LIGHT STAR

The shuttle circled the first moon of Morstan and headed toward Petra the furthest and smallest of the Morstan moons. As the dark side crescent of the third moon looped beneath the nose of the shuttle, the small barren moon appeared in view. It was a dark and uninviting place with no life except the very secret base where the LightStar project laboratories and assembly hangers were. The shuttle lurched as it gave a short burn to reach the high outer orbit of the moon. Here space felt close, so close you could almost touch it. The hollowness in the pit of his stomach started to make Harris feel woozy, he had not felt that for a long time, not since the Eller Rose.

Harris had in fact turned his back on this side of space since that incident and had been quite happy to settle for surface based life. That incident had certainly had left its mark. He began to wonder if he had made the right decision saying he would come on this mission.

Harris had not formed any kind of picture in his mind about what the LightStar was or what it would look like. This lack of any preconceived idea did not stop the shock however when he finally followed Raftos through the hanger doors into the assembly area and saw the LightStar for the first time.

Space ships had for along time followed of pattern of sleekness in design, colour and shape, that satisfied peoples inner need for things that looked both safe and well engineered for there purpose. Design engineering for space travel meant there was absolutely no need for sleek well proportioned craft but people felt much more comfortable with a ship that looked as if it knew what it was doing. It needed a pointy bit up front in direction of travel and a bulky end at the back where the engines should be. Pilots liked to sit at the front looking forward, but there was no reason for this, they could be at the bottom of the cargo bay looking sideways, but pilots somehow did not like that.

So when Harris first saw LightStar his first reaction was to ask where it was. The thing standing at the end of the large hanger did not look in any way shape or form like a space ship.

The LightStar was sitting at the end of the large construction hanger. There were supports where the first two LightStars had been built, these were now empty. Raftos and Harris had to walk past these empty reminders of the other ships to reach the machine they were to use. In the distance there was a bright flash as someone on the ship made contact with some welding operation.

The first strange thing about the craft was that it was painted green, not a very nice green at that. Some bits that seem to have been added recently were yellow, blue and silver but the main bulk of the thing was slime green.

The dominant feature were two large donut shaped tubes some seven to five meters in diameter, each two or three hundred meters across forming two rings. These were spaced some fifty meters apart and formed the top and bottom of the machine. Between and inside these rings the rest of the structure was formed out of collection of cabins pods and energy cells.

These pods, cabins and doughnut shaped rings were supported and held away from each other by small tube shaped shafts which did not seem to have any particular pattern.

High up in this lattice groups of people were adding new parts. Some quite major work was being done to several of the pods, they seemed to be adding long siding booms and fitting new air lock doors.

The new bits stood out because they were not green. Harris could not help wondering if they had just run out of green paint.

They walked under the lower flange of the bottom tubular doughnut ring, which was held some four meters above the floor on solid buttresses.

"All very basic stuff." said Raftos as they looked up at the machine disappearing into darkness above, for that is what it was, not a space ship, it was a gigantic machine. "No lifts I'm afraid. " Raftos pointed out as he reached the foot of a vertical ladder.

Harris looked up the ladder and saw it seemed to go up and up forever.

"I did not think we were climbing to the next galaxy." said Harris by the way of a joke.

Harris did realise the climb was not as daunting as it looked, the very low gravity of the moon meant that the height they had to climb would not be much of an effort. A turbo lift would have been nice though.

As they climbed into the heart of LightStar Harris could see how experimental this thing really was. All the components were bits and paces from other ships or mobile surface craft. These were bolted and welded together using the lattice work of tubes and beams. Harris noted that some of these connections were held on welded flanges, some were fixed in a loose hole with a substance known as goo glue. These were in positions where normally you would have used a rubber or silicone gasket. This must be something that related back to the original machine which seemed to have left all its rubber gaskets behind.

As they got closer to the center of the machine the number of cabins and connecting passages grew in complexity until it was almost a solid mass of steel and beams. There was an open hatch at the top of the ladder, Harris climbed in closely followed by Raftos. Harris went down the passage leading from the hatch, it was narrow and not very high. Harris had to duck every now and then to avoid bumping his head on a bulkhead or cable crossing the passage. The passage ended in a large room, large compared to the passage that is. If you were to rent this room in a motel you would think you were being robbed if you were charged six cents a night for it. In the center of the room was a wooden table and some wooden chairs. On the table were scattered papers books and a bottle of Surgon whisky.

"Welcome." said Raftos arriving in the room behind Harris. "To LightStar."

" LightStar three" Harris corrected. " And please tell me this is the junior engineers mess room."

" This." said Raftos with obvious relish. " Is the command center."

Harris was not quite sure if this was a joke or not, Raftos was smiling but he was always smiling. There were no computers, no navigation center, no communications equipment. It was an empty room.

" You have yet to put the equipment in." suggested Harris.

" Come." Raftos crossed the room to one of two bulkhead doors on the opposite side of the room. He opened the door and went through.

" There is someone I want you to meet."

Harris followed Raftos down the short narrow tubular passage and stooped down through the open pressure door at the other end. This door opened into a much larger room although you would not have noticed as it was packed will all kinds of equipment. Some of it Harris recognised from his piloting days but most of it was completely strange to him. All teh equipment was exposed and connected with open cables and wires running all over as if a giant spider had been at work.

The equipment was packed from floor to ceiling leaving only small passage spaces running between panels packed switches gauges and rheostats. Half way down the room was a untidy looking youth soldering some wires together with what looked like and old fashioned weld gun. Harris followed as Raftos picked his way through the cables and rubbish on the floor to where the young man was working.

" I want you to meet someone." Raftos tapped the young lad on the shoulder.

" This is John Harris. " Raftos half turned and lifted his arm towards Harris. The young lad looked up. Close up the lad looked older than he had appeared form the way he was dressed.

" Spy from the sky eh." said the lad looking up at Harris. Harris looked at Raftos.

" Spy from central control." Translated Raftos. " Guys so high up they are in the sky."

" John this is Mickleton Jones the man who made this all possible." said Raftos.

The lad held out a dirty hand, Harris shook it, this was the chap Admiral Bainbridge had briefed Harris about. This small thin lad was the one who came up with the whole idea for this machine. As they shuck hands Harris found himself trying to think why the name and face were familiar, something other than this project.

" Every one calls me Mick, or Wire, I prefer Mick." said Mick.

"That's why you could get this ship to work when others failed." said Harris looking at Raftos. " You've got the inventor on board."

Mick pushed the plug had been working on into the panel in front of him. All the lights went out and the panel went dead.

" Oh slices." said Mick. " Must be time for a snack, lets raid the larder."

The emergency light slowly flickered on, although very dimly, as Mick lead the way across the room to another pressure door on the opposite wall. Harris was a bit perturbed by the fact Mick had to use considerable force to open the door, perturbed not because of force he had to use but because it meant that it did not fit very well. Harris began wondering how much of this ship did not fit very well.

They went along another little tubular link passage this one rising upward, it led into a small sleeping chamber, turning left and down another passage they entered what looked like a standard space store module. This it would turn out, would be their main dining and gathering area. It was a long round chamber laying on its side with storage boxes lining all the walls. These places were fine in space but were difficult to use in gravity.

The doors to the lockers on what was now the floor side were covered in terra matting which prevented damage to the lockers as you walked on them. Mick went over to some open lockers at the furthest end and pulled out some packages, he threw some to Harris and Raftos.

" Its nice to have good food for a change." said Mick pulling out a straw from one of the packs and sucking on it.

Harris looked at what he had been thrown " They are basic rations." said Harris looking at the labels.

" Yea but they're fresh basic rations, not old out of date stuff being sold off cheap, they even have the correct labels." said Mick

" Where have you been living." said Harris.

" On the edge." said Raftos. " Like a lot of people out there, more people than you can imagine, living off the dregs of civilisation, which is why were are here. If the eastern sector economy goes into a nose dive allot of people will suffer and suffer greatly."

" That's not a sentiment I associate with you." said Harris to Raftos. " You are not noted for being a friend of the people. I assumed you were only in this for the money and possibly a pardon."

Raftos shifted a large box across the terra matting and sat on it, he tore open one of the food packs and took a bite of its contents. Mick climbed up the lockers a short way and lay half prone next to an open locker full of food packs. Harris taking his que from the others turned a long box onto its side and sat down on it, then had a look at what food pack would be the least horrible.

" You're a hero." said Mick looking at Harris.

Raftos took another bite from the food bar and looked at Harris delicately unwrapping a drink pack. Harris pulled out the straw and took a drink.

" It's an important mission said Raftos." said Raftos. " If we succeed we'll all be famous."

" If we fail." said Harris. " I'm a natural optimist."

" If that happens this flight will never have happened." said Raftos. " We have stolen a secret spacecraft, this is a secret mission. We are to seek out new worlds to boldly go where no man has gone before."

" I assume everyone on this trip is slightly loony." said Harris.

" Prime qualification." said Mick.

" I smell food and hear talking, is it private party or can any one join in." A shaggy mop of red hair followed by a brightly coloured shirt put its head around the access door at the far end of the module. Without waiting for an answer a pair of bright green trousers followed the psychedelic shirt and climbed into the storage module.

" Throw us some goo Mick." said the newcomer.

Mick tossed him some packets which were caught very deftly in one had. The newcomer walked down the module and sat at the other end on the long box next to Harris. He stretched out his free hand and introduced himself.

" Packet Gee C D Looms is my name." he said with a very strong twang to his voice that suggest his origins were in Skylon system.

" Thought I had better join in before people start telling strange stories about me, they are all true but I do like to be here to protest my innocence."

Harris opened his mouth to introduce himself but Packet did not give him a chance.

" We know who you are old boy, you've been discussed at length, but I'm sure deep down you a very nice guy." said Packet

" Take no notice of Packet." said Raftos. " As you might guess by the amount he talks he is in scanning communications, all the additions you see going on outside are mainly at his request. I don't like to say it in front of him but he does know what he's doing when it comes to that kind of stuff. "

" You see." said Packet. "You can fool some of the people all of the time."

There was a noise outside in the passage at the far end of the module, something was coming down the passage and making allot of noise about it. Suddenly there appeared at the door two very strange shapes with hard brown leathery bodies and shinny heads with big starry black eyes. There was a pause in the conversation while the beings stood in the doorway. Then the first took off his goggles and steel reinforced safety helmet, then his thick heavy gloves. They must have been the people doing the welding on the outside. With a gasp for fresh air the first chap removed the rest of his protective gear.

A man now half the size now stood just inside the module door. He was a well built man not young but not old and looked very fit. He wore a simple rust coloured tunic over a tight fitting green jerkin, brown leggings and on his feet he had strange very stubby brown boots. He could have been taken for a Foyd but his eyes were blue clear and bright and his hair blond. Harris could not quite place where he was from. The second chap had now taken off his protective clothing. He was much larger with deep set brows, he was dressed much the same.

" Kimlon and Predling ." said Raftos to Harris. " Part of my crew form the Monitor, there is not much about space ships they do not know. They are here for the adventure, excitement and curiosity about the LightStar. They do not see this trip as at all risky even though I've explained it to them enough times."

" If he go we go." said Predling the first smaller one pointing a finger toward Raftos . " Raftos not daft man, he want we want. Did we smell food." He talked in a way that suggested this was not his preferred language

Mick started throwing some packets in the direction of the two newcomers. They read the labels, kept some and threw some back.

" All fixed outside." said Kimlon opening a drink pack. " We go maybe six hours. "

" Well." said Raftos." We jump in six hours."

" Jump." queried Harris

" Well this thing does not fly in the conventional way." said Raftos. " So we've got say it does something and jumping is the nearest word we can come up with to suggest what it does. It jump's from one part of the galaxy to the other."

Raftos held up his drink pack. "Gentleman, to sector five."

Everyone held up their packs and toasted Sector Five.

" Well." said Raftos." One last meeting with the support guys down below, then bang, we're out of here."

" I don't like the way you use the word bang." said Harris.

Harris and Raftos retraced their steps from the storage module back out of LightStar and back down to the hanger floor. A group of tables and chairs had been set up to form a briefing area but nobody sat down. There were charts, files and manuals on the tables and much to Harris's surprise orange military code files were also there. After a short while Packet joined Raftos and Harris to talk to the ground crew. Amongst the various technical members of the ground team Harris was surprised to see Admiral Bainbridge, he must have come up form Central Command on Morstan just for this last meeting.

The Admiral shuck hands with Raftos and the exchanged pleasantries, then everyone got down to the serious business of the flight briefing. It seemed as if the Admiral was personally overseeing this project and was doing everything he could to make this mission a success. There were things on the table that only his direct authority would have allowed outside a military battle cruiser.

As the charts on the table were unfolded, Harris saw they were in fact military charts with much more detail than normally available. These charts had communication satellite positions marked, as well as surveillance satellites and military bases, not only Centrals bases but everyone else's they knew about. Harris was slightly surprised to see hideouts and pirate bases marked as emergency landing places. That explained why some of the more dubious colonies in the universe were never raided.

Some of the technical support team who were with the Admiral started to explain the detail. This was high level detail, positions of surveillance satellites, communication beacons, patrol positions, what they did and how. Harris was impressed on how candid the experts were at answering Raftos and Packets questions, they were holding nothing back.

Central it seems had been sending high speed communication relay stations into sector five for some while, this would set up a communications network deep onto sector five. This network consisted of relay satellites stationed at set distances apart that could route a signal back to central control almost instantaneously. These were military relay stations on military frequencies, unlike commercial satellites they did not transmit a carrier wave so could not be detected unless actually relaying a signal, which were always compressed and very short. The coverage was not total as yet, for the system was still being set up and the deep penetration satellites had not yet reached their destination in sector five, but it was better than nothing. LightStar was to use the top military codes for transmitting data.

When the briefing was over Admiral Bainbridge again shuck Raftos's hand and wished him luck. A sight unimaginable a few weeks ago. The chief crook in the universe shaking hands with the chief law in enforcer. The Admiral then came over to Harris and shook his hand, there was not much to say apart from good luck and take care. Before the Admiral let go of Harris's hand however he took him slightly to one side and whispered in a very low voice.

" My daughters name is Jasmine Hallow."

Raftos, Packet and Harris took all the charts, files and communications equipment and placed them on the table in the so called control room of LightStar. Well over four hours had passed since the generators had been started so everything was set for the second flight of LightStar Three and the first flight of John Harris on the still somewhat experimental LightStar. Harris was, although he tried not to show it, slightly concerned. This was all way beyond anything he had been trained for at Trune cadet academy. His pilots training meant nothing here, they were flying literally on hope, luck and the ability of a red haired guy who had could be readily certified as a nutcase.

Packet told Raftos he was off to the communications room and then disappeared down a passage. Raftos then led the way into the Switch room where Mick was watching the equipment. Everything in the room was now operational, lights flickered and the needles on dials rose and fell. Apart from a low background hum it was strangely silent. The air in the small room was charged with the high voltage electricity from the equipment all around them, this made the atmosphere very tense and on edge. This was a purely physical reaction as no one in the room was particularly excited except for Harris, who's hart rate was certainly higher than normal.