Trimefirst

By Brian Leon Lee

Stranded in space, SFG Commander Azvaa, impatiently waited for his associate, an android, Yayo to complete the necessary repairs to their damaged scout ship, Dwynot. He received a message from SenLed Glimsby, of the Independent Colonies Federation headquarters, that an alien starship, which had attacked and destroyed a colony space cargo freighter, was in their sector and ordered him to take evasive action.
Three days earlier, they had arrived at one of the local system’s asteroid syndicates Free Trade Zones, hoping to negotiate a good price for the replenishment of their spent fuel. Cruggle, the Director of the Hydro/Heeli SpaceFuels Inc. Company proved to be a devious double-dealing crook. They only escaped the deadly trap set by him, by the super quick reflexes of Yayo.
A change of direction by the alien starship forced Commander Azvaa to flee back to the asteroid, Trimefirst. Arriving unknowingly just before the alien starship, Commander Azvaa was forced to take control when the aliens attacked the asteroid.
In the ensuing fighting, an interested observer Cruggle became a casualty, with totally unforeseen consequences for all concerned.
A novella.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Leo Lee
• Release date: Mar 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476094649

Brian Leon Lee

The author was born in Manchester. On leaving school, a period in accountancy was followed by a teaching career in Primary Education. Several years of telling his own stories to his two young children, when on camping holidays, led to the development of his many story characters. Now retired, living in South Yorkshire

Book preview

Trimefirst

Brian Leon Lee

Published by Brian Leon Lee

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012

Cover by Brian Leon Lee

Copyright 2012

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved

Contents

1 - Scout Starship Dwynot - 18.673.93

2 - Ziqzi Starship Zoquu - 18.673.93

3 - Colony World Jellepso - 18.673.95

4 - SSS Dwynot - 18.673.96

5 - Asteroid Trimefirst - 18.673.96

6 - ZSS Zoquu - 18.673.96

7 - Asteroid Trimefirst - 18.673.96

8 - ZSS Zoquu - 18.673.97

9 - SSS Dwynot - 18.673.97

10 - ZSS Zoquu - 18,673.98

11 - SSS Dwynot - 18.673.98

12 - ZSS Zoquu - 18.674.01

13 - SSS Dwynot - 18.674.01

14 - SFG Starcruiser Grakon - 18.674.01

15 - ZSS Zoquu 18.674.01

Glossary

1

Scout Starship Dwynot

18.673.93

Azvaa stared at the conso. A flickering red dot had drawn his attention. It was the last thing he wanted to see. He frowned. A problem with his ship, Dwynot’s BozHig Warp Drive. The scar tissue on the left side of his face tingled. It was still sore from the time spent in the Meditank, the injury the result of an laser beam pulse grazing his jaw. He grimaced at the recollection, not realising that his twisted mouth gave the impression of a smile.

Across the control cabin, Yayo gave Azvaa a quick glance and stretching one of her long arms towards the conso screen, she flicked a touch pad. The conso screen blinked and then a close up of one of the warp drive engine’s forward Actuation Units appeared. A micro-laser was pulsating in an erratic manner.

Yayo, at two metres tall was an imposing figure. Clad in a silver one-piece plexifab suit, her short black plexiweb hair, albino white plexiplas skin and the two glowing varifocus infra-ultra eyes were a dead give away that she was an android.

‘Azvaa’, she spoke, in a quiet (Galac. Stand. Eng.) voice, ‘The micro-laser is fluctuating at a dangerous level. We need to stabilise it immediately or the BozHigs drive will collapse.’

Yayo looked at him again and gave a slight shrug. ‘With obvious fatal consequences.’

With a big sigh Azvaa turned towards Yayo. ‘What else can go wrong,’ he asked as he felt his face, flinching at the touch. ‘We only just escaped from those renegade star traders who thought we’d come to hi-jack their goods.’

***

Earlier that day, they had docked inside one of the local system’s asteroid syndicates, hoping to negotiate a good price for replenishing their spent fuel in the free trade zone.

Visiting colony space worlds was expensive enough. Now they made sure that any passing space traveller, whether private or commercial, had to pay a transit tax before leaving, as well as the normal space docking dues.

The asteroid was called, without irony, ‘Trimefirst.’

Entry to the space dock was rather tricky. A huge cavern had had to be excavated; big enough for starships of up to 2.5 km long and room for eight more. Fortunately, Trimefirst was a rocky asteroid of some eighty km diameter and the sale of so many valuable mineral deposits made the process economically viable

The circular entrance of 0.5 km was protected by a Diodonnic ionised screen curtain, which allowed the passage of space vessels in and out without rupturing it.

The space dock was crowded with the usual mix, all out for a good time or if not that, for a good deal. The way to take advantage of a place like Trimefirst, was to be close mouthed and be quick with your fists or boots. A show of weakness was fatal. Of course most of it was bravado but enough cracked heads and numerous bodies, not all of them alive, could be found lying behind the drinking dens and such like each morning.

Azvaa and Yayo left the docking area through a set of huge blast doors and followed a colour-coded track through the excavated tunnels of the asteroid. The track led to the noisy, bustling Central Hall. Rows and rows of exotic stalls filled the centre. Around the periphery a series of two or three storey buildings were huddled along the tunnelled walls.

The spices and food smells, together with the merchants’ voices, much of it unknown to Azvaa, not all of it pleasant either, mixed with the odours wafting from the numerous drinking dens. The dense throng pushed and shoved through the rows of stalls, past ancient gold and silver jewelry and antiques from various colony worlds.

Objects in plexistel, plexiplas and colourful plexifab clothes were two a credit. Every kind of hand weapon, laser, ion, blaster and disrupter were also available for a price.

Plus all kinds of drugs could be had, the addicts squalidly smoking them on bits of dirty looking carpets behind the stalls.

Yayo stopped and pointed towards a gap between two buildings. Her varifocus eyes had seen a semi-obscured sign. ‘There Azvaa,’ she said. ‘Is that what you want?’

‘Hydro/Heeli SpaceFuels Inc.’ A scruffy half-lit neo-laser sign crackled and spluttered above a manky looking door.

‘Yes, that’s the place,’ replied Azvaa. He turned into the ally, Yayo following a couple of paces behind him.

Walking through the filthy entrance, they paused, then eased through a narrow vestibule made of transparent plexistel. ‘Somebody does not trust visitors,’ remarked Yayo pointing to an ion gun muzzle angled towards them from one corner of the vestibule ceiling.

‘Not to worry,’ said Azvaa, waving at a micro secucam hanging next to the ion gun. ‘If they wanted to harm us it would have happened by now.’

‘Maybe not,’ Yayo said smiling, as she readjusted a finger joint on her right hand. ‘My Disrupter flare would have counteracted the ion beam.’

‘I’m glad you’re on my side,’ he said as he info’d their names via the door buttons, then pressed the exit pad.

The far door of the vestibule opened and they both walked through into a warren of corridors, obviously excavated deep into the asteroid. A Hover Robo zoomed up to them and flashed a holographic ‘follow me’ sign. A few minutes later, they arrived at a blast door, which was slightly ajar.

‘Come, come in please,’ a guttural voice invited them. So they both entered, rather cautiously.

‘I don’t blame you for being vigilant,’ the gutteral voice continued. Across the room behind a large desk sat a repulsive looking figure. He was squat, with a square face lined with the signs of the drug Sijax. Wart like eruptions criss-crossed his cheeks and his one remaining eye bulged, with a reddish hue hiding his dilated pupil. The Sijax drug was obviously the cause of the gutteral sounding voice too.

‘Sit down. Sit down. I’m Cruggle the Director of this little enterprise.’ Cruggle waved them to a couple of uncomfortable looking plexiplas chairs. ‘What can I do for you?’

He directed the question to Azvaa, rightly surmising he was the principle of the two.

‘Well,’ said Azvaa. ‘We’re looking for a supply of Hydro/Heeli pellets for immediate delivery, say 250,000 UniCreds worth.’

Cruggle raised his eyebrows. ‘My, that is a fine order. I trust that you have the means to pay. Upfront of course.’ He rubbed his two stubby hands eagerly together. ‘Just one thing though. The pellets are for personal collection.’

‘A little too pressing,’ thought Azvaa. ‘Still we have no choice.’

‘No problem at all,’ replied Azvaa. ‘My associate here, Yayo can arrange an immediate instant UniCred transfer on production of the correct Bill of Shipping, showing all taxes and duties have been paid by you, Cruggle.’

Cruggle smiled and played with one of his colourful shirt cuff-links (antiques obviously). Dealing with Colony people was really too easy. They wanted to avoid the crippling ICF taxes and he, dealing on the asteroid Trimefirst, was able to oblige. Of course his mark up was huge but the colonist still saved enough to make such transactions worthwhile. Then there was the possibility, just a possibility that he might get the UniCreds and keep the Hydro/Heeli pellets as well.

Trying not to be too eager to make the deal, Cruggle suddenly had a thought. How on earth (now that is a saying), could this Azvaa and his friend, arrange instant UniCreds from within the asteroid. Looking at Azvaa, Cruggle voiced his concern.

‘Oh that’s easy. My associate is an android and can link up with