Tech Scavengers [Humorous, Action-Packed Space Opera]

The only thing that kept Jeridan from peeing his pants was the presence of two children on the bridge.

He clung to the armrests of his seat as MIRI and the S'ouzz navigated the Antikythera into the minefield. Jeridan felt helpless being at the helm but not actually flying the ship.

He glanced at Nova, who sat stiffly in her seat, jaw clenched. Looking over his shoulder, he could see Aurora right behind him, looking pale, all sassiness gone. Mason had that intense look that showed his father was at the forefront.

Jeridan felt a brief flash of anger. Derren had promised he wouldn't come out until they got to the station.

That anger faded when he realized he was sparing his son the stress of crossing the minefield.

There was no one to spare the rest of them. Reluctantly, Jeridan turned back to face the nearly invisible floating mines, forged from a long-lost technology and with unknown capabilities.

The nearest were getting close, just a few kilometers away. MIRI and the S'ouzz slowed the Antikythera nearly to a stop, flying at terrestrial speed.

Trying to focus on the blurry, fluctuating images on his viewscreen, Jeridan saw a mine moving away from them to the left, another just below them holding still, and a third to the right moving toward them but at a vector that would mean they would pass it before it got too close. Then Jeridan remembered they could change speed and he gulped, his throat dry.

His tension ratcheted up a notch as they passed between the first two mines. The one on the right continued its slow drift toward them but did not speed up. The one below, which had been hovering in place, suddenly darted to the right, making Jeridan's bowels clench.

The Antikythera continued its slow pace forward, approaching the mine directly ahead, which didn't seem to want to budge.

"Um, guys … " Jeridan said.

MIRI and the S'ouzz ignored him. Just as he thought they were going to run into the mine, it began to drift upwards.

Only to reveal three more in a triangle right behind it. The Antikythera headed straight for the space in between.

"Uh, are you sure … "

"SILENCE" appeared on in big flashing letters on his vidscreen, the closest thing the S'ouzz made to a shout.

Jeridan shut up.

Nova punched him in the shoulder just to emphasize the point. Or maybe it was Aurora. If it was, the girl was strong for a fourteen-year-old.

He didn't check who it was, too hypnotized by the horrifying sight ahead of him.

They eased through the triangle just as the one above slowly drifted further up. The other two stayed put.

Jeridan let out a breath as they passed through.

MIRI and the S'ouzz jerked suddenly the ship to the right. Jeridan looked all around and saw a mine bearing down on the from behind and to their left.

Was that one of the ones they had passed? He couldn't tell.

It came closer, picking up speed.

And now they were heading for two more that were rotating around each other like some giant, killer fan.

The mine behind them kept going faster, bearing down on them. Sweat beaded on Jeridan's brow. His eyes hurt from staring at the strange images.

Just as the mine appeared about to hit them, it veered off to the left and suddenly stopped.

MIRI and the S'ouzz swung the ship around to the right and dodged the two spinning mines.

Then they made straight for the station.

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But they weren't through yet. The image of the station, still just a pinpoint of light Jeridan couldn't resolve to higher magnification thanks to all the power being used by the AI and the astronavigator, kept getting blurred by intervening mines.

A lot of them.

The Antikythera swung to the left, then shot downwards before leveling off. Mines drifted all around them. Jeridan kept wondering about that 28 percent range of error.

He didn't like this at all, and sitting here helpless made it far, far worse.

He liked it even less when he realized the mines around them seemed to be converging on their vector.

Jeridan couldn't use the computers to calculate if they were going to intersect because MIRI was using every milliwatt of computing power for her own calculations, but being the best pilot in the Orion Arm, he could eyeball it and be pretty damn sure they were about to die in about fifteen seconds.

He wondered who would be the new best pilot in the Orion Arm once he got snuffed out of existence.

That would happen in about ten seconds.

No, the mines were speeding up. Five seconds. Tops.

He desperately wanted to talk to MIRI and the S'ouzz, but didn't dare interrupt them. His fingers ached from gripping the arms of his chair.

Then those two did the last thing Jeridan expected them to do.

They stopped the ship.

Actually stopped it dead in space.

The mines kept closing in on them.

Jeridan wanted to cry. The only reason he didn't was because he didn't want to spend his last moments hearing Aurora mocking him.

He did let out a little whimper, though. Aurora didn't come out with any smart aleck comments. She was too busy hyperventilating.

They remained motionless. The deck was silent. The mines swirled around them in a dazzling pattern, moving inward.

Closing in at them.

Suddenly, the ship jerked down and to the right so fast that Jeridan's crash webbing dug into his chest.

Two mines parted like an automatic door and they sped right through.

The moment they got past, they jerked straight for the station again, angling upwards to pass by another mine.

A swerve to the left. A hard dive. An angled zigzag.

And then, suddenly, there were no more mines ahead of them. Jeridan looked all around and saw the last two far to his left and above. Soon the ship had put those behind them as well.

No one said a word, not trusting their luck until the S'ouzz's deep voice came over the comm.

"We have passed through the minefield."

The deck broke out in a wild cheer. Aurora and Mason leapt out of their seats and jumped around, holding each other's hands. Mason's face was that of a child again.

"Thanks, buddy!" Jeridan shouted. "I knew you could do it."

"I am glad that you had faith in me," the S'ouzz replied. "And allow me to tell you that I forgive you."

"Forgive me?"

"For you and Negasi making that false comm probe from the S'ouzz home world. It was a terrible imitation of S'ouzz discourse."

"I told you it wouldn't fall for it!" Negasi's voice said over the comm.

"No, I told you it wouldn't fall for it."

"No way, I—"

The S'ouzz cut in. "It reminded me of my duties, both to the ship and my species, and for that I thank you. Now if you'll forgive me, I will remain silent and alone until I am needed again. Please do not contact me except in an emergency. It has been a stressful day."

The comm cut off.

"You can say that again," Jeridan said.

"But it won't, because it said it didn't want to talk to us," Aurora said.

Jeridan looked at her. "That was a seriously stupid joke."

The girl smiled. "Not as dumb as yours. I figured you'd appreciate it."

"How about we appreciate this?" Nova said.

She switched on the long-range visuals. The Imperium research station leapt from a small dot to taking up the entire screen.

Everyone took in a sharp breath.

It hung alone in space, a giant metal oblate sphere measuring two hundred meters in diameter. A pair of huge bay doors were shut. The protective metal screens for all the portholes were down. It looked in perfect condition. Jeridan squinted, and could pick out no major meteorite impacts even after all this time.

The research station looked as pristine as when the crew had boarded the Brunel and left it for the last time.

"Beautiful," Jeridan said.

"It is, isn't it?" Nova said.

"This makes it all worth it," Negasi said, coming onto the bridge.

"And it's never been scavenged," Nova said.

Jeridan leaned forward, drinking in the sight. "I'm not surprised. They sure put it in a good location. A long flight away from a backward planet with an interstellar asteroid field in between to make it invisible from there and then surrounded by that minefield. And that minefield probably soaked up any large asteroids or comets."

"It soaked up two of our ships too," Nova said somberly.

Jeridan bit his lip. They still had to get back out.

Nova pointed to an airlock low on the right side.

"That's where we went in, using an external power source like you did with the Brunel."

"Then we'll go in that way again," Negasi said.

Nova stood. "Right. Aurora, you stay with the ship. Derren, suit up."

"All right."

Jeridan winced to hear Mason speak with his father's tone.

You're almost free, little buddy. As soon as this is over, we're going to give your mind back to you, I promise.

Negasi turned to Jeridan, looking nervous.

"I guess it's time to let Helen out."

"Don't worry. I don't think she'll hurt us."

"No, I guess she won't."

Jeridan cocked his head. Why is he looking at me like that? Must be still rattled by the minefield, the wuss. Well, he's the one Helen likes. Good thing he doesn't know. He'd be more scared than he is already. I'll spare the poor bastard the knowledge.

"Right," Negasi said. "Let's get Helen and then suit up."

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"Cheer up, guys," Nova said. "We're going to save the galaxy."

"Yeah," Jeridan said, standing up on shaky legs and wiping his brow. "Now comes the hard part."