Empty Toward The Moon

Chapter Nineteen

Laser gun training went well at the on board firing range. Everything was holo-projected, no real heat in the shots, just targeting. I only had to sit the final safety and marksmanship test twice before I was given my certification via the Quadrozzi Merchant Clan. The license was added to my Clan pin which allowed me to carry a side arm while I was on the Merchant Guild Station and on any Quadrozzi Merchant Clan starship. Both Mocha and Latte took the training along side me. Mocha was quite efficient in taking the gun apart, cleaning it and placing all the components back together. Latte ended up being a better marksman than either of us. She smiles a lot more knowing that she is better at something than Mocha.

It wasn't until two days after our little chat in the bunk room about what the Twins wanted to do with their lives, that they quietly thanked me for giving them a choice, and they made it clear that they wanted to follow me. They loved the idea of gaining fighting skills and dreaming about taking down the operation that kept them captive all their lives. Mocha also expressed his desire to eventually go to his home planet out past Alliance space. He wasn't sure what was left of it.

After all the laser gun training, talks with Mocha and Latte, meals and fun times with the Quadrozzi crew, and checking over my newly purchased supplies, we finally arrived in the system holding the lost moon planetoid.

"Ms Briller, please make your way to the bridge. Ms Biller to the bridge." My clan pin buzzed then a message sounded in my head. I jumped in fright as this was the first time I'd received a comms message from this ship. I was in a cargo hold going over the manifest with Phill again. He saw my stunned face and laughed.

"I should have got your face just now on vidcomm. Is that the first time you've been paged ship-wide?" He asked. I nodded and handed him the clipboard in my hand.

"I think, even if we go over this all for a fifth time, we won't really be able to make changes. I think we have enough food, meds and filters to last us five years. If we find a few locals to join us, we could take on another twelve people and still feed them for a year. I am happy with this quantity. What about you Phill? Do you think we might need anything else?" I asked the merchant for his professional opinion.

"I think you will want to consider taking a backup energy membrane generator or another meteor shield. You never know if an emergency will pop up." He nodded at his own suggestion.

"Yeah, I get that. Please pack a few more and put it on my tab." I smirked then left the large cargo hold and trotted my way back to the forward centre of the freighter where the bridge was located. I waved and said hello to all the crew who I met along the way. One of the guys who usually works with Phill invited me to the poker game. I declined as I was certain I'd lose a lot of credits like the last time I play with his team. They cheated, but I couldn't exactly pull them up for it while playing friendly. I waved him off as I remembered what Phill had said about Quadrozzi and gambling. It's only fun when you can get away with cheating. He warned me prior to the game so I knew what I was getting myself in for.

"Briller on the bridge. Captain, what can I help you with?" Using the lingo that I'd heard the other crew members use, I made myself known and reported in.

"Miss Cia, we've arrived in system and doing a radar and lidar sweep now. You have about six hours before we leave this position and deliver you to your new home." Cade smiled at me and nodded towards the forward screen, directing my attention to the new information The Chaser had already collected about the F class star and all her pretty little planets. Mostly dirt rocks in the goldilocks zone, two gas giants further out, one larger than the other and an oort cloud out past the last and fifth planet. A few random asteroids and icy exo-planets further out. Nothing unnatural, human, alien or otherwise showed up on the radar and lidar so far, but they would be sweeping for a few more hours before all the data came back to the ship. It wasn't instantaneous, but if there was a human colony or aliens belonging to our alliance, the system would be dotted with beacons or relay buoys, making things go faster again.