The Star Traders: The Star Traders Series Volume One Read online

  Captain Williams put her tablet away. Erica could hear the voice of her mother echoing through the ship.

  "Okay, Janet. Let’s get to the bridge," Captain Williams said. The two of them took off.

  Erica wondered where she was supposed to go.

  "Erica can take one of the spare launch chairs here, until Janet assigns her somewhere." Erica’s mother Piper spoke to her aunt Amy, the med chief.

  Piper said goodbye to Erica and left the sickbay. Everyone else took off to the place they knew where to go, but she and Amy. She looked at the middle-aged woman.

  "Uh."

  "I guess they've dumped you on me," she said. Erica relaxed when she smiled. "Come on. The launch chairs are this way."

  Erica followed Amy through sickbay to a room with launch chairs in it. Several medical personal were settling into chairs. She sort of recognized some of them: doctors, nurses and med techs. All relatives of some sort.

  Erica found an empty launch chair. She had learned to get into a launch chair and strap down before she was out of diapers. Months ago, on the planet Buddha, and she had been surprised she could still do it. It had been on a passenger rocketship of the Lexa Corp. Now here she was doing it again, and she was home. This is home. Right?

  Amy checked to see if Erica was strapped in right. The other woman nodded in approval from her chair.

  "Hey Erica, welcome back," someone said behind her.

  Erica turned her head, though the straps kept her from turning very far. But she could see who was sitting behind Amy. "Hi, Tilly," Erica said.

  It was her third cousin Tilly Zhou. Tilly had been her best friend growing up.

  "Good to see you again, Erica," Tilly said. "In that last message you sent me, you said you were going to be tested for your third degree black belt in Ketsugo Ryu Jujitsu. How did that go?"

  "I did pretty good. It was rough, but I got it."

  "That's awesome," Tilly said. "You should show me some stuff sometime."

  "Sure. That would be cool."

  In no time the Daughter was in orbit around the planet Caroline. The planet had only satellites and no space station in orbit. Erica felt her short hair float up. Freefall. How long had it been since she last shaved it? Did she want a haircut? What were the hair styles for Yin women now?

  While they waited for the Daughter to break orbit, some people played games on their comp pads or talked to crewmembers elsewhere on the rocketship. Erica needed to get a comp pad. There had been no need for one in a low-tech zen monastery.

  "She's out of orbit, everyone," Amy called. "And headed home."

  There were a few cheers. Home was the Guinevere. The huge starship was the pride and joy of Erica's clan. A starship like the Daughter had interstellar travel only with its plasma sail and a tachyon particle emitter station.

  The station crew fired a tachyon particle beam on the sail, which jumped the ship light-years away. Only large starship with gigantic FTL engines could make such a jump on their own. Guinevere was one of those starships.

  "Well, Tilly," Erica said. "It looks like I have to go talk to the XO."

  "Good luck, Erica," Tilly said. "Tell me later how it goes."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Working for the Family.

  Erica stopped off at a restroom that she was happy to find. She went up to a urinal and unzipped her pants. She pulled out her penis and sighed. It had been a surprise to the nuns and monks at her monastery when they learned she had male genitals.

  In most human cultures there were two genders: male and female. But in the Yin Confederation there was one gender, which was female. Actually there were two types. T-females or Testes females who had male genitals. O-females or Ovary females who had female genitals. Long ago, when Erica's Earth ancestors colonized the planet Yin, they genetically engineered their children to be this way. A kind of genetic and social experiment.

  Done. Erica washed her hands and took off.

  Erica was able to find the XO's office. She hoped she wasn't late or anything. She opened the hatch. Inside, her Aunt Janet sat behind her desk looking at her comp screen.

  Erica opened her mouth to speak and Janet looked up. "Ah, Erica," Janet said. "Come in. Come in."

  Erica walked in. "Uh...hi." She sat when Janet pointed to a chair.

  "We need to talk about your education and experience," Janet said. "And how we can use that to find you a job. Any ideas?"

  "I...not sure."

  "Okay." Janet rubbed her fingers together. "Before you left for the monastery you were considering security. You earn your B.S. degree in security, but you’ve had no on the job training. Which you would of had if you hadn’t become a nun. I think that Piper could get you started as a security officer-trainee for now."

  "Okay. That could work."

  "Good," Janet said. "I received your files from the monastery. They say you've trained in the martial arts and have two third degree black belts."

  "Yes.”

  "Of course that’s not too unusual for someone in security, especially at your age."

  Thirty-five. Am I too old to get started in this new life? I will be behind everyone else and feel like a freak. Like I sometimes felt at the monastery.

  "How much weapons training did they give you?" Janet asked.

  "Two staff katas with training with and in defense of stick, nunchaku, and rope."

  "No knife training?"

  "Only some defensive moves against knife attacks," Erica said.

  "Some knife training might be a good thing for you to learn," Janet said. "On some worlds, all projectile weapons are illegal."

  Erica nodded.

  "Now with your meditation training at the monastery you could start a meditation and relaxation class. I think that would be useful to you, and popular," Janet said.

  Erica nodded. She hadn't thought of that. She could do that. "That would be cool. How could I get started?"

  "We can get into that later, Erica. First, we need to get you signed up with security."

  "By the way, I need to get a tablet," Erica said. "We didn't have them in the monastery."

  "Okay," Janet said. "I'll see you get one. You'll need to know the time and be able to contact people. The standard ship-wide internet. So many other things. Wow. No tablet? Illegal on the planet?”

  "No. Not illegal," Eric tried to explain. "Just not permitted in some monasteries that wanted to stay low-tech."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Security Job Day One

  Erica followed Keiko into Security Central on Guinevere. At SC all the public areas were watched, except for public restrooms.

  "Even though this isn’t a military vessel," Keiko said. "We still have to watch out for spies who might want to sabotage this starship."

  "Like pirates?" Erica said.

  "Yes, but there are also some unethical traders that might want to get rid of the competition permanently. There is also the threat of cyber attacks. We must keep a constant watch."

  "What am I supposed to do?" Erica said.

  "You'll help me watch the engineering room," Keiko said. "You're to learn how to record it and where to store it. Who to tell if you see something suspicious. Also how to tell if something is suspicious. Let's get to work, Erica. Oh by the way, Janet told me you needed some knife training. I would be happy to train later."

  "That would be great, Keiko."

  After her first day at her new job in security she met with her cousin Keiko at the gym for knife training.

  "I don't know what kind of stick training you had," Keiko said with two knives in her hand. "So I thought I'd just start with the basics."

  "Sounds good to me. We didn't really get much into the stick fighting. It was more focused on defending from a stick attack."

  "Gotcha." Keiko handed her one of the knives. "These are just training knives. When you thumb the button on the handle the shocker comes on. It doesn't have enough electrical charge to knock you down. Just about the same as when you walk across a car
pet to shock someone."

  Erica laughed with her.

  "Okay," Keiko said. "Now, first off, how to hold the knife. There're several different ways, but I prefer it like this." Keiko held the knife handle similar to how the monastery gripped a stick. Kind of like a fist is held with the point above her thumb.

  Erica did the same with her knife.

  "You can also hold it in the reverse position, or what is sometimes called the icepick position."

  Erica turned her knife upside down like Keiko did.

  "Good. Now I'll show you the basic cuts. Eight of them. Imagine an opponent in front of you with a vertical line through her. Cut down from head to groin. Cut one." Keiko performed the move as she spoke.

  Erica tried to keep up with her.

  "Cut diagonally from left to right: cut two. A diagonal line from right to left: cut three. A horizontal cut from left to right: cut four. A horizontal cut right to left: cut five. Now a diagonal cut from bottom left up to right: cut six. A diagonal cut from bottom right up to left: cut seven. A final bottom cut from groin to head: cut eight. Finish with a stab. Now let's just practice these ten times each."

  After practicing that, Keiko showed her how to move from one cut to the next and how to get a 'flow going'.

  "Now it’s important to never do a full karate block to block a knife attack. It's better to dodge or slap the hand or arm of the knife attacker." Keiko had her block, dodge, and slap for a while showing her how easy it was to get cut. On some planet your knife attacker might have poisoned their blade. So always be careful about that. It's best not to get into a fight, but sometimes those of us in security have no choice."

  Erica nodded her understanding.

  "Okay, there's some masks over here we can put on for sparing," Keiko said.

  Erica picked up one of the masks sitting on the side of the room. It had a wired screen to protect the face. It was almost like a hat. Erica put it on and found she could see fairly well. Keiko had put one on too.

  Erica gripped her knife and faced Keiko. The first match was over quickly. Erica felt a jolt the wrist of her knife hand. It was followed by a smack on the mask.

  The next match Erica used her sparring experience to move around. Erica slashed Keiko's front knee, but felt a shock on her neck. "You forget to hold down on the button."

  "Crap."

  "That's okay," Keiko said. "Everybody does that to start."

  Keiko's tablet buzzed her. "Oh. Time’s up. I’ve got something else I need to do."

  "It was fun," Erica said. "Same time tomorrow?"

  "Sure. That would be great!"

  CHAPTER SIX

  Guinevere.

  The rocketship called Guinevere's Daughter fired her forward ion engines that slowed her approach to her mothership the Guinevere.

  Captain Alberta Williams checked the current distance between the two ships on her comp screen. She looked over at her XO, Janet, who stood behind Donna Williams, the pilot.

  The face and torso of Senior Captain Audrey Williams appeared on her comp screen. Audrey was Alberta's mother and the CO of Guinevere's first shift crew, which gave her seniority over second shift crew's Captain.

  "Hello, Alberta," Audrey said. "Did you bring my granddaughter home?"

  "Yes, Mother," Alberta said.

  "Any problems?"

  "Yes," Alberta sighed. "The ones who went to get Erica were attacked and Lynna was shot."

  "How bad?"

  "Not too bad. Amy was able to save her. She had to put the girl in suspended animation, so we could launch. Amy got her fixed up on the way."

  Audrey blew out air. "That's good. Let's get the Daughter docked and then I want a meeting with the three captains and executives."

  "Okay," Alberta said.

  The Daughter slowly moved on top of the Guinevere. The computers of both ships carefully controlled the maneuvering thrusters of the Daughter to bring her down safely. The Guinevere's large docking clamps grabbed hold of the Daughter as if holding a baby. Next Life Support, Fuel, and walkway tubes connected the two ships.

  Alberta sat at the conference table with Janet on her right. To Alberta's left at the table's end was their mother, Audrey. Across from Alberta was her first cousin, Junior Captain Cindy Williams, who was third shift's CO. Beside Cindy was Audrey's XO and Alberta's third cousin, Ellie Williams. Next was Cindy's XO and Alberta's youngest sister, Kat Williams.

  Most people who worked in space still used old Earth hours, thus there were 24 hours in a day. A starship or spacestation, whether civilian or military, had three shifts that lasted eight hours each. First, second and third shifts. Each had its own CO and XO, but those of first shift were usually senior over the other two. This is the way it had been for almost two thousand years.

  "So where are we headed?" Alberta said.

  "The meeting will be on Bombay spacestation, which orbits the planet India," Audrey said.

  "At least it will be in more civilized space," Janet said. "Caroline turned out to be too much of a pirate's den to me."

  "True, Janet," Cindy said. "But that doesn't mean an assassin or two might not get past Bombay's security."

  "Whatever the case, is everyone okay with creating this free space-traders union in our area of space?" Audrey said.

  There were nods all around the table.

  "It's what we need to help deal with unfair claims by the corporate space-traders and the damn pirates too," Kat said. "If we can get everyone on board. The Indians, the Victorians, the Bonoboans, the Danians, and the other Yins. Especially if we can be recognized by their governments and the United Nations Council of Trade."

  "Other free traders have done it," Cindy said.

  "True," Ellie said, who was a two years younger than Audrey. "But we're out here near the frontier and not among the older parts of human space. Some of them would call us uncivilized, Janet."

  Janet opened her mouth to snap back, but Alberta placed a hand on her sister's arm to quiet her.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Settling In.

  Erica sat in her new quarters aboard the Guinevere with her new tablet in her hands. She had just about got the program set up when the door buzzed.

  "Come in!" Erica said. "The door’s open!"

  Tilly walked in with Gwen and another woman. The stranger had green and blue hair pulled into a long braid. The three of them were dressed in loose fitting exercise clothes.

  "Hey, Erica," Tilly said. "You trying to be a hermit?"

  "Uh, she has been in a monastery for a long time, Tilly," Gwen teased.

  "Sorry," Erica said. "What's up?"

  "You told me about your black belts," Tilly said. "I thought you might want to teach us."

  "Oh, sure. I'd love to."

  "Did you recognize Mindy here?" Gwen said. "Lately she's gone all crazy with her hair coloring."

  Erica remembered her second cousin Mindy Bettencourt. She was five years younger than Erica and Tilly. As a kid she used to tag along with them. The “pest” they had called her.

  "Hi, Mindy." Erica grabbed her bag that contained her martial art uniform.

  Tilly led them down to the gyms. The Guinevere had six of them. Some were full of exercise machines and equipment. Others held mats for martial arts, aerobics, yoga, and similar things. They walked into one of the latter gyms.

  Erica changed into her uniform in one of the gym's changing rooms. She tied on her dan or black belt. It had three red stripes on it. She joined the others.

  "I suppose everyone has been taught a little self-defense in school," Erica said. Her three cousins nodded.

  "I took karate for a couple of years," Mindy said. "But quit."

  "Okay," Erica said. "Let's start with some jujitsu. Okay?"

  Erica started them with warm-up exercise and stretching. She showed them some basic defenses against grabs and some joint locks. She taught them how to fall without getting hurt by slapping the mat. Next she showed them a few basic throws.

  Afterwards, w
hile Erica showered in the public shower room by the gyms a call sounded on the intercom from the on-duty communications chief.

  "Prepare for jump! In twenty minutes we will be making a hyperspace jump to the Hindi star system where we'll head for the planet India. Prepare for jump!" the voice said.

  "Well, now we know where we're going!" Gwen shouted from her shower stall.

  Erica stopped the water and reached for her towel on the other side of her door. She hurried to dress. Later Tilly joined her. Next Mindy came out with a towel over her shoulder instead of over her body parts. Erica could tell that she had female genitals.

  I'm glad that I'm dressed. Mindy just gave me an erection. Think of grandma Audrey and that Zen garden back at the monastery. Breath. There that's better. I hope no one noticed. Damn! I need to shave my legs.

  "What are you, a Bonobo?" Tilly said. "Cover yourself, Mindy!"

  "Why should we care?" Mindy said. "It's just the bodies that the Goddess gave us."

  "Whatever, weirdo," Tilly said.

  Mindy stuck her tongue out at Tilly.

  "Do you gals think that this union thing will get started?" Erica said.

  "I don't know," Mindy said. "A few like us Yins have our own unions, but that doesn't work well outside of our own nation."

  "It will work or it won't," Tilly said.

  "I guess, but it could be a great help for us," Mindy said.

  "Whatever." Tilly shouted back at the shower stalls, "Hey, Gwen! Stop playing with yourself and get out here! I want something to eat!"

  "I'm not playing with myself, perv!" Gwen shouted back. She soon joined them and got dressed.

  They went to the closest cafeteria for some hot food. The cafeterias had cooks and their helpers who worked the third shift. The third shift crew was now on duty throughout the starship. Erica was a part of second shift crew.

  "Oh, my gods," Erica said, with her hands around a cheeseburger. Her mouth watered. "I haven't eaten meat for a very long time."