he asked. They could pick up a crew member here and there, and hop from rock to rock like the sailors of old. The thought made him laugh giddily.

“Eddie, get up here!” the intercom blared. It startled Eddie from his bunk. Grabbing his pants and jacket, he rushed toward the head of the ship while dressing himself. There he found Charles trying to hack the access panel for the cockpit door.

“B*****d locked himself in!” Charles waved at the door. “He drugged my cup of coffee and took over. No telling where we're going, he's been in there for an hour now!” He slapped himself occasionally while struggling with the door access.

“What about the aux controls?” Eddie asked.

“Busted, remember? We're going to have to cut through. Go get the torches!”

“Be right back!” Eddie replied.

Eddie ran to the engine room and ransacked the place looking for torches. He swore he used them last week. Then he remembered they were with the EVA equipment. After retrieving them, he returned. He set down the tools while Charles sat in front of the door, nursing his head.

“Must've been a hell of a tranq...” Charles grimaced before he stood. “Alright, lets do this.”

They fired up the torches, but before the could begin cutting, a hard impact shook the vessel and knocked them off their feet. After a few seconds, smaller hits dinged in succession and rattled the ship for bouts at a time. The cockpit door opens, and a very frightened Loun stumbles out.

“H-help! The controls don't work!” he cried, waving his arms around in panic.

The two got up and unceremoniously shoved him out of the way. Once they took their stations, they diverted what power they could to the deflector field, and plotted the fastest course back to the Grady Route. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent the cruising thrusters wouldn't fire.

“Damn it, the fuel regulator's been hit! Plus the auto-nav is busted.” Eddie complained, pointing at the damage readout. After a few moments, the impacts lulled. “I'll go out for EVA to fix the regulator.” he offered, seeing the chance.

“No,” Charles stopped him. “you stay here at the controls. We'll need sober hands to manually guide the ship back.”

“OK.” He agreed with a frown. “But don't go overboard, Old Man. We'll just take the life pod if it gets too rainy out there.”

“Of course, Eddie.” Charles promised with a broad smile.

---

Outside in his EVA gear, Charles surveyed the damage on the fuel regulator. It's extensive. The unit needed to be replaced and they carried no spare. The only propulsion options left for the ship were docking thrusters and afterburners. The sight of his love in such a sorry state saddened him. He reminded himself to treat Starlight with more care. Breathing a frustrated sigh, Charles headed back for the airlock. But before he could reach it, he saw the ship's life pod detach and speed off.

“Old Man! That rat Loun stole the life pod!” Eddie screamed over the radio.

“Yes I saw.” he replied grimly. “Let me think.” After staring at the afterburners for a minute, he formulated a plan. “Eddie, we're going to use the 'burners.”

“Of course! The 'burners... how do we correct course?”

“It'll be cumbersome, but the docking thrusters should be enough to keep us in the right direction. Go ahead and use them to point the ship on the correct course, and I'll hook up a remote switch for the 'burners.”

“Roger that.”

---

Their tasks completed, they sat ready to set off the afterburners. The number of impacts on the ship from the HVOs had decreased to the occasional rattle. Charles felt the annoying ache of his joints from the EVA jaunt. A fantasy about a vast salt bath distracted him momentarily before he refocused on the task at hand. They had to get out of the Shooting Gallery.

“All right, ignition in 3... 2... 1...” Eddie counted down. And at the mark... nothing happened.

“What's wrong?” Charles asked, almost certain of the cause already.

“There's no feedback for the link to the 'burners. A hit must have cut the line.” Eddie scrambled in frustration.

“I'll go out again.” Charles said, reaching for his helmet.

“No I'll-”

“Eddie. This is my ship, my rules.” he reminded the youngster.

“Please be careful.” Eddie accepted reluctantly.

“And you be careful steering. This is my baby!”

---

Out in his EVA gear again, Charles checked the link to the afterburners. It's severed in several spots. While he readied his tools, he noticed a glimmer on the horizon. He knew the sight by heart. It's the precursor to a large wave of HVOs. There was only one choice in his mind.

Charles opened up the radio channel. “Eddie, get ready to steer! And... take care of her.”

“What? Wait! What are you talking about?! You're still outside! Wait-”

Before Eddie could finish pleading, Charles shuts off the radio. He pulled the intact part of the cable and hooked it up to the panel of his EVA suit. After a sequence of button presses, the afterburners fired and the ship lunged forward, quickly gaining speed. As it accelerated, approaching wave of HVOs enveloped the Starlight.

Meanwhile in the cockpit, Eddie tried to keep the ship on course through the bombardment. The hull integrity readout shifted from a healthy green to an alarming red for several areas. After about a minute, the ship was clear of the cloud of deadly debris. Once out, he broke out of his focus and screamed over the radio link. “Old Man! Old Man Winters!” There was no response. “Old Man, do you read me?!” Still none. “Charles!”

Calming his breaths, he checked the ship's position. It was close enough to the route to be safe for now. When he got up to go check on Charles, he noticed a wreck through the space-screen. It was their life pod, shredded to pieces. Upon closer inspection, he sees the reason Loun wanted the shortcut; it was to avoid customs. Sacks of illegal Rhozine drifted about the debris.

Serves you right!

Shaking off the grim thought, he suited up and headed outside. He checked all around the ship to no avail. Charles wasn't there. The control cable connected to the spent afterburners dangled loose. “Charles!” he yelled over radio. No answer. Eddie couldn't accept it. This wasn't the way the old man was supposed to die; playing the hero. Old Man Winter was supposed to live out his days in peace, grumbling about pushy clients.

And every now and then, Eddie would return from his travels and talk the old man's ear off. He'd tell tall tales about the strange people of Ceres, or brag about the girls he bagged on Eros. And he'd talk and talk while Charles just sat there listening with that inscrutable look on his face. Then afterward, they would open up a bottle of perfectly good gin, and he'd ruin his by mixing it with coffee.

Blinded by tears, Eddie kept screaming his mentor's name until his voice gave way.

---

Charles Winters floated along like a mote of dust carried by the wind. Facing Jupiter, he embraced its glow. His extremities began to feel numb. He paid little attention to that, or the gaping wound on his chest. Or the rips in his suit that slowly leaked away his oxygen. No point in dwelling on such things. He just focused on the view. That beauty. His love.

As his consciousness faded, the only regret in his mind was not being able to spend his final moments with both of his loves. Though that feeling soon gave way to one of gratitude for the chance to give Starlight a second life. He hoped she would find happiness with Eddie as well.

Gazing upon the glory of Jupiter one last time, his eyelids slowly lowered to a close.

I hear a beautiful song...

Author's Note

I'd like opinions on how the dialogue was handled. Specifically whether it was enough keep track of, or if I could pare down a whole mess of the "he said" " said" and whatnot.

Also, I'd like to know if any of the jargon needed more explanations.