Chapter 9

The Zephyr limped into Petrov station, trailing a thin line of smoke from its port engine. The smoke came from the ruptured electronics systems along the side of the ship and not the fuel system, thankfully.An undocumented asteroid, that was too small for their scanner to pick up, punched through their deflector shield. The shield slowed it down significantly, but the foot-long rock still tore a large gash down the rear of the ship. The Zephyr was an old ship, so it had its fair share of patches, and this wouldn't be anything new, except the rock had broken apart on impact, and peppered the port engine cone, damaging the engine in the process.

They shut that engine down to prevent further damage, which also forced them to shut the starboard engine off to keep the ship from constantly drifting to one side. This left them with only the central thruster for propulsion. So their trip had taken two weeks longer than originally scheduled.

"Ease it in, Wilkes."

"I'll treat it like my very own child, Captain Daniel," the pilot responded.

"Didn't you skip out on your wife and kids?" Sierra asked.

"They weren't mine," grumbled the pilot.

"Let him concentrate, Sierra."

"Sorry, Captain," the sensor operator responded. "You sure this station can even fix the Zephyr?"

"I doubt it," Daniel sighed. "But we might be able to get a replacement engine. I know a guy who runs a salvage yard here. As soon as we're secure, I'll go have a chat with him."

Jasper Daniel didn't usually travel this far out to the edge of human space. There were a few reasons for that. The biggest being there wasn't a guarantee they would return safely. Pirates were only one of the concerns out here, the Zephyr ran into the other kind. Undocumented rocks were a real hazard. Had that asteroid struck the bridge zone instead, they might not be here to have this conversation.

He should have known better than to take this contract. Yet even with them being so late, the payout would still have been profitable. Except now he would have to spend all that profit and likely more to fix up the Zephyr.

Jasper watched the main screen as the ship slowly passed through the large hangar opening. The view was skewed, making it seem like the ship was coming in tilted. It was a good thing they didn't rely on the cameras for docking. He made a mental note to have someone go out and adjust the camera on the top of the ship. It had probably been knocked loose by the impact.

White cones of vapor shot into view as the retro thrusters fired to slow the ship even further. Soon the main engine cut out and a soft puff could be heard as the vertical thrusters fired to bring the ship to the deck. There was a dull thud that resounded through the ship as the landing gear touched down and the faint hum of the station transferred over the physical connection.

Ever since he was a young child, flying aboard his father's old mining ship, he had enjoyed this moment.

Jasper flipped on the ship comm. "Alright, secure your consoles. For those not on cargo duty, I'll need you to help with maintenance tasks. We're going to go over every component before taking off again." There was a chorus of groans following that statement, but nobody complained too vocally.

The ship was their only protection against the harsh vacuum of space. Leaving a possible issue from the impact undiscovered simply wasn't an option. Jasper had known captains who skipped these steps. And well… a lot of them weren't around anymore.

As soon as he got the signal that the hangar was pressurized again, he exited the ship from the open cargo ramp. He nodded to the crew who were busy unloading the cargo. They all nodded back.

His port liaison was already busy chatting with the customer, and he skirted aside to avoid any entanglements. Some of their customers wanted to speak with him directly, but Jasper hadn't hired Naomi just for people to bypass her and come to him. He liked being the Captain and running the ship, but that didn't mean he liked having to deal with the minutia of customer interactions. That was Naomi's specialty, and she was worth every credit.

They had docked at the fourth ring, so he headed for the elevators and made his way to the third.

When he arrived outside of where the Sokolov Repair and Salvage had been located, he found it wasn't there anymore. In its place was a business called Anton's Spaceworks. He knew that the irascible Yuri wouldn't have sold off his yard to the station. That meant only one thing. The old man was dead.

Jasper let that sink in for a bit. He had known Yuri Sokolov since he was able to recall faces. His dad had frequented the station back when he was mining this system. This was before his father met Anya, his stepmother. She eventually convinced his father to give up mining and go into a safer profession. Although being a space hauler wasn't much safer.

With a sigh, Jasper entered the establishment. He didn't have high hopes though.

The first thing he noticed was that the racks upon racks of junk that Yuri had refused to part with were gone. In its place was a clean white space that looked freshly painted. At least a dozen workers were moving about and working on multiple projects. Jasper imagined what Yuri would say if he saw this many people in his yard at the same time. The old man probably would have blown a gasket.

A well-dressed man approached, which was the second warning sign for Jasper. "How can I assist you today?"

"On our way here, my ship took an asteroid strike. I was looking to get a quote for engine repairs."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your crew is all okay?"

"They are, thank you."

"I can certainly assist you with that. What model of engine is it?"

"It's an Omni 456." At the mention of the manufacturer, the man's fake smile dipped for a moment, but Jasper still caught it.

"I see. Well, we don't carry any Omni parts I'm afraid. So we can only offer you a direct replacement. We have a Sinorus vosem'sot."

He wasn't surprised that this outfitter didn't handle the Omni models. Not after Omni betrayed the Coalition for an exclusive STO contract during the war. It wasn't common knowledge as Omni did their best to suppress any mention of the betrayal, but any captain worth their wings knew of the open secret.

Most of these outer systems were made up of expatriates of the Coalition. He didn't blame them for their dislike of the STO's main engine manufacturer. He didn't much like Omni either, but they sold the fastest and most efficient engines out there. If you wanted to stay competitive in the core systems you had to buy from them.

"How much is a replacement gonna run me?" Jasper asked, knowing it was probably going to be outside his budget, even with the arguably inferior Sinorus engine.

The slick-dressed man gave Jasper a quote that made his eyes bulge. "What! That's three times the cost of a brand-new Omni engine."

At that, the salesman lost all pretense of friendliness. "I'm afraid that is the price. If you don't like it, feel free to shop around." With that, the man turned and left, leaving Jasper fuming.

He did just what the man suggested, but every place he stopped at, either refused to work on it or quoted him even more than the salesman at Anton's did. It was infuriating.

Jasper returned to the ship and gathered up the crew to tell them what was going on.

"Buncha slimy bastards!" one of the cargo handlers yelled. He didn't catch exactly who said that, but he agreed.

"There has to be someone on this station that is willing to take on this job," Naomi spoke.

"I agree," Jasper said. "And I want you all to comb the station for any leads. There has to be someone willing and able to do this for a reasonable price. I know these people don't like Omni, but if they think they're going to force us into buying substandard junk, they can float out an airlock." That got a round of chuckles from the crew.

***

Wilkes was chewing on the last of what passed for a protein bar on this shit hole of a station as he made his way down to the bottom ring. He had been born on a station, so he knew who to talk to to get information.

It didn't take him long to find a young boy hanging out near a vending machine. Much like Wilkes had been before joining the Zephyr's crew, this boy was a ward of the station. You could always tell the difference between orphans and those kids with parents. It was in the eyes. He didn't walk up to the kid though, that would just spook the adolescent. Instead, he made for the vending machine. The kid eyed him warily but didn't leave. So he was cautious, but not afraid. That was good.

You could tell a lot about how stations treated orphans by their attitude toward grownups. He spent a few minutes pretending to ponder the options in the machine before purchasing two bars.

"Aw shucks, I didn't want this one." He turned to the kid. "Hey, you!"

As expected, the kid focused on him. "Me?" The kid asked, pointing to himself.

"Yeah. I accidentally purchased two bars and I was only planning on getting one, you want the other?"

The kid narrowed his eyes. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, but I could use some information if you'd rather trade."

The kid shrugged and stepped away from the wall. "Bar first."

Wilkes smiled and tossed to chalky protein bar to the kid, who opened it and quickly ate. "Whaddya wanna know?" the youth spoke around a mouthful of the snack.

"Know anyone that can do engine repairs?"

"Yeah, plenty," the kid replied after swallowing. "You're on the wrong floor for that."

Wilkes chuckled. "Yeah, we already spoke to those on the other rings. They want too much." He decided not to mention why they wanted too much.

The kid rubbed his chin in thought. That was a good sign. It meant the kid wasn't just gonna spew some baloney at him to get him to leave.

"Well, there's Maxim. But I heard he got into some trouble over shoddy work. …Um…"

"I'll take anyone kid," Wilkes pressed when the kid hesitated.

"There is Alexander, but…"

"Is he also known for shoddy work?"

The boy shook his head. "No, he does good work. It's just, well… he's a robot."

Wilkes blinked at that. "A robot?"

"Well, supposedly, he's just sick and uses the robot to interact with people."

"You don't buy that?" Wilkes guessed.

"Never heard any rumors of a sick person moving in," the kid shrugged.

"Can you provide both Maxim's and Alexander's locations?"

The kid rattled off some numbers before walking off. As thanks, Wilkes handed him the second bar. He was still trying to get the taste of the one he ate out of his mouth.

***

Jasper and Wilkes left Maxim's shop, less than impressed. If he thought the man at Anton's had that used ship salesman vibe, Maxim practically radiated scum. The man promised everything under the sun. Yet the rundown state of his shop and the seeming lack of work spoke volumes.

"Last stop, Captain," Wilkes reminded him as they made their way to the final option his people had been able to discover. If this person didn't work out, he would be forced to take out a loan and have Antons replace the engine.

As they rounded the last bend toward their destination, the grime-filled corridor vanished, leaving a clean, if somewhat worn-down hallway ahead. Jasper quirked an eyebrow as he heard Wilkes whistle. "Now that musta taken some elbow grease."

"Yeah," Jasper responded softly. It also showed someone who actually cared about where they worked.

They arrived outside 'Alexander's Repair Shop'. It was a small space, but it was open and inviting. The pair stepped in and stopped.

There was indeed a robot running the establishment. They hadn't quite expected the little girl, who seemed to be fiddling with something on the counter though.

"Greetings" the robot spoke. "I will be with you in just a moment."

Jasper simply nodded and waited.

The young girl looked over at them, before quickly losing interest and going back to what she was doing.

After about a minute, the girl squealed happily. "Alex, I did it!"

"That's excellent, Yulia. How about you run along now?"

"Ok," The girl hopped off her stool and raced for the door, forcing the pair to quickly move aside.

"Sorry about the wait. What can I help you gentlemen with?"

Jasper stepped forward and held out his hand. The robot extended its own and shook the offered appendage. The grip was firm, but not painful.

"If you don't mind, I have to ask."

"Why the robot body?" the projected face smiled knowingly. "You must be new to the station?"

Jasper nodded.

"I suffer from an incurable auto-immune disease. It means I'm essentially trapped inside a life pod. So I use a remote connection to this robot to experience the world, so to speak."

Jasper didn't ask the man if he had tried nanite regen therapy. That was expensive. And going by the cobbled-together look of this robot, and where he was working out of, it was clear the man lived on limited funds.

"My ship took some damage and we were wondering if you could repair the engine?"

"What model?" the robot asked.

Jasper kept himself from grimacing at the question. It would have come up eventually, no matter what. "Omni 456."

"Hmm… I am not familiar with that model. Most ships that come through here use the Sinorus engines."

Jasper was ready for the man to deny him like all of the others, but he said something else. "I would need to add the price of a repair schematic to any work I would do. Is that acceptable?"

Jasper nodded. "Uh, yes. Absolutely. So you can do it?"

"I'm not sure. I would need to see it in person first. The freight elevator leaves in about fifteen minutes. Where is the ship located?"

Elated by the fact Alexander wasn't making any promises before seeing the ship, Jasper provided the hangar coordinates for the Zephyr.

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