Title: Vacation Year
Prologue
San Clemente Junk Yard
3-12-2129
“It's a bit of a clunker, I will
definitely admit to that” the old salesman said “But if you are
missing any vital parts, feel free to find them on my lot.”
He pointed at the large compound strewn
with wrecks of all shapes and sizes and colors. “If you buy this
beast, then you get free scrounging on my yard for three months!”
the man said, throwing this in to sweeten the pot.
The man and the younger boy looked at
each other, they were still not sold. The salesman opened the hatch
and they all went inside, through the airlock and he led them to the
rear compartment. When he opened this up, the father and son both
whistled.
They entered the room fully and were
quite impressed by the engine. It was in pristine shape.
“Wow” the boy said “A 2121
Rolls-Chrysler HH Magnetic Feed Ion Pulse Engine!”
The father nodded “That was
unexpected”
The salesman agreed “This engine is a
sweetie too. Best thing about the whole ship. This is why I said it
would always get you home”
“Please dad, please buy it” the boy
said
“We should look around the ship a bit
more before we buy it” the father said, but the salesman can tell
he had hooked them. It was a pretty engine and it was definitely half
the value of the whole wreck, maybe more.
“Sure” the salesman said “The
life support might need a new pump and filter assemblies, might need
to have that looked at by a professional. Life support is very
important out in space”
“Come on dad” the boy said pulling
him into one of the crew quarters where a bed and a small desk and
tiny bathroom were the only visible amenities. The bathroom stank a
bit of mildew and the drain looked positively nasty but these were
minor fixes, really.
“It's old and used but a little TLC
will get it back to work” the salesman said “It's got six cabins
for crew, a small mess hall and then the cockpit up front of course.
Down below are the air and water tanks and the cargo compartments,
including a place for a vehicle with loading ramp”
“Any leaks?” the father asked
“I pressurized this ship a week ago,
left it that way for three days. There was no leakage at all” the
salesman said “I have had mechanics replace the air and water
tanks, the coolant is new, we rebuilt the landing gear and serviced
the communications system too”
“I want it Dad! I want it” the boy
said
“Is this investment for your son
here? It's a nice project I guess” the salesman ventured.
“I suppose it is for him, in a way”
the father said looking up and around at the cockpit they just
entered “We've always wanted to go see the colonies but never had
the chance. I'm planning on taking the whole family, when this thing
is ready”
The salesman nodded. “Well, I told
you the price when you called, what do you think?”
The boy was jumping up and down
excitedly “Say yes, say yes, say yes”
“All right then” the father said
putting his hand out “14.5 million credits it is”
They shook on the deal. Then they took
out their tabs and exchanged the ownership registration and the money
by tapping them against each other one time.
“It's yours” the salesman said, the
boy yelled “Yippee!” and jumped on one of the leather pilot
chairs and spun around.
The father activated one of the control
panels and looked at some of the status readouts, everything was in
the green, some of them barely. It was definitely a bit of a clunker
but it was serviceable. It would still need a few things before his
wife and daughter would step foot on board.
“We are definitely going to have to
upgrade this operating system, for one” the father said “It is
very out of date”
The boy looked back from his pilots
seat “Aye, aye Captain”
The father is William McDaniels and his
son is Billy McDaniels, it was the boys birthday and shopping for a
starship was his idea. It was his idea for the last three years,
actually, but only this year did they have the finances to make it
happen. In fact it had been William McDaniels life-long dream to see
the colonies as well and now, at 48, he was going to make it happen.
“Talia isn't coming unless you
install a new VR terminal in her quarters” Billy told his dad “It's
going to be a long trip and we don't need her to whine us all to
death”
As far as William McDaniel had plotted
it out, visiting at least 12 colony worlds before coming back to
Earth would take at least a year. Travel between the worlds would
take weeks through hyper and they would be out of contact during
that. Better upgrade the entertainment library too, they would all be
going stir crazy on this trip.
It was a 78-foot Make-Way, it was rated
as a Class-B Recreational Spacecraft. It had all of the standard
systems for connecting to space stations and being serviced
automatically at ground ports. This particular model was 22-years
old, and some of it smelled like it. The ship was nothing special,
except it was now theirs. That made it special.
William McDaniel wanted to replace the
carpeting for one thing it was threadbare and torn in some places.
There were a lot of little things, like painting the walls so it
wasn't all mis-matched and splotchy. The salesman was right about
having a professional inspect the life support systems, but also the
exterior hull shielding, he had seen some cracks out there and they
needed checked.
“Dad, this navigational computer is
way behind” his son told him “It doesn't even know about some of
the new colonies. It also hasn't been upgraded since Roosevelt
Station broke up and burned in the atmosphere.”
“Yeah, that's funny” William said
“Well, we could download a free version off the net or pay for a
professional one, what do you think?”
“Some things are better not left to
amateurs” his son said
“Okay, let's shut it down for now.
I'll lock up. When we come back, we'll roll up our sleeves and start
working” the man told his son “Burger on the way home?”
“Yes!” Billy said “If you throw
in a chocolate shake I won't tell mom how much you spent”
Ouch.
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