Free Chaos Quarter by David Welch

counter-clockwise.
    “Right will spin it clockwise. Move your foot back to the center.”
    She did and the rotation stopped. The ship returned to a course parallel with the system’s elliptical plane.
    “That’s all there is to it,” Rex said, sinking into the gunner’s position.
    “You have to do all four of these at once?” she asked after a moment of thought.
    “Yeah. It takes a while to get used to. But once you master it, you not only can fly most ships, but you have the potential to be an awesome drummer,” Rex spoke. An uncomprehending stare answered him.
    “Never mind. It will take a bit of time. I trained for five years. But if you know some basics, you can fly simple courses without the computer,” he continued.
    She let out a heavy breath.
    “Can I go now?” she asked.
    “Yeah, go on,” he replied.
    She darted out of the room, relief dripping off her. Rex shook his head and smiled, then moved back to the command station, sighing to himself.
    “Think she’s got potential?”
    “ I am incapable of giving opinion , ” the computer replied.
    Rex chuckled, “Keep forgetting that. Return us to course, continue on at present speed.”
    * * *
    By Chaos Quarter standards, Cordelia was an advanced world. The seat of the Qahiran Confederacy, it controlled all of the inner half of its solar system and had several ships large enough to qualify as frigates in a stronger nation, though with far more primitive weapons. Flying into orbit of Cordelia, which had turned out to be the fourth world of the system, they passed by several Hastav- class fighters. While underpowered and lightly armed by Commonwealth or Europan standards, the Hastav was a status symbol in the quarter. If you could afford to buy them, you had to have some economic ability, which meant you had some power.
    The world itself was fairly standard. It was fairly similar to Earth: ice caps at the poles, large continents with deserts, plains, forests, and rugged mountains. The capital city, Khors, rested in the planet’s northern hemisphere, on a high plateau surrounded by jungle.
    Standing at the spaceport, Rex took a deep breath, tasting the air. It was damp and heavy with water. It clung close to his skin, making everything feel slimy and moist. Yet the oxygen remained thin, making him breathe more quickly than he was used to doing.
    Whose bright idea was it to build the capital nine thousand feet up and surrounded by rain forest?
    Chakrika didn’t seem to mind. The spaceport sat atop a hill overlooking the city. The hill’s summit had been flattened to build the spaceport, but still reached high enough to give them a good view of Khors. The city stretched ahead of them for several miles, two thirds of it to the west of a large, lagoon-like lake, the rest to the east. The streets were paved and bustling with traffic.
    He didn’t see any buildings above ten stories, but the various structures looked solid and well maintained. Most were plain cement with minimal ornamentation, often painted in an off-white color that reminded Rex of the sea-shells you’d see on a beach. Jungle vines broke the monotony of the color, streaking across the buildings, in some places so thick that it looked like ivy. Monkeys perched on the roofs, tiny little furry figures oblivious to the human clatter below. Several on the nearby terminal roof dropped the stems from some tiny reddish fruit that they ate furiously.
    “I’ve never fired one of these,” he heard Chakrika say. Rex turned to face her. She was looking at the gun he had given her, holding it in one hand and Quintus in the other.
    “Not that hard. Take off the safety, raise it to eye level, fire at whatever you want to die. Make sure to use two hands to hold it,” he spoke.
    “Won’t it recoil?”
    “No powder. They’re electromagnetically accelerated. Little if any recoil. Just make sure not to point it at anything you’re not willing to kill,” he stressed.
    “You sure you shouldn’t bring