The First Chronicles of Eboin

By Dick Willey

This story is about space, and the people who spend a lot of their years out in it. Space is a cold ‘black’ unforgiving place, if you make a mistake out there you will usually die. People travel in space for various reasons, there are smugglers, poachers, and thiefs, there are people hauling freight and businessmen doing what they do transports that haul people from planet to planet, miners, Agriculture and manufactureing, all travel in space.

Space is a void, it has no time, no north east south or west, there are no roads to travel your navagator sets a destination for your ship to go and you hope he is right, a a mistake will be your last. There are travel lanes, but no road signs, no white lines, you trust to your electronic equipment with your life.

The people who keep watch on all the other prople are called Space Force and are a military organization, who not only act as traffic cops, they also fight wars if the space belonging to the United Federation of Planets is atack by aliens.

The people who are characters in this book are usually called spacers because they are crazy enough to do what they do. This story is about one of them, the story is a bumpy ride in places and I hope you enjoy it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669811824

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Copyright © 2022 by Dick Willey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 05/11/2022

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CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1     Abandoned Teenager

Chapter 2     Teenager Surviving

Chapter 3     Space Force

Chapter 4     Graduation and Duty

Chapter 5     Together Again

Chapter 6     Back in Action

Chapter 7     A Hero on Duty

Chapter 8     Retired

Chapter 9     Kids Grow Up

Chapter 10   Grandkids Happen

Chapter 11   Kelly 1

Chapter 12   Surfbeach

Chapter 13   Politics

Chapter 14   Generation Takeover

Appendix A: Genealogy

About the Author

PREFACE

T his story is about space and the people who spend a lot of their years out in it. Space is an unforgiving, cold black place. If you make a mistake out there, you will usually die. People travel in space for various reasons. There are smugglers, poachers, and thieves. There are people hauling freight and businessmen doing what they do. Transports that haul people from planet to planet, miners, agriculture, and manufacturing all travel in space.

Space is a void. It has no time, no north, east, south, or west. There are no roads to travel. Your navigator sets a destination for your ship to go, and you hope he is right. A mistake will be your last. There are travel lanes, but no road signs, no white lines. You trust your electronic equipment with your life.

The people who keep watch on all the other people are called Space Force and are a military organization that not only act as traffic cops but also fight wars if the space belonging to the United Federation of Planets is attacked by aliens.

The people who are characters in this book are usually called spacers because they are crazy enough to do what they do. This story is about one of them. The story is a bumpy ride in places, and I hope you enjoy it.

CHAPTER 1

Abandoned Teenager

E boin was born in dark outer space, in the crew compartment of his mother, on a small tramp freighter on a delivery run. His mother, Joyne Wintox, delivered Eboin herself with some help from another crew member. She was the only crew member with any medical training, which was little. Eboin entered the world on September 29, 2154, according to Earth’s calendar. Time in space is irrelevant.

The tramp freighter was owned by Zeak Ormans, whom everyone called Captain Zeak, but he really was not a captain and had no military training or rank. Zeak was the navigator of the ship and part of the four-person crew. He made his living hauling freight from point A to point B and made a pretty good living.

The other two crew members were Byone Smith, who was in charge of supplies and finding cargo at each port where they stopped. He was very good at this and had a list of contacts that was huge. Tor Dubas was the last member and was a machine repairman who had to keep everything on the ship running. The stevedores who loaded and unloaded were all hired at the spaceports and didn’t travel on the trips.

Joyne’s jobs were keeping the consumables stock up so the small crew could eat and was also a part-time radio operator and injury repair person. She did no cooking as all the meals came out of machines that prepared them but had to be restocked.

The ship didn’t make very long trips. Usually the longest would be three months, but most other trips were six weeks to two months. The conglomeration of planets that they served were small manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and supply depots. The major income of all the tramp freighters was in smuggling. Zeak did a little of this, but he would not do the high-dollar jobs of drugs or human trafficking. His big thing was alcohol from agricultural planets that had distillers to other planets to avoid the high taxes.

Of course this meant being very aware of the Space Force (SF), which was the police force of space. They had replaced the old Space Patrol that was not as military and couldn’t handle the smuggling cartels and mining poachers, which were everywhere.

Eboin’s life started out like any normal child—potty training, learning to walk, and getting into trouble was a common practice. About the time he was three years old, Tor came back to the ship from some barhopping in the port city and brought Eboin a child’s plastic toolbox with wooden and plastic tools in it. Then Eboin started following him around on the ship and pretended to work on things.

Tor had to train him not to put any tools into the electric outlets. The ship’s current could do the kid a lot of damage if he was grounded. This went on till Eboin was six; and then Tor bought him a real toolbox, with tools, and started to teach him how to be a maintenance person.

The six-year-old was a good learner, and also about that time, Joyne took him off the ship for the first time. They were in the spaceport of an ag community, and his mother was determined to go into town and get him a real birth certificate. She still had all the information about where he was born but no real certificate.

Eboin, while walking on the planet for the first time, complained to his mother that his feet were sticking to the ground. The ship’s artificial gravity was not as strong as the real thing, and Eboin didn’t like it. They took a transportation into the center of town and found county offices where they went in. Joyne showed them the information and asked for a birth certificate. It was around four o’clock in the afternoon. The clerk said he couldn’t do a thing until tomorrow as it was late, and he had tickets to a big sporting event that started at six o’clock.

Joyne, not being used to being told no over something she considered not important, simply told the clerk she was not leaving that office until she got what she wanted. As closing time approached, the clerk made one out and got a county commissioner to sign it, and she had a birth certificate. She also bought Eboin some new clothes at a thrift store, and they went back to the ship.

Joyne had been teaching Eboin how to read and write, and Tor was helping him with math, so he was getting an education but had never been in a school. Eboin also had never played with other children. His whole life to this point was spent with adults. He did play video-type games on the two machines in the ship that were to keep crew members from getting bored but never interacted with other kids.

Eboin was now almost seven years old and should have been a third grader; but due to his not being in school and being taught by adults only, he was reading, writing, and doing math at a seventh-grade level. Joyne, Tor, and sometimes even Byone would bring back to the ship schoolbooks that they picked up at a pawnshop or a yard sale in the towns they visited; and Eboin was a very good learner.

He excelled in math due to Tor who’s mechanical training along with a bit of engineering, which made him a good instructor. The kid’s problem solving was uncanny. He would attack a problem like it was a piece of machinery and troubleshoot every pro and con until he arrived at a solution. He was not as good at history or geography, and the ag business was all Greek to him.

Eboin was starting to do small repair jobs on the ship himself, and Captain Zeak had gotten him a credit card and paid him for small jobs so if he did venture into town, he could go to pawnshops and buy new tools for his toolbox or new jumpsuits that fit him.

As years went by, he was becoming almost a member of the crew. When he was about ten years old, the ship landed on an ag planet to deliver supplies and pick up a load of produce to haul out. The captain did not like to haul produce as it was low profit, but there was a distillery on the planet; so he loaded up on booze, which was pretty high-dollar stuff, if you didn’t get caught by the Space Force.

While on the planet, Joyne took him into town to a harvest festival that was going on. This was the first time he had ever been to a celebration and the first time he had seen other kids his age having fun playing. This upset him, and he told Joyne that the other kids were playing games, and he had no idea how to join them and really be a kid. This caused his mother to be concerned because she realized at ten years old he had never had a real childhood. Joyne had never had any psychology training, but she felt her son was missing something important. She seriously considered quitting her job and living on a planet for a few years, but she didn’t do it.

When they got back to the ship, she decided she had to spend more time with her son and try to teach him some of the things he had missed. Tor said he would help, and maybe they could help adjust Eboin and bring him into young manhood in a more normal way. Joyne also realized that he had never met or associated with a girl, and she was sure that was not good.

Life on the ship went on as normal. Eboin was now soon to be a teenager chronologically, but education-wise, he was far advanced from that. He was reading and writing at a high school grad level and had mastered algebra and trig and was trying to get textbooks on more advanced things. He was also receiving a regular pay from Captain Zeak as he was doing a lot on the ship including some navigation planning and locating shipments with Byone. This meant he was ashore at almost every port, and his mother gave him a stern warning to always take his toolbox ashore with him, because if Captain Zeak made a fast getaway from a planet and left him, his whole world and wealth was in that toolbox as his only identification.

Tor, good to his word, had on one planet traveled to a middle school and talked to a very nice sex ed teacher named Linda and talked about Eboin’s possible problem. Linda gave him some of last year’s tapes that had been replaced along with a textbook that was old. Tor thanked her and gave all the stuff to Joyne so they could plan out a new course of instruction for him.

On the next trip, Eboin started to learn a little about girls, dating, etc. Joyne also took it upon herself to introduce him to music and how to dance with a girl if he encountered one. Tor thought this was pretty funny but went along with it and did some dancing with Joyne, which they hadn’t done in years. Watching them also fixed the thought in Eboin’s mind that Tor was really his father. Joyne had never confirmed or denied to her son who his father was, although he had asked many times.

A short while after Eboin’s fifteenth birthday, he went ashore on a manufacturing planet, basically in search of new equipment for his toolbox. He had a small amount of credits on his card from his pay and wanted to update things. He found a pawnshop and in it a high-credit piece of voltage equipment that was far superior to what he had and, with a little bit of negotiating with the clerk, got it for one hundred credits. He started back to the ship happy as a clam, but when he got to the spaceport, disaster struck.

Eboin saw that the ship was gone. He went to the control tower and asked what had gone on. A worker told him that Captain Zeak had been spooked by Space Force inspection personnel and took off without even getting clearance to leave. He then asked if there was another SP on the planet and was told, Yes, we will call and see if he landed there. The answer was no; and Eboin realized he had lost his home, his mother, his job, and his whole world except for his tools in one flash.

Eboin analyzed the problem he faced and decided that his course of action should be, number one, get a job; number two, find a place to eat and sleep; and go from there. He went to another worker and asked if he knew of any jobs. The worker said, "We are really busy right now, and a few guys are off with the flu. Go ask Walton, the yard boss. He may hire you.

So Eboin found Mr. Walton and inquired about a job. Walton said, You look a little young to be working, but right now I’m short of help. I will hire you for twenty credits a day to run parts and tools to maintenance men working on ships. The tool and supply building is right over there, and use one of the electric carts to run it to numbered ships. Eboin said thanks and jumped in a cart and started delivering repair parts and tools where needed.

The workday ended at 1600 hours, and they credited his card with the credits. He asked about a place to stay, and Walton said, There is a motel right across the street that is pretty cheap. So Eboin went there and got a room. He left his toolbox with the mechanics boxes in the storeroom by the office. Eboin went over and got a room for twenty credits, so he just broke even for the day. For another ten credits, he got a pretty good dinner, went to his room, washed all his small clothes out in the sink and hung them up to dry, turned in to bed, and thought about the rest of the week. Tomorrow would be Friday, and he would probably work Saturday also.

The next day he got up, ate a five-credit breakfast, and walked to the spaceport. This day went the same. He ran parts all day and collected his credits, but during his shift, he talked to another man about where to stay, and he said, If you go down Grey Street, there for three blooks you will find a place called Tina’s Pub. She is a real sweetheart and has rooms in the back for ten credits a day, and if you rent one for the whole week, you can get it for fifty-five credits and a free breakfast every morning.

So Eboin left his toolbox in the storeroom and walked three blocks to Tina’s place. Tina was a pretty lady of about thirty-five, and he rented a room for a week. That night he got a much better dinner for eight credits, and when Tina walked by his table, he complimented her on the meal, and she said, You are a sweet kid. That one’s on me. Have a good night. He went to bed happy that night and wouldn’t mind the longer walk to work the next day. After breakfast, he got to work on time and had a busy day. The maintenance people were really pushed all day doing small repairs to get ships going again, and another worker named Saul said, I stay at Tina’s also. You can ride with me so you don’t have to walk.

The next day was Sunday, and Eboin had some time off. In the morning, he found a bathrobe in the closet, so he used the clothing refresher and for one credit ran it all through and in really clean clothes went shopping. At a thrift store, he got a supply of small clothes and two used but good jumpsuits and a pair of sneakers to replace his work boots in the evening—this all for twenty credits. At dinner that night, it felt good to be in a different outfit. He had been wearing the jumpsuit for three days, and it started to smell.

After dinner, he sat and listened to music in the restaurant, and Tina came over to talk to him. They talked for a while, and he asked her about renting the room for a month at a time. She said, Two hundred credits a month, and you will also get free dinners with the deal.

He said, I’ll take it, but it will be a week before I make enough credits to pay you. Tina said no problem, then she asked him why he was all alone at a young age, and he had to tell her the whole story.

Tina almost started to cry and then kissed him and said, You are much too mature for your age. You should be in a teenage hangout playing around with young girls.

She then got a pitcher of wine and two glasses and said, We have to talk some more. Then Eboin told her the whole story of his young life, and she said, You are two sweet of a kid to be facing this all alone, and if you stick with me, I’ll try to help you become a teenager instead of a working man. They talked for another half hour and drank all the wine, the first wine he had ever had, and he went off to bed happy.

The next day he rode in to work with Saul and was busy running parts all day. This lasted until Thursday when he took a BS963D pump to a maintenance man at space 23. The man looked at the pump and said, This don’t look right.

Eboin said, Why?

The man showed him the old pump and said, This won’t fit.

Eboin said, Yes, it will. I have installed one of these myself.

The man said, Show me, and he did, had the pump installed and working in ten minutes. The man said, You are good. You should be in maintenance.

He replied, I was until last week.

They talked, and Eboin explained how he got left here and how he was trained. The man told him he should go to the union hall and get an apprentice card. It’s free, and Walton will have to pay you twenty-five credits. If you have it, go there Sunday and get one.

Eboin said, Thanks. I will.

Sunday Eboin traveled to the union hall and got an apprentice card. The clerk told him he had to join the union to get the card, and he argued back that he didn’t have to because this was a right-to-work planet. When the union man still argued, Eboin saw a Space Force man and motioned him over. When the clerk saw the SF man, he gave him the card with no more arguments. Monday he showed the card to Walton who grumbled a lot but put him to work.

The rest of the week went as usual; and by Friday, with his raise, he was able to pay Tina his month in advance and now had free meals. Two weeks later, Saul quit his job and moved to a better one, so Eboin was walking again. In a few days, Tina told him about an electric scooter for sale at a good price of one hundred ten credits. He checked it out and bought the thing and again had wheels.

Things went along good for a couple more weeks, then when he ordered dinner, Tina would bring it out herself instead of a waitress and bring one for herself. They would eat together, and when she was done, she would kiss him on the cheek and go back to the kitchen. Then she started to kiss him on the lips, and that surprised him.

A week or so later, when they were done eating, there was some nice slow music being played on the machine; and she asked him if he knew how to dance. He said yes, his mother had taught him a little, so she grabbed his hand and led him on to the small dance floor. They danced one then two songs, and when they went back to the table, she kissed him and played with her tongue in his mouth. He had no idea what that meant, so at work the next day, he asked one of the young dudes what it meant. Mike said, She wants to play tongue tag with you. Just respond in the same way and see where it goes.

A few days later, when they danced again, she did the same thing. This time Eboin responded, and the kiss lasted two minutes. Then she hurried away, and he sat there wondering if he did something wrong. Two days later, a tenant moved out, and Tina asked him to switch into that room, which was two doors from hers. This was OK, but he was worried because she was becoming more friendly and had quit calling him a boy. Now she called him a man, and he had just passed his sixteenth birthday.

Eboin went to work every day, and things remained about the same until he had delivered a voltage adjuster to a man to install, and he was having trouble getting the unit to reset after an occasional voltage surge. Eboin said, I think I know how to reset this as I put one in last year, and when I had this problem, Tor showed me how to fix it. He turned the unit over and stuck a piece of wire in a small hole in the back, and the unit reset and started working.

The man said, Damn, you are good. You should be a third-class repairman. You should go down Saturday and take the test. It will jack your pay up.

Eboin did go back Saturday to the union hall and took the test. It cost him one hundred credits, but he passed the test with ease and was given