The Companion

THE COMPANION

  (A Space Miner's Tale)

  Jack Thompson

  Copyright © 2011 Jack Thompson

  Published by Crackerjack Publishing

  Cover design by Crackerjack Publishing

  Visit the author website: www.jackwrites.com

  Contents

  The Companion

  Godmachine Preview

  About the Author

  Other Titles by Jack Thompson

  Contact Jack

  The Companion

  The three men paused just outside a small dark building. The sign above the door read Lost Horizon, but only the word Lost was lit up. One of the men pulled open the heavy door and all three stepped through. The inside was bathed in an eerie blue-green light. The older of the three men, a rough looking space miner, stopped just inside the door to give the place the once over. Then he headed straight to the bar across the room with two young miners in tow. This was their first leave from the asteroid mine they had worked the last six months, and the old miner, Ax Weller, had promised to show them the ropes in Jewel City, a popular destination for miners and space jockeys in this sector. The Lost Horizon was his favorite spot. It was a less popular bar than the ones in center city with their glitz and bright lights, but the booze here was older and the girls younger. Ax noticed the two rookies gawking at a gorgeous, nearly naked girl slinking across the room. Half the room followed her path. “What did you see?” Ax asked Tommy, the taller of the two rookie miners.

  “What didn’t I,” said Tommy, grinning.

  “I mean, tell me exactly what you saw.”

  “A small pretty blonde, petite, but curvy in all the right places. She winked at me, too,” said Tommy, still watching the girl.

  “Sure she did,” said Ax chuckling. “How ’bout you, sport, what did you see?” he asked the other kid, Mike.

  “She is tall and thin with long dark hair and beautiful brown eyes.” The two rookies did a double take at each other and then their eyes settled on Ax, who was laughing.

  “I won’t tell you what I saw—my tastes run a bit exotic these days,” said Ax. “That’s a dreamshifter. They can be whatever you want, at least in your own mind. And they are humanoid, or close enough. But trust me, you don’t want to know what they really look like. Word is, it’s some kind of she-male creature. They don’t even mate to reproduce—only do it for the money. They have enough appendages to keep anyone happy, man or woman. All legit, too, but you’ll pay through the nose. Go for it—you boys have money burnin’ holes in your pockets. I promise you’ll never know the difference.” Ax was clearly having fun. Neither of the boys moved.

  “How did you know?” Tommy asked.

  “Let’s just say, what she showed me ain’t legal on this planet. Besides, I’m a regular here whenever I get leave.” Both of the boys looked a little nervous. Ax continued, “Relax, this is nothing, one of the tamer sites. I’ve been to Arcturus and back a couple times, and I’ve seen some things—strange things—you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “What’s the weirdest you’ve seen?” asked Tommy. “Tell us.”

  “You sure you boys don’t want to grab some tail, first? I’m in no rush myself, but when I was your age—”

  “We can wait, too,” interrupted Mike. “Tell us a story.”

  “I’ll tell you what. Buy a couple bottles of the best rum they’ve got in this place and meet me at that table,” said Ax, pointing to a dark corner at the back of the bar. “And I’ll tell you about Jacob Brunner.” With that, he stepped away from the bar and walked to the back. The boys could see the slight hitch in his step when he walked. Neither had yet found the courage to ask him about it. The rum was 2000 credits a bottle, but they didn’t care. They had six months pay in their pockets from one of the hottest mining sites in this sector. When they got to the table, Ax was smiling and staring off into space, deep in thought. When he noticed the boys had arrived he said, “Sit down, both of you. Crack one of those bottles and pour me a tall one. I’ll be warmed up by the time you’ve had to pour a second. I’m warning ya’. Go easy on that stuff. It’s Deluvian rum—made for the 200 kilo beasts that live on that godforsaken planet.” Ax drained most of his drink and sat back. “Okay, then. This is a space love story as told to me by Jacob Brunner himself.”

  The Companion

  Despite the hardships I have endured, there has never been any question in my mind that going to Moon A2-B of the Alpha Centauri-A system was the luckiest thing I have ever done. The days leading up to my rescue and salvation have remained sketchy in my mind, probably due to the severe physical and emotional trauma I experienced during those nightmarish days.

  I do clearly recall being part of a geological survey mission that was sent to the second largest moon of the second planet in the Alpha Centauri-A solar system, designated only Moon A2-B on the star chart of the Alpha Centauri tri-star sector. It was a moon approximately eight times the size of our own, and was thought to be barren, although I am thankful that proved to be incorrect. At the time, little was known about it other than the recording of low frequency radio waves that emanated from its surface. The presence of radio waves had made Moon A2-B a priority for surveying. The corporate sponsors hoped to find radioactive minerals that could be mined and developed as a fuel resource.

  It was my third tour on a geological mission, and I was one of the four team leaders who would explore the surface and collect preliminary samples. The pay was average at best; however, my contract stipulated that if we were to discover useful material, I would be paid a sizable bonus plus get a small residual of what was mined. A major find could mean we were all set for life.

  We had discovered to our delight that the atmosphere, although a bit methane rich and oxygen poor, was breathable using only a small portable filter combined with a supplementary oxygen supply. The gravity was surprisingly close to that of Earth, due to the high density of the moon’s composition. Both these facts had buoyed our spirits considerably since landing, and boded well for our having a successful expedition. The climate was well within our human tolerance, and if not for the apparently lifeless, rocky aspect of the moon’s surface, we would have felt quite at home there.

  “Let’s get the gear unloaded and divvied up to each of the four teams,” ordered the expedition commander. “Then we’ll do a preliminary hike around the area, just so everyone has their land-legs working.” Although the ship had artificially induced gravity, hurtling through space was still disorienting to the human body, despite Einstein’s thought experiments to the contrary. After an extended trip in space, walking on the firm ground of a planet’s surface took a bit of getting used to.

  “Can you give me a hand, Bobbi?” I asked. Bobbi was green as an explorer, but she was smart as a whip, and always willing.

  “Sure, Jake,” she said. She had started calling me that instead of Dr. Brunner, and it made me less self-conscious about being the old man on the crew. Forty-five wasn’t old, but the rigors of space exploration made it mostly a young man’s game. Protocol required everyone to twin up while working on the surface, and I had picked Bobbi. She grabbed the other end of the seismic tester, and we carried it over to the pile of equipment for Team 2. Despite the weight and awkward size, the tester was invaluable to a geology team. We were able to gather preliminary data on the interior of the moon, which could take some of the guesswork out of locating mineral deposits. The corporation wasn’t big on spending more than necessary. Our ship carried a light fuel payload and we had to arrive, explore and leave according to a precise timetable just to ensure we made it home. It also kept the scientist types from falling in love with some aspect of a planet, and wanting to stay longer. Time is money, even out in space.

  There had been no previou
s missions to this moon, so little was known. My team was myself and Bobbi, plus Jaran, a mining engineer, and his twin, Mack, a former Martian Marine looking to make some real money. We headed west from the landing site to find the highest point we could to look around. We traveled light carrying only a perimeter microwave beacon to mark off the area, and several handheld testing meters to pick up any sign of surface deposits along the way. The terrain was firm and rocky with fine silt covering all but the high points where wind had blown it clear. The land was hilly due to a number of impact craters that had buckled the surface. The high point we reached on foot gave a vista out another couple of kilometers beyond where we stood that ended with another rise of hills in the distance. Mack hammered a spike into the ground, to which Jaran strapped the beacon. My check of readings showed no obvious signs of surface minerals