The Blue Sun

Kiri and Bashir leave earth to find the planet Zoroaster aboard the mysterious spaceship The Blue Sun.

Chapter 6: The Blue Sun

 

    The Blue Sun was cargo spaceship, one of the first of its kind.  The government had recently poured a great deal of money into space travel.  With the arrival of the Minotaurs technology had made a great leap forward.  Using Minotaur knowledge of light, time and speed, humans were now able to travel throughout their solar system in a matter of days instead of years.   The problem was that the government was still in the process of making Mars and other similar planets inhabitable.  There was only one planet known to be inhabited and that was the home of the Minotaurs Ushi-Oni.  Bashir knew differently though.  Zoroaster was hidden between Ushi-Oni and Earth.  It was a midway point that offered a sort of particular sort of refuge, but it was a secret.  Bashir was one of the few who had access to the exact barring and complete coordinates.

     The ship was large and a bit overwhelming to Kiri, who’d never seen one in person before.  A fiery blue sun was emblazoned on the gray metal side of the hold.  She stood at the private launch site, still amazed that they managed to book a passage on any ship at all.  The government held such strict laws and codes for space travel, that is was damn near impossible to book any flight without their knowledge.  Yet, they had managed to do just that. Bashir finished talking to the Captain, whom he apparently already knew, and brought him over to introduce him to Kiri. 

       Captain Nathan Farzan was an average size man with careless brown hair and a dusty leather jacket.  He was casual, but still commanded authority with his all-knowing gaze.  He extended his hand to Kiri, but did not smile.  He quickly ushered them up the ramp and into the ship.  It was inside that Farzan introduced them to the rest of the crew.

      “This,” Farzan said pointing to striking woman wearing a form fitting tan pants and a brown shirt, “is our pilot Iona Moon.”

       Bashir recognized her from the tavern, although they’d never spoken.  He had been taken with her when he first laid eyes on her.  He could think of nothing particularly suave to say, so he asked with a wry smile, “Do you actually own a moon?”

       Iona scowled at him, but it didn’t appear to affect his apparent interest in her. She kept her hands behind her back and looked coolly over to Kiri. 

       Bashir turned and said almost dismissively, “Oh, yeah, this is Kiri.”

       Kiri nodded in acknowledgement, a bit annoyed with Bashir. 

       Farzan pointed to two other men standing beside the pilot.  “This is Jules, our mechanic, and Joss our…What is it that you do Joss?”

       “Everything, sir,” he replied. 

       “Our everything guy,” the Captain said.  “We are picking up another crew member on the space station, so that makes a total of five crew members and two passengers.  Cargo is our main interest.  We are being paid a pretty penny for what is in these crates.  All I ask of our passengers is to stay out of the damn way.  Understand?”

       “Of course,” Kiri said. 

       “Is there a specific time we report to dinner?” Bashir asked.

       Joss fielded that question.  “You are free to salvage for food at anytime, but I generally cook lunch at noon and dinner at five.  I know time doesn’t have much meaning when you are floating through space, but I try to keep some sense of a schedule.”

      “We don’t float,” Jules argued.  “We are being propelled by an engine at all times, less we drift into some gravitational field and be pulled off course.”

      “Excuse me,” Joss rolled his eyes. 

      The Captain shook his head and said, “Are we ready to fly Ms. Moon?”

      Iona nodded and said, “Aye, Captain.  I just ask that everyone is safely in their bunks or seated before we lift off.  We can depart in just ten minutes if you wish.”

       “Yes, I do not wish to linger here any longer than necessary.  The government will try to prevent our trip with some red tape talk if we let them catch up to us. Let’s go now.”  The Captain turned to his friend Bashir and told him that he talk to him later, before following Iona to the cockpit.  Joss showed Bashir and Kiri to their quarters for the journey.  They shared adjoining rooms above the cargo hold, but below the rooms of the crew. 

      Within five minutes, the engines roared to life and the ship shook.  Slowly they pushed off and up into the atmosphere.  It took less than an hour to reach the spaces station orbiting earth.  There were actually two spaces stations in orbit, one was a federation hub and the other was merely for scientific research.  The research station was monitored by the government, but their presence was certainly less intrusive there.

       Once they docked at the station. Bashir made a point to visit Iona in the cockpit.  He wished to disclose the coordinates to Zoroaster to her.  Although Captain Farzan knew of Zoroaster, he didn’t even know where it was.  In fact, Bashir had told him it was better if he never found out.  The Captain could be captured and tortured into telling if he was told.  Farzan was fine with this plan because he knew it meant Bashir and Kiri were more likely to remain safe that way.  The less he knew the better Nathan Farzan felt. 

       Kiri opened her door and stepped out onto the hallway once the ship had come to a stop.  She looked around and saw the door to the cockpit open.  Inside she saw Bashir sitting with Iona and talking.  She felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach, which was clearly a sensation that she didn’t care for much.  For a moment she debated on what to do.  Should she join in the conversation or mind her own business?  She decided upon visiting the cockpit to join the conversation, but promised herself to remain cool and aloof no matter how she truly felt.

       Iona was warming up to Bashir a bit, which was obvious by the smile on her face.  Bashir had already disclosed the coordinates and was busy making small talk by the time Kiri arrived. 

Author's Note

Co-Written with fellow author Joel R Schwan back in 2009!