Free My Other Car is a Spaceship by Mark Terence Chapman Page A

practice and think about his situation. Taking advantage of his implant and the same “instructional recordings” the rest of the crew had used, he learned to speak fluent Melphim, Alberian, and the major dialect of Chan’Yi’Cha during those months. He also studied the history of the Merchants’ Unity and some of the galactic civilizations it spanned.
    That’s amazing. Hundreds of populated planets and moons, and we had no idea any of them existed. He shook his head. We really are a backwater world. That’s something we’ll have to change if we’re going to survive and prosper once we step out onto the galactic stage.
    Finally, the relief ship arrived and it was time for Adventurer to return to her base. This meant that Hal had approximately two months left at the helm before he turned her over to the next set of pilots.
    It’s not all fun and games out here , but it sure beats the hell out of passing time mowing the lawn and playing shuffleboard with the geezers down at the community center. An old adrenaline junkie like me could get used to this sort of thing.
    Hal pondered the pros and cons briefly before coming to a decision.
    I guess it’s time to have a chat with Kalen. He toggled the intercom. “Captain Jeffries. Do you have a moment?”
    “Indeed I do, Hal. In fact, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something. Why don’t you meet me in my ready room?”
    “Be right there.” He arrived a minute later, to find Kalen just taking a seat.
    “So what is it you want to talk about, Hal?”
    “Well, I’ve been thinking —”
    “The answer’s yes.”
    “Yes? You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
    “You were wondering whether I’d be willing to keep you on as pilot of the Adventurer after we return to base.”
    “But how —?” A dark suspicion entered his mind. “That implant—can you read my mind or something?”
    Kalen laughed. “Nothing so melodramatic. It doesn’t take a mind-reader to figure out what you were going to ask. I’ve been watching you the past few days, looking wistfully at the pilot’s couch, running your hands over the instrument consoles. You looked like a lover who never expected to see his lady fair again.”
    Hal chuckled. “I guess I did.” He shrugged. “Well, I’ve never been as intimate with a woman as I have with Adventurer . I know every square inch of this ship in ways I never knew any of the aircraft I flew. I see through her eyes, feel through her senses. She does everything I ask. How could a man not fall in love with her?”
    Kalen nodded knowingly. “Th at’s not an uncommon reaction among pilots. Many stay with the same ship until they die.”
    “Not too long ago, that would have sounded ominous. Now it has a comforting ring to it.”
    “Welcome aboard, Pilot Nellis.” Kalen stood and extended a hand. “Or should I call you by your call-sign: Mongoose?”
    Hal stood and took it with a smile. “Thank you Captain Jeffries. No, My ‘Mongoose’ days are behind me. I’m just ‘Hal’ now.”
    “ Very well, Hal. What do you say we head back to base?”
    “Roger that.”
    Well, I was looking for a second career after I retired. I guess I found one. Say goodbye to Colonel Nellis, U.S. Air Force, Retired, and hello to Hal Nellis, Space Ranger. He chuckled to himself.
    I like the sound of that.
    He mentally consulted the star charts. Without moving a muscle, he pointed Adventurer’s prow in the general direction of Procyon and engaged the hyperflight drive.
    Sweet.
     

     
    “ Captain!” Pilot JorTenzin shouted. His command of the Chan’Yi dialect suffered in his excitement. “I count two—no, tree now—tree pirate ships entering system! They heading for we!”
    “What in the seven moons is going on?” Captain Zuf’Moun’Coury swore. “I have never known pirates to travel in packs before.”
    “They all smaller than we, but they spreading out to make harder to engage all of they at once.” The Sestran pilot’s long,