the Mysterious Freighter
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 20814
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So I sat tight and waited. Eventually, the newcomer got close enough that
I was able to get a look at it using the Mark 1 eyeball... It was definantly a freighter of Earth design, modified and equipped for both trade and war...and a behemoth one, at that! It was at least 8 times the size of my own spacecraft! There was a gaping hole in her side, about fifty feet aft of the bows. With such severe damage inflicted to the ship, it was a wonder it was able to operate in such a seemingly smooth fashion. According to the Astra's computer there was a slight chance that this fast approaching vessel was the mothership which had held the lifeboat! The make of both ships did look similar. There was no way to be certain though, as the freighter(like the lifeboat) lacked a registration number. This, I admit, made me uneasy. If a ship didn't bear any form of identification it was usually up to no good, especially one of this size and with as much firepower. I attempted to hail the ship for several minutes but got no response. Figured. Guess I would just have to sit tight and hope for the best, the situation was out of my control. That's when an emergency light flashed and an alarm sounded, signaling that something was very wrong at the port where the lifeboat and the Astra were still docked together!The mysterious freighter was attempting to retrieve the lifeboat! As it's strong magnetic grapples tore the lifeboat away from my freighter there was a horrible groaning noise. Oh, my poor Astra! Whoever or whatever I was dealing with obviously didn't care about my freighter or the safety of any inhabitants it might have inside. A quick status report indicated that the damage done to the Astra had been minimal, that was a surprise and a relief. It suddenly occured to me that I was undoubtedly in range of even a tiny pressure-suit radio now, so I hopped back on the comm and sent out a hail on the standard frequency. I was answered almost immediately."Thank heaven you've come!" It was a man's voice, with just the slightest trace of a Westonian accent. "We've been expecting you---wait a minute, who--who the hell are you!?" "This is Captain Fred Donair of the independent trader Princess Astra," I replied in my most professional voice. "Do you realize you could have fatally damaged my freighter pulling a stunt like the one you just did!? Does this lifeboat belong to you!? It's distress beacon was activated! Are you damaged, do you require assistance?""Captain--Who!? No, this isn't right!" The man's voice was cut short as the mysterious freighter suddenly blocked all incoming transmitions. As quickly as it had came, the gigantic freighter left. Just like that, it turned around and sped back the way it had came. They had expected me? I shook my head in bewilderment, pondering what had just occurred. This freighter must have seen me coming hours ago! It seemed one of the more plausible theories I had formed in my head awhile earlier was becoming more of a likelihood. Had the Ib been set adrift in the lifeboat in order to rendezvous with someone way out here in the space-boonies? Would that explain why the Ib had been blown to kingdom come? The lifeboat had been in such a condition that I assumed it had been strewn out here in the endless void for months upon months...but then it's mothership appeared a mere matter of minutes after I arrived on the scene!? Then again, maybe it wasn't the mothership...all of this was giving me a headache. I had been through all sorts of bizarre experiences on the lonely run between Ragan IV and Weston II. The stretch of space between the two planets had always held an infamous reputation for danger and the unexpected. But this was different... "Ah, forget it! I give up!" I entered in the coordinates for Weston II and continued on course, I didn't have time for all of this nonsense! Any minor repairs I would need to make would have to wait, I had delayed long enough! Again I thought about reporting the incident to the Authorities...for about half a nanosecond! The less I had to deal with the endless bureaucracy and general b.s. the Space Authority usually put me through, the better! It was doubtful I'd make any sense of what had just happened, so I put it out of my mind for the time being...
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Ib (excerpts from 20788(JH) and 20719 (ragan))
10/16/2002 11:23:42 AM
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