My Friend is an Alien - Edlund Niklas. Страница 29

"Like a shuttle with five kids, no adults, three of which don't even belong this far out in space, and one of which is a runaway from his homeworld?" speculated Niklas.

"Something like that." grinned Jahv.

"What's this space station like?" asked Davy.

Jahv pondered the question, trying to put it in terms his friends would understand. "Think of Deep Space Nine from Star Trek crossed with the Mos Eisley spaceport from Star Wars, but not quite as nice as either one."

"Terrific." said Keith sullenly. "Just when I tell these two to get their minds of off Star Trek and Star Wars, our own resident alien has to go make comparisons."

"The trick now is getting there." said Jahv. "We're honestly lucky to be as close as we are to it. Without hyperwarp, it'll take the better part of an hour. Let's hope we didn't suffer any more damage."

The voyage continued in relative silence. Keith had returned to his seat and brought his legs up and rested his head against his knees. He didn't say anything. Davy and Niklas, seated next to each other, just tried to keep calm and held each other's hands. Morik had strapped himself in and had put the educator headband back on, wondering if there was anything in it about space flight.

Roughly an hour later, during which time everyone calmed down as much as possible — it helped just to realize they were at least moving towards possible help and not just sitting dead in space — the space station called Garboris was on the sensor screen, and finally appeared in the windows. It actually looked vaguely like Deep Space Nine, in that it was circular, with pylons jutting out, and a central section. But it was bulkier in appearance, and the pylons were more numerous and more haphazard. The place also looked ill-kept, with dirt and rust in apparent evidence. Either that, or this place had been cobbled together from materials that had already been rusted or dirty in the first place, or just naturally dingy regardless of their condition.

Jahv had a concerned look on his face. "Yeesh, it looks worse than it did five years ago when I was last here. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, but we're out of options. I can't fix the stabilizer without being docked. I won't be able to access the necessary sections of the shuttle."

"Wonders of the universe, huh, guys?" remarked Keith.

"I've never seen anything like that in Earth orbit, have you, Keith?" replied Davy.

"Wouldn't want to." stated Keith.

"It's interesting, but I sort of agree with Keith. It looks a little nasty. Maybe some of us should just stay on the ship?" suggested Niklas.

"Not a good idea." said Jahv. "We need parts. We need to replace the coil. And I don't think splitting up is a good idea. The interior of that space station is like a maze. It was built over a long period of time, by several races, none of whom paid much attention to what their predecessors did." He worked the controls and opened a commlink. "Space Station Garboris, this is Shuttle designate Alpha-Jahv, requesting permission to dock."

Static blasted through the speaker, but then a rough, gravelly voice spoke, "Shuttle Alpha-Jahv, state your reason for docking."

"Repairs." replied Jahv. "Hyperwarp stabilizer is out. We shouldn't be long."

"Access granted." came the voice again. "Follow your beacon to docking pylon Zhrek-three."

"Understood. Receiving beacon. Thank you. Alpha-Jahv out." Jahv turned off the commlink. "Zhrek-three. Wish I could remember this station better and where that puts us compared to where we need to go. I think I know a shortcut. Have to see when we get in."

"I'm surprised they didn't ask why a kid was flying this thing." remarked Davy.

Jahv snickered. "You think tone of voice means anything out here? They were probably glad I'm not a Pavarot. Not only do they have deep baritone voices from the day they're born, but their entire language sounds like opera."

"Deep baritone from birth?!" exclaimed Keith. "That must make feeding time at hospital nurseries a load of laughs."

Jahv maneuvered the shuttle to the indicated pylon, and docked. A hiss of air indicated the the airlock was operational. "Enabling security field." said Jahv, more to himself to remember proper procedures. "Powering down. Okay, we're set."

"What will the security field do?" asked Morik.

"Anybody tries to break into the shuttle, it'll hit 'em with a stun field." replied Jahv. "Okay, guys, let's go. But brace yourselves. Like I said, this isn't a very nice place."

The group moved through the airlock and into the space station. It smelled like a gym locker. Keith wrinkled his nose, and Niklas looked nearly ready to gag. Davy scowled. Their illusions of the wonders of space were taking a bit of a beating just now. Morik looked nervous to be in such enclosed spaces as this. Jahv was amazed at how badly the place had indeed deteriorated. His and his parents had stopped here, as he had said, about five years ago, for emergency repairs. It had been a nasty place then. Now it looked downright vicious.

The walls were grimy, and so were most of the rather unpleasant-looking aliens they passed as the boys wandered through the corridors which led to a central section where Jahv knew the station's directory was. It was sort of a hub from which many corridors branched. They were all following Jahv's lead, and sticking close.

"This place is disgusting." whispered Davy.

"Yeah, I know, guys." said Jahv. "I didn't think it would be this bad, but we're kind of stuck. We've got to get the parts we need."

"Let's do it quickly, okay?" suggested Niklas, who, like Davy, had come to the realization that looking out the window of a nice clean shuttle at all the wondrous stars and phenomenae of space flying past was a far cry from dropping in on some remote outpost. Even Keith seemed cowed, thinking to himself, "I wanted a reality check, but not something this bad. I'm glad Martin's not here."

They soon came to the Core, as it was called. Several stories in height, there were wide corridors on every level, leading to all manner of shops and kiosks. An incredible array of alien life, very little of it pleasant-looking, milled around, conducting assorted business.

"I hope Karak is still here." said Jahv. "He's the parts dealer my parents dealt with years ago. Honest enough — for this place. He'll be on the second level if I recall." Jahv consulted the directory. "Thank the Creator. He's still here."

The group ascended a nearby stairwell that took them to the next level. "By the way," said Niklas, "I'm understanding a lot of the words I'm hearing around me. How is that possible?"

"There's a translation field in effect throughout the station." said Jahv. "Probably one of the few things anybody bothers to maintain properly, because the commerce of the station is so dependent on it. You think most of these spacers speak more than their own language?"

"Good point." said Niklas, surprised that some of what he was seeing was even capable of speech.

They came to an entrance to an obvious bar which spread across the width of the entire corridor. "Do we have to go through there?" said Niklas, suddenly fearful.

"I'm afraid so." said Jahv, wincing himself. As with the rest of the station, this place looked worse than ever.

"Are we even allowed in a place like that?" exclaimed Davy. "That's a bar, for heaven's sake!"

"Terrific." muttered Keith. "Only thing worse than these ugly aliens has gotta be these ugly aliens — drunk."

"Age isn't a factor." said Jahv. "There is a detour, but.

"But what?" said Niklas. "It's gotta be better than this!"

"It would take three hours, and I don't think any of us want to put on the breathing gear necessary to get through the Methane Zone." stated Jahv. "It doesn't do much to cut the smell."