Oltarin, third planet orbiting a bright yellow main sequence star, the young starship captain observed musingly from the bridge of his ailing ship Sential Trader. The planet was a myriad of climates---from deserts to rolling plains and lush green mountains, a backward planet that had just rejoined the federation about 10 years ago. It was just about the last place in the galaxy that Otian wanted to put his ship down, but the burnt crystals in the power converter of the main star drive engines left him little choice. He could either land on this backward, back water planet; or we can put out to deep space until the normal drive gave out in life support failed.
" Damn! Aw damn!" He muttered caustically, his gaze still fixed on the planet's crescent ahead. "After four years, I've come to this."
" Shall I put in for ground clearance, sir?" Norsen, the ship's com operator asked.
"Yeah, sure." Otian grumbled. "And there isn't really much to waste. I'm just sorry the old gal couldn't get you people to a better drop off point if she had to go and break down on us. Go ahead and com Starport control - - -but don't tell them we haven't got credit for the fees. We're dead in the sky if we don't hit dirt somewhere soon."
"Right, captain." The older man nodded grimly and set about his business.
Otian turned away, putting the sound of the communique mentally into the background, then he slouched his lean, wiry frame into his pilot's seat. Shoving thin fingers back through his thick, fiery red hair, he leaned back in his chair and compressed his then mouth into a taut line. The whole damn mess just wasn't fair!
Trader was the only possession of value he'd ever had, and its crew was his only family since his father had gotten himself killed in a drunken brawl in the gambling house on McKee. If he couldn't get some kind of cargo off planet with enough advance to pay his fees and repairs ship he was going to lose everything.
Sure he knew it was a long shot when he took over through his apprenticeship at twenty-two. But Otian had never really believed that he wouldn't be able to clear his father's debts in to own her free and clear again.
Only this last voyage, one thing seemed to go wrong after another. First the temperature control went haywire in the perishable hold and ruined 750,000 credits worth of qwashi fruit from Pallis V, then the main star drive started to fail. Now it was gone and along with that much of a Otian's former confidence in his ability as a starship captain, and most of all his youthful optimism.
He was the youngest officer on the ship and the third youngest man of the crew of 15 that had served with Otian's father since he was just a boy. The two just older than him were apprenticing ship mates when Sharod, Otian's father, picked him up from Leone in the Regulus system two years after the boy's mother died in an accident.
Sential Trader had been Otian's home for 15 years. It was going to be damned hard to let her go.
Again he swore, pounding his fist against the padding on his arm rest. No! He would never just give her up. They'd have to serve him with an eviction notice and drag him bodily from her. He didn't know how, but somehow, he was going to pull him and his ship off this backwater planet. Nobody was taking Trader! Nobody!
"Captain, we got clearance to land in 1 hour." Norsen interrupted his musings. "They didn't ask any questions, and I didn't offer any answers. They only wanted confirmation all of our Federation Registry Code, so I gave them the clean numbers."
" Well - - -that'll get us on the ground. But, then we'll be stuck when they serve up the invoices for dockage." Otian mused aloud "At least the place is half civilized. It beats the hell out of the middle of the desert."
"Uh, kid - - -" Norsen returned. " Mari-Sanna Starport is in the middle of the desert."
"Yeah, Norsey, I know." The young captain grinned ruefully. " We could have gotten stuck on someplace like Zevus Mar. But Mari-Sanna at least has a village and sweet young ladies, I hope. Do you know how long it's been?"
"Too long." Norsen grinned knowingly. " Vernie's old enough to be my mother, and Sue and Faye hoard it for Jake. What a devil he is!"
" Who’s a devil?" The muscular black navigator demanded as he strode through the sliding portal onto the bridge, taking a seat beside the Captain.
" Nothing Jake." Norsen smirked.
" Bullshit!" The navigator grinned good naturedly. You can have Susie or Faye anytime they want you. I can't help it if I'm charming and irresistible."
"Modest, too." Otian put in and his earlier foul mood began to recede a little.
" Some of us just have it all." Jake laughed.
"Good then maybe you can think of a way to get as out of this mess we're in."
" Aw, don't worry kid. If bad luck comes in threes, we're about due for a change." Jake said cheerfully.
Yet, the way my luck’s been running, Otian mused, it'll probably be a change for the worse.
Jake glanced at his young protégé sympathetically. The whole crew was worried. Trader was their home, too; and even pooling all their credits together wouldn't yield enough to fix her. None of the motley group had been especially for wool over the years. They were tramp jumpers, living from cargo to cargo and taking their pleasures at whatever port they landed until the next cargo out. There were rarely any credits left over for such contingencies as major repairs, and they were beginning to regret that oversight just a little…