Trial Run
STARDRIFT – Episode 1: Dead Reckoning (Scene 1)
Vizier Streak walked out into the large cargo port of Fest Stop swinging his arms to loosen his shoulders. He was used to hurling through space in metal containers but the cramped sleep pods was too confining even for him. Technically they were big enough for his tall frame but he still felt as if he had been squashed when he tumbled out of one.
He stopped at the railing of the upper gangway and looked down at the docking bays. The port looked like the insides of a flattened cup. The hollowed out asteroid created an expansive rocky dome overhead. Below him the cargo basin floor stretched out as a patchwork of grates, access hatches and stained metal plates that was wide enough to curve optically at the edges.
He had avoided the port side of the asteroid. The closeness of space obscured only by the slider curtain, a sheet of metal thin enough to fold out of the way for ships to access the port, was a bad reminder. He had been hovering for too long and was itching to be on the move again. And this one job would get him there.
Fest Stop was a hollow asteroid that wore a vintage Ripple Gate as an ironic crown. It used to be a central hub with hundreds of ships exchanging millions of tons of cargo on the regular. But it had been made redundant by the new Saka Ripple Channel and now only served a few fringe planets, space stations, and other outposts.
There were only four ships in an area that could accommodate ten times that number.
The ship Vizier was looking for was the Unit Breaker. It was parked on the far left and looked like a small but decent deep space hauler. The particular model ship looked unfamiliar but it was manufactured by the Ramlan Tholes. The blunt stubby profile they preferred was unmistakable. It would be nothing fancy but would be built to last.
Vizier walked along the gangway past two other ships that seemed to be destined for nowhere.
Whatever they were hauling it must already have been loaded onto the Unit Breaker because the main cargo doors were shut and the container holds on the flanks were locked tight. There was no activity around the ship. Except for the short and portly man waiting by the top hatch. That was Jel Darm, the owner of the ship and his employer.
Coming closer Vizier could see that Jel looked nervous, as if he was unsure of being in the right place he should be. He smiled to himself when he remembered the scores of children hanging onto their parents, eyes as big as saucers when they first arrived on board a big space liner—same look, different experience. If only he had known that those were the good days.
The moment Jel saw Vizier he slapped the palm of his hand on the railing and called out. “Ah, there you are now. Great that you showed up.”
Vizier shrugged as he passed Jel and headed for the top hatch of the Unit Breaker. “Why wouldn’t I? We made a deal less than six hours ago.”
Jel stepped in close beside Vizier and rubbed his hands together. “Right, but you might have arrived earlier.”
With one foot inside and his hand on the hatch frame Vizier paused and looked at Jel Darm. “This is the time we agreed upon.”
Vizier was a bit taller than Jel and standing so close together the man had to look up at him. It clearly made him uncomfortable as he took a step back and his eyes wandered up and down the hull of the Unit Breaker as he waved his hands limply about.
“Yes, but maybe I will require more from you than just blindly following orders. You gave the impression that you are a man with initiative. Was I mistaken?”
Vizier Streak had taken this job as the pilot of a bathtub to escape from being stranded on this cargo relay station. Once he had captained liners too big to even dock at Fest Stop where he had been the final authority. As a mere pilot he was going to have this fusspot looking over his shoulder.
“Let’s just get on with it,” said Vizier. “I will need to run pre-flight checks.”
The top hatch was behind the cockpit. The ship was too small for an expansive bridge and the pilot controls was cramped into the nose of the ship. Jel Darm mumbled something and then noisily moved about towards the back of the ship.
Vizier stowed his kit behind the pilot seat. He’d find his cabin later. It would be nothing welcoming, probably smelling stale and of old sweat and rancid food. It was clear that the previous pilot was not concerned with cleanliness in any form. First he had to run through various preflight sequences.
The dials were grimy and more than a few of the switches and controls were sticky, or greasy, but systems checked out as stable and functioning. Battery levels were steady, environmental systems were sound, no warning lights flashing, and the ship switched over from parked to dormant idle with no problem.
A small niggle tucked at the back of Vizier’s mind. A ship like this had to have at least one or two minor issues. But he shook off the thought and focussed on his good fortune. Sometimes something can be as good as it seems.
Next was a visual check of the ship, hatches, exposed conduits, cargo bay and propulsion units. Vizier got up and moved back down the central corridor. At the hatch entry he was met by Jel coming the other way, and blocking him from going further back.
“I have to check the rest of the ship,” said Vizier and pointed behind Jel.
Jel did not step aside but gestured for Vizier to step off the ship and back onto the upper gangway. “That can wait for now. There’s something else we need to get done first.”
“I’ve seen the outside of the ship. I need to inspect onboard systems.”
Stepping from the ship Jel had picked up a wrapped package which he held in one hand as if he was holding onto a mouldy block of cheese. With the other hand he gestured wildly. “Not now. You might not even need to if you are not going to fly for me.”
Vizier felt a twitch, a foreboding vision that one day his desiccated corpse would be found in a Fest Stop sleep pod. If he did not go out with the Unit Breaker that was all he could look forward to, another long wait until an opportunity comes along.
He gripped one hand tight onto the gangway railing. “What do you mean not fly for you? We had a deal.”
“And I may be having second thoughts. Maybe you are not the pilot you claim to be. Maybe I might not be going anywhere. But it depends on this other thing first.”
Vizier breathed deeply and concentrated on keeping his voice calm. “Listen Darm, you approached me, told me you were desperate for a pilot. Told me I came highly recommended and I would be doing you a great favour. Are you backing out of the deal?”
“No, not quite. Not yet anyway.” Jel smiled broadly with his arms thrown open. “We are just negotiating some more, getting to know each other better while we take a walk and deal with this other thing.”
“What thing?”
Jel edged along the gangway, heading back to the interior of the asteroid as he kept talking. “Minor really, nothing big. Just a small inconvenience, but I need you to come with me. See it as a trial run, a test to see how much of a man of action you are.”
© 2025 Gerhi Janse van Vuuren