Trawler Trash: A humorous space opera (Reassembly Book 2), page 1
TRAWLER TRASH
REASSEMBLY BOOK 2
C.P. JAMES
TRAWLER TRASH: REASSEMBLY BOOK 2
* * *
Copyright © 2021 C.P. James
* * *
All rights reserved.
No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and coincidental.
Cover by Amy Pinkston
(www.wellcoveredbooks.com).
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Alone Together
Chapter 2
Geddy Up
Chapter 3
The Dapper Gentleman
Chapter 4
I’m the Captain Now
Chapter 5
The Dog in Dogfight
Chapter 6
Closed for Inventory
Chapter 7
Denk the Daring
Chapter 8
Zereth-Tinn
Chapter 9
Four Grand
Chapter 10
After Pardie
Chapter 11
Getting to the Point
Chapter 12
Ponley Point
Chapter 13
Celebrate Good Times
Chapter 14
A Do-it-Yourself-Er
Chapter 15
Let's Rock!
Chapter 16
A Little Heart to Heart
Chapter 17
Trawler Trash
Chapter 18
Sesehlu Says What?
Chapter 19
Yo-Ho-Hosed
Chapter 20
You Can Never Go Home Again
Chapter 21
The Price of Fashion
Chapter 22
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Chapter 23
A Meal Fit for a King's Younger Brother
Chapter 24
Nad it Up
Chapter 25
OEEEEE!
Chapter 26
Might As Well Jump
Chapter 27
Salvagette City
Chapter 28
Having a Blast
Chapter 29
Going Down?
Chapter 30
Escape to LA
Chapter 31
Baby, It's Stormy Outside
Chapter 32
Do They Become Butterflies?
Chapter 33
Smarter Than the Average Water Bear
Chapter 34
Gravity Is a Bitch
Chapter 35
Coming Clean
Chapter 36
Aku! Bless You!
Chapter 37
Show Me Your Balzac
Chapter 38
Tighter Isn’t Always Better
Chapter 39
The Metallurgist
Chapter 40
Trial Separation
Chapter 41
Carrying a Piece
Chapter 42
Sumbakh, Some Don't
Chapter 43
Gleaning the Cube
About the Author
Also by C.P. James
For everyone who’s ever shown up for me.
CHAPTER ONE
ALONE TOGETHER
If the crew of the For Sale Make Offer was smart, they’d have jumped away by now. Circling back for him, a black bubble in the eternal ocean of stars over Kigantu, was suicide. He’d just used his ship as a missile and turned Tretiak Bouche’s spectacularly expensive battle cruiser into space dust. One way or another, that would have repercussions. Reinforcements were already scrambling to return the favor to the Fizmo, and without shields, their only option was to jump away.
He wouldn’t have seen, and sure as hell wouldn’t have heard them jump, so he just had to trust that it happened and that they were safe. Was it selfish of him to want this ending? To actually be the captain who sacrificed himself and his most prized possession to enable his crew’s escape? Of course not. That was the kind of story told around campfires in hushed, reverent tones. Have I ever told you boys about the bravest, most selfless captain to ever sail the infinite sea? His name was Geddy Starheart, and you’d do well to know it.
Still, the moment felt bittersweet, tainted as it was by the fact that the Penetrator, the precious and singular vessel he and Eli built together, was a direct casualty of his actions. He knew she was a tough ship, but it ripped through the Auctionaut like a bullet through flesh and came out the other side. Such a delicious moment for it to come through unscathed, only then for it to be swallowed by Beebit Tompanov and the Red Raven. He certainly got to see that ship jump away to god knows where. Anything would’ve been better. Exploding with the Auctionaut. Tumbling into Kigantu’s atmosphere and burning up. Not becoming someone’s salvage.
But man, if there was ever a time to let go of shit you couldn’t control, it was right fucking now.
It briefly occurred to Geddy that he should pull up his pants, but celestial beings had little need for such things. Now that the Fizmo had escaped Tretiak’s ship, and the Penetrator was swallowed up by the rival trawler Red Raven, there was nothing left to do but enjoy the uncluttered view of Kigantu and its nearest moon, Balox.
Exposing himself to such stark beauty just felt right, like he was saying, This is me. This is my body. Human. Fragile. Balls half frozen.
It was much warmer now inside the Morpho-bubble, though that was a low bar. Somewhere in the vicinity of minus twenty, he guessed. Whatever process his biosynthetic savior used to convert electromagnetic radiation to convective heat had reached equilibrium with the punishing cold of space.
Crystals of frozen urine surrounded him like a cluster of sparkly yellow stars. Somehow, peeing out into the vacuum was among the least interesting things he’d done that day.
For a guy who wanted nothing more than to be forgotten, this should’ve been the perfect exit. But all he could think about was Eli, his longtime companion, and Morpho, the Zelnad booger that had saved his life several times over. A very weird little family of three, alone together at the end.
— Will I freeze first or run out of oxygen?
Normally, he’d talk out loud to Eli if they were alone, but his tongue had swelled to where he had to breathe through his nose. They’d chat in their quiet way. The only way for Eli.
— Don’t trouble yourself with such thoughts.
— Not like I can save them for later.
— This moment is about acceptance, Geddy.
— I reject that theory.
— Want a story?
During those first several weeks after Eli revealed himself as a literal voice in his head, Geddy fought it. He had more than enough internal conversations, thank you very much. But as he came to see that Eli meant him no harm, and that his plight to return to Sagacea was now Geddy’s as well, they reached a sort of truce.
Eli enjoyed providing color commentary on Geddy’s sad little life on Earth 2, but building the Penetrator together focused their interactions on the task.
He knew the broad strokes of Eli’s home world, but precious few details. It was at the center of the universe, wherever the hell that was, and his race had existed since the Big Bang. Its mission was to disperse the seeds of intelligence far and wide, giving any number of species the insight and inspiration to evolve into civilizations.
It now appeared that the Zelnads, the shadowy cult that spread faster than Vyephian blue fever, were little more than disgruntled Sagacean spores that decided to go way, way off-book.
Eli could, and did, talk for hours about Sagacea and all the questions he thought about while floating through space for seventeen million years, but to that point he’d never heard Eli tell a single story.
— I’m kinda busy dying, but sure. Let’s hear it.
— Once upon a time, an immortal being named Neil Armstrong found himself alone. The only one of his kind.
— Wait. As in the Neil Armstrong?
— The being’s name is irrelevant. I thought it would make it easier to conceive if I used that of your favorite historical figure.
— Neil Armstrong it is. Apologies in advance if I die before you get to the end.
— Neil became so lonely that he forced his soul to split in two, like a cell.
— Can we call that one Armstrong?
— Of course. This other half of him — Armstrong — was an exact copy. For a time, Neil and Armstrong were very happy. But as the years rolled on, Armstrong turned bitter and resentful, opposing Neil at every turn and belittling him. What began as simple disagreements degraded into spite, and finally to cruelty. And so it went for all eternity.
— Great story. Ending needs work.
— Don
Geddy paused, considering the story. There were worse things to occupy your mind at the end. But it was asking too much of his oxygen-starved brain. He kept losing the threads. Oblivion beckoned. Kigantu and Balox were little more than blurry shapes now, frozen in the aether like ghosts.
His eyes were useless, so he closed them. It melted the crystals forming on his eyeballs and helped focus his thoughts just enough to understand why Eli shared this particular parable at this particular time. The other half of Geddy Starheart was little Eddie Kepler.
That doe-eyed kid who loved spaceships and Old Earth stories was still in there somewhere, but Geddy felt no more connected to that boy than a bird to its eggshell. Nothing about his ridiculously easy, absurdly happy life before his parents died struck a chord.
His long and distinguished career as a henchman wasn’t a path. It was a retreat. But he didn’t leave it behind because he wanted to. He left because he needed to. Somehow, that kid from Earth 2 reached clean through time and shook Geddy awake. Come back, he said. You’re better than this. Let me help.
And so that’s what he did.
What the boy with the pilot dad and docent mom wanted more than anything was a best friend. Someone worthy of trust and fully in sync with him. There were kids at the Planetary Defense Force base, of course, and he made a lot of friends, but never like he imagined a best friend being.
Eli became that friend. After all this time, the kid finally got what he wanted. Geddy Starheart would still be fighting the voice in his head, but Eddie Kepler? Eddie was just grateful for someone to talk to.
— I’m not at war anymore.
— Nice feeling, isn’t it?
That was Eli’s point all along. Of all people, Geddy Muthafuckin’ Starheart was going to rest in peace after all. Who’d have guessed?
His right cheek pressed against the Morpho-balloon. The warmth felt luscious. A tingling, electric sensation pulsed through it, and again, Morpho joined the party in his head.
— You’re too late, Morph. I don’t have any energy for you.
— I have all I require.
— Then why are you here?
— To get your attention.
— Sorry, but it’s important I let go. That’s how my journey ends. Thanks for everything.
— Open your damn eyes!
The same electric tingle in his cheek surged through him with increased power, a jolt of adrenaline that made him gasp as his eyes popped open. At first, all he could see was the dim outline of Kigantu and a nearby chunk of Tretiak’s ship, but a tiny puff of air from Morpho pivoted the balloon around. Morpho released him, and the flow of energy stopped.
Lights, not stars, in a symmetrical pattern.
— Geddy? What is th–
From the center came a supernova, a brilliant and blinding explosion of light that burned a hole through his foggy eyes. Either he’d just witnessed the death of a star or this was the light, as in the light. The closer it drew to him, the more he wanted to be in it. He was ready.
— This is the end, pal. It’s finally here.
— I’m not so sure.
Quite suddenly, the light disappeared. Something was blocking it. But what? Had it judged him unworthy, or was it just another piece of debris from the Auctionaut?
A moment later, the shape obscured all lights in the pattern, allowing it to reflect the bright glow of the moon. It was a chunky, artificial object that moved, one claw closing around the Morpho-balloon. And atop its strange form was a shiny bubble with a face inside that, at least to Geddy’s addled brain, bore a striking resemblance to Oz.
CHAPTER TWO
GEDDY UP
Everything hurt. His throat burned. His eyes were raisins. And his dick? He couldn’t bring himself to look.
If they’d jumped away after plucking him out of space, he hadn’t felt it. Not that he would, considering his condition. Either it was the darkest place he’d ever been, or he was blind. He swore his eyes were open, but got nothing. Nothing! Living totally ruined his honorable and legendary death, and what kind of life would he live now? Begging for credits on Caloth? Drawing disability on Earth 3?
— I shouldn’t be alive. This is bogus.
— But that means we both are.
Fair point. Maybe he needed to feel a little sorry for himself.
— Are we on the Fiz?
— Yes.
— Wait, slow down. I can only keep track of so many details.
Not two seconds later, a voice, clear as a bell, met his grateful ears.
“Geddy, this is Dr. Tardigan. If you can hear me, move something.”
With tremendous effort, he lifted his left hand and extended his middle finger. It was too perfect a setup.
Doc chuckled. “I’d call that a good sign.”
Still, not a single photon had gotten in. “Am I blind?
“We won’t know for sure until the bandages come off.” Geddy felt a warm hand slide under his shoulder, lifting him up slightly. “Here. Drink some water.”
A plastic straw passed between his lips, and he took a grateful pull. He launched into a coughing fit as soon as he tried to swallow.
“Whoopsy. Let’s sit you up.”
From behind the small of his back came the whine of a motor, and the bed pivoted under him.
“All right, this should be better.” The straw brushed his lips before sliding between them.
This time, he took a tentative pull from the bottle, making sure he could swallow. It barely doused the fire.
“You have some frostbite, including the inside of your nose and throat. And your tongue is still swollen, so it may be difficult or impossible to speak. But I’d like you to try.”
Geddy tried to talk, but his vocal cords were too thick to vibrate. A whisper was all he could manage. “Does this count?” It sounded like buh biph comp?
“No, but at least I can hear you. How are you feeling?”
“Like Silver Surfer just shot my curl.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
Geddy smiled. Some things never changed. “How long have I been here?”
“Two days. It was touch and go for a while.”
He’d been unconscious plenty of times, but only ever for a few minutes. It would make one helluva story someday.
“How’d you find me?” he rasped.
“Denk circled back after the explosion to search the debris field. At some point he detected Morpho’s signature. Another minute or two and–”
“Tretiak …”
“Sent out a search party, yes. We hid on the dark side of Kigantu’s largest moon because a patrol is still in the area. We’re running on life support to avoid detection.”
Geddy wasn’t one to hide and wait, but sometimes, playing dead was the smart move.
— The key, Geddy. Ask him if he found it.
“Listen, Doc, I had this metal piece …”
“Ah, yes,” Tardigan said. “I didn’t know what it was, so I’ve kept it in my pocket. What is it?”
He pulled out the key and Geddy and Eli breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
“The key to my ship. What about the crew?”
“Everyone’s fine, thanks to you. Did you honestly jump out of a spaceship?”
“Yeah.”
“Why were your pants around your ankles?”
“Because I needed the key.”
“Where was it?”
Geddy flared his eyebrows.
“Ah, I see. Perhaps I’d better wash my hands.”
Dr. Tardigan’s hands unwrapped the bandage slowly, each pass making his head feel less constricted. The Fizmo’s pathetic medkit had plenty of gauze but little else. Eventually, only two pucks of soft material separated his eyes from the light.
