2-Helix

The engines seemed to be holding up fairly well inside the interdiction field. The Bat received a transmission, probably automated, explaining how the interdiction field works; the sensor net detects any hyperspace jump and immediately opens an exit hole, dropping the ship back into normal space. Interesting. But it did give Iruoko an idea what she would and wouldn't be able to do with the Bat's propulsion.

Otherwise the transit to Helix went fairly smoothly. Upon reaching the planet, Iruoko and her crew disembarked in the main spaceport. It was an amazing place, combining all sorts of cultures, creatures, and ships. There were a considerable number of ships that looked built with only one thing in mind: speed. Iruoko felt a twinge of uncertainty as she walked beneath them.

The race registration office seemed to be closed for lunch, or whatever happened at that time of day, so Iruoko wandered off into the bazaar located on a neighboring plaza. The small booths and shops along the road bustled with activity as hawkers implored her from all sides to buy their wares. Iruoko suddenly became aware that she was alone. Her crew members were nowhere to be found.

Then, Iruoko felt a sharp tug at her belt. She spun about just in time to see a small child streak away with her wallet.

"Hey, that's mine!" she yelled and started after him. She managed to force her way through the crowd enough to see the child dash into an alleyway. When Iruoko got there, he was climbing a fence at the end.

"Oh, no you don't!" she shouted and sprinted down the alley. The child must have thought he had lost Iruoko, because he jerked his head back with a startled expression. Suddenly, the crate he was standing on collapsed, spilling him at Iruoko's feet. She stood over him, frowning at the pickpocket.

From behind came a voice, "Hey, what're you doin' ta my boy?" Iruoko turned to face a big, burly man. His crooked teeth and huge biceps somehow told Iruoko that this was not someone that could easily be reasoned with. He could even be a ringleader of pickpockets.

He spoke again, "I said..." He pulled a crude blaster from his dirty vest... "What are you doin' ta the kid?"

After taking in the sight of the large burly man Iruoko mentally kicked herself; how many times must she act without thinking ahead? Way too many times she had gotten herself in trouble through thoughtless action. But, then again, it was those kind of stunts that had gotten her the Bat.

The large man, losing what little patience he had, brusquely repeated, "What're ya doin' ta the kid?"

Iruoko had no option but to state what she hoped was the obvious, "He stole my wallet."

The man smiled big and slow, showing crooked teeth all the way across, "Is that so?"

Iruoko mentally ran through the self defense that Irridan had tought her. Then, failing to remember anything, went for a kick to the gonads. After all, he was holding a blaster on her. Unfortunately, he was either padded, or she hit his inner thigh instead of her target. He did not respond as she had hoped. Instead of being distracted in pain, the large man stepped back and pointed the blaster at her purposefully. Right then the street urchin tackled her legs, causing Iruoko to go down. The large man began to laugh like a bellow, "That weren't right neighborly of ya, now was it?"

As the large man laughed, Iruoko got a sick feeling that she might be in for trouble. And, she hoped, that this would not interfere with her starting the race. But, perhaps it just might.

---

Bret Durance was not paying the slightest attention to Iruoko or Irridan. Often he felt like the odd impulse engine to the two of them. They had been old buddies since a ship they had been traveling on crashed two weeks out of New Pacific. They had survived a frozen world and an alien elimination squad and had been flying the galaxy together in the three years since. His tour on the Bat was six months, since the creation of the ITA, and he did not plan being on staff too much longer though he was starting to like being a part of the crew.

And so it was that Bret was not the slightest bit surprised when he lost track of Iruoko and Irridan. He was planning on finding himself a spacers' dive. He needed to get some news, and he was not likely to accomplish this with those two around. It was not long before he found a seedy dive not far from the bazaar. The usual crowd of low profile cargo haulers haunted the place. Bret knew that a lot of business happened in a place like this. He approached the center of the bar, the unspoken signal to anyone watching that he was looking for business, and ordered a light drink. Sure enough, as soon as his drink was poured, a "business" man plunked his drink down on the bar, "Yourself, explain. Quickly."

Bret had seen hundreds of known and unknown species during his short time on Cra, but this one was totally new to him. This creature was almost a foot taller than Bret, and he thought he was tall, and almost two feet wider across the chest. Its full body fur was purple except for a white streak down the back. Its face was encased in what must have been some sort of respirator. Its voice, muffled slightly by the mask, seemed to come from the back of the throat and was high pitched but resonated as if from a deep barreled chest. Bret looked into the red eyelets of the mask, "I'm just here for a drink, stranger. That, and maybe to find out the latest news."

"News?"

"Yah, about the Granth sector."

"Sector Granth bad. News bad. News hard get."

"I'm sure it is."

---

After leaving Iruoko gawking at some tawdry cloth in the bazaar, Irridan returned to the Bat. She did not care for shopping, nor did she care for mingling with other species. She had come to tolerate, and even enjoy her friendship with the human Iruoko, and maybe with the human Bret, but she still held her own species dislike for other species. Besides, this gave her the opportunity to meditate, which was something that was hard to do on such a small ship with others around. As she went past the control station in the primary hold she noticed that there was a message waiting. She opened the text message, it was in Feeraas stylistic script. She ran it through the computer and was shocked by what it was. Apparently, within a few weeks' time, Captain Iruoko was going to have some most unusual company.