And the laser hit Veedo right in the eye.

  The intensity of the beam was still powerful enough to burn out Thrynn retinas. Veedo roared in pain as the laser blinded him. He swatted at the air as though his claws could cut through lasers.

  But the laser did not stop Veedo. He still kept coming towards Jordan and Marit. The razor-sharp claws flailed, cutting through the air with purpose and malice.

  Jordan spun Marit out of the way of Veedo’s strikes and ran with her towards the cargo bay. Veedo slammed into the hull face first. He slashed at the hull, but the latest armor upgrades meant he wouldn’t even scratch the paint job.

  Unfortunately, that left the other Thrynn Veedo had brought along.

  The Thrynn thugs left the posts blocking the exits and moved towards the cargo ramp of the Hermes. They gathered at the end of the ramp before heading straight for the ship.

  Marit tugged on Jordan’s shoulder before he charged into the Hermes’ rear cargo door. “Wait a moment.”

  Jordan looked at her like she was nuts. “I don’t think that laser pointer is going to save us from all of them, Mari.”

  At that moment, the alarm sounded in the ship bay, and security drones flooded through the access points. The only way for the Thrynn to escape was to charge the Hermes and try to enter before the door closed. Then they would have hostages among the crew.

  Marit ran ahead of Jordan, taking him by the hand and running past the open door, down the rest of the landing pad.

  Jordan looked back at the Hermes. “Mari, what the heck?”

  “You’ll see!” she called over her shoulders.

  The Thrynn ignored Marit and Jordan as they ran for the open door of the ship. As soon as they set foot on the ramp, they thought they were home free.

  Then Weyland started the terrain vehicle. The massive, six-wheeled land rover roared to life, the search lights illuminating the Thrynn as it burst forward. The Thrynn backed away before they could be run over. They dove for cover, back towards the cargo ramp.

  Before they could get to their feet, the security drones fell upon them, taking them into custody.

  Jordan watched all of the Thrynn being taken away. He glanced at Marit. “You planned this?”

  “No. I followed you out,” Marit told him. “When I saw Veedo, I told the rest of the crew. My plan went as far as making a firebomb in the lab to distract Veedo. Greeja-- that’s her name, by the way, not Gregor--thought of modifying the laser welder. Weyand thought up using the TV. That was while the new crewman on comms… Styles? He called in Starport security.” She shrugged, then took his hand in hers. “And this is why you have a full crew,” Marit told him. “To save your butt.”

  Jordan smiled. “I see your point. See? I told you that having a month to shake down the crew was a great idea. Heh.”

  Marit studied his face for a long moment. She touched his hand. “Will? What’s wrong?”

  Jordan blinked, and looked around. “I think we’ve got everything covered. Why do you ask?”

  Marit smiled at him sympathetically. “Sorry, Will, you’re not a good actor. Something’s wrong, and it’s not Veedo. What is it?”

  Jordan smiled. “Right now, nothing at all.” Jordan looked at the Thrynn mob being led away by security. He then got a far off look. After a moment, he laughed.

  Marit squeezed Jordan’s shoulder. “Will? What’s wrong?”

  Jordan waved at the devastation in the cargo bay. “The initial Interstel notice. It told us to seek strange new worlds, boldly go where no man has gone before, and to keep from getting brutally killed.” He met Marit’s eyes. “Who knew I’d have to work on that last part in Starport?”

  Hiro of Arth

  By David Tatum

  Housed at New Oxford University, in the sprawling city of Pelinoriat on Arth, the Interstel Space Academy was a massive complex that would take hours to walk across without a transport. The Academy's lone philosophy classroom, however, was a small, low-tech lecture hall with four rows of stadium seating, a teacher's podium, and not much else. Nevertheless, it was fuller than Hiro Tanaka had expected when he arrived.

  Hiro wondered if he and Max Zarfleen were the only two of the group presently gathered who had ever attended a class in this room before. The testing had been completed, the evaluations were in, and it was finally time for ship assignments.

  For some reason they were being handed out in the Philosophy classroom. Specifically, it was time for the men, women, and other gentle beings from the first graduating class of the ISS Academy to be assigned their various commands, which left Hiro wondering just what he was doing there. Zarfleen's presence was no surprise -- he was top of his class in command school, after all. Then there were the likes of Phloon de Lux, Rodney Ware, and others who had been on the fast track to command from the founding of ISS's command school. But Hiro? He'd been a science and philosophy nerd, specializing in planetary development, not a command officer.

  Hiro was surprised to see another familiar face approach the front of the classroom -- the philosophy teacher, Kerwin Dahglesh. This was a historic day, and would mark the commencement of Interstel's official operations, which should have made it the province of Director Terrence Willwater. Not that Hiro disapproved of Dahglesh -- far from it! He had been his favorite teacher -- but he'd expected someone more important would be here when he'd received the unexpected summons.

  "I wish to offer my congratulations to everyone here," Dahglesh said. "I'd like to say this is a great honor... but I cannot. Not yet. You are the first graduating class from the Interstel Academy, and as such you will be the first people to command ships built by Interstel, and the first to represent Interstel across the stars. It will be up to you to prove that this day, these assignments, are truly an honor. I... well, this is becoming a speech, and after the graduation ceremony yesterday I'm sure all of you are tired of speeches, so let's just get down to business, shall we? When I call your name, please come forward. Ware, Rodney..."

  Tanaka blanked out for the first several captains listed. Interstel's first wave of exploratory vessels were nearing completion, but those weren't the only ships getting captains out of Tanaka's graduating class. For example, the ISS Indomitable, bound for the Thrynn-controlled Jathamassa system, was a mining vessel. In fact, only a couple of the exploration vessels had been fully commissioned, and those were re-purposed freighters rather than true explorers. The true, purpose-built explorers had yet to launch. A point that came out when one of the few captains Tanaka counted as a friend received his first command.

  "Max Zarfleen," Dahglesh said. "Well, you get our pride and joy -- you will take command of the ISS Intrepid. She's a prototype, and will still be under construction for the next several months, so you will need to oversee her completion. Interstel recognizes that it cannot fully outfit her on its own budget, but you will be given twelve thousand monetary units to outfit her and train your crew as best as you can. As with all of the other explorers, we're hoping you earn enough to finish upgrading her gear as far as you need it."

  Tanaka winced. Budgeting was not his strong suit, nor did he think it was Max's. There was a reason both of them had taken the classes on philosophy instead of finance. He still wasn't sure why he was there, but he sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to outfit his ship like Max would.

  "Now, the rest of you here today aren't going to be commanding our heavy ships," Dahglesh said. "Instead, you'll be given one of our smaller vessels, with missions targeted towards your specialties in mind. That is why a few of you are here despite not being part of the command program. But while your ships may be small, you will also be responsible for helping Interstel's reputation to grow... and to help us complete our mission."

  That was the first hint to Tanaka that his summons to this room wasn't given by mistake. And it gave him some relief -- unlike the customized explorers like the Intrepid or the heavy mining vessels like the Indomitable, scout ships were fully outfitted at construction. He just hoped he was given a good crew, as the scouts had few opportunities to earn the monetary units needed for training.

  Three other names were called before Dahglesh reached his. "Hiro Tanaka... congratulations on your command. You and Captain Zarfleen were the top of my class, so I expect great things from you. It says here that you will be responsible for evaluating the colony world recommendations all our explorers send in. You'll be expected to fly out to wherever the recommendation takes you and complete your evaluation before the explorers return to Starport Central. That means you'll need a fast ship, so you've been given one of the fastest -- the scout ship."

  Tanaka quickly checked his datapad for details on his new ship. The Albatross was one of the Eagle class of scout ships. Few luxuries, no cargo space outside of the fuel compartment, no weapons, and minimal shields, but outfitted with the best engines available to Interstel's techs. Thanks to her smaller mass, she was twice as fast as an explorer like Zarfleen's Intrepid would be, even when it was fully outfitted. It was, in essence, designed for speed, not for comfort.

  The only other thing of note was the name. Her class's namesake had been given the name of a historic ship from mythical Earth -- the name of the first ship to make contact with a foreign planet (or perhaps a moon; the records weren't clear). However, no-one was quite sure what an 'eagle' was. Tracking through historic data from the Noah 2 database had found only one reference -- a particular score in the ancient game of golf. This discovery had, itself, led to a revival of this old game (after all, if they named such a crucial ship after it, golf must have been an important part of old Earth's culture). It also sparked the decision to name its sister ships after other notable golf scores.

  Hence the Eagle's sister ships were named the Bogey, the Par, the Birdie, the Condor, and the Ostrich.

  And the Albatross, now under the command of Hiro Tanaka. He only hoped his tenure did honor to the noble sport it was named for.

  Tanaka had a formal mission briefing to read through, a codewheel to collect, and a ship to familiarize himself with, but the thing he was most concerned with was his crew. He was a trained scientist -- he'd been expecting to be the science officer on an explorer, possibly even on his friend Max Zarfleen's Intrepid -- but beyond that it was important he have an excellent navigator to get him to the right systems fast, and a diplomatic comms officer to talk him out of any situation. Comms was especially important, considering he'd be completely unarmed and would have to try and talk his way out of any situation he found himself in. A good doctor and a competent engineer wouldn't be bad to have, either. Right out of the classroom, after making his way through the operations center to pick up his papers, he rushed over to personnel hoping to find one of the premiere Velox navigators and an educated Elowan diplomat for his crew, at a minimum.

  He handed the clerk his personnel papers and started to speak, but before he could get a word out the clerk shook his head.

  "Eagle class. Scout ship Albatross. Let me bring it up on the computer... huh. You're going to be handling colony world evaluation? Huh. Currently, all of our Elowan, Thrynn, and Velox are reserved for exploration, mining, and colony ships, and we're limited on available Human crew as well. Anyone we could provide would require extensive training... but I've got a bargain for you! We've got a near limitless number of androids for you, they won't need any training. Interstel provides them to you free of charge! You okay with that?"

  "...Androids?" Tanaka said. Learning he had no access to Velox and Elowan crewmen threw him for a loop. Other Humans were his second choice for both jobs, but this clerk was suggesting he might not even have them as an option. "Since when does Interstel employ androids shipboard? I didn't even know we had any that weren't janitorial staff. What are their capabilities?"

  "They're designed for harsh environments -- they should be able to easily handle any colony world you get a recommendation for. Tuned to be stronger and more durable than any of the major species in Interstel, they'll take a beating that would even put a Velox out. I tell you, they're perfect for your job."

  Tanaka had run into a few androids in the Academy. An instructor or two, some janitors... but not the standard shipboard model. He wondered if there was much difference.

  "Eh... well, I can handle the science stations, but how good are they at handling comms? Engineering? Navigation?" He paused. "Medicine, too, I suppose -- I might wind up being the only living person on board, but I'd still like there to be someone else around who can bandage me up if I cut myself or something."

  "You'll be amazed at how well they can communicate. They work well enough as navigators -- though I'd watch out for fluxes -- and their engineering skills are pretty good. Their medicinal skills are a bit lacking, but that doesn't mean they're completely incapable. They could bandage you up just fine, I'm sure. Given your mission, they're perfectly capable."

  Tanaka felt he was being conned, but he didn't see that he had much choice. "Oh... very well. At least for this first mission, I'll take the androids."

  "How many do you need?"

  Tanaka sighed. He could handle the science station, but at a minimum he needed a navigator, engineer, comm officer, and medical officer. Better to keep the roster small, for now. "I'll take four."

  The ISS Albatross was nothing like the exploration vehicles they put on Interstel's recruiting posters, which more closely resembled the one Max Zarfleen had been given command of. The ISS Intrepid, once she was complete, would practically be a yacht -- it had arcade machines, luxurious crew quarters, showers with actual running water, artificial gravity -- the works. It also had an expandable cargo hold, upgradeable engines and weapon systems, and more. Exploration vessels were designed to keep the crew alive and happy despite the potential for years of travel between stops home.

  The Albatross, on the other hand, was... well, utilitarian might be a generous description. Eagle-class scouts were designed for speed, not for long expeditions. Crew quarters were tiny, there was no running water or artificial gravity (water was only available in ration packs), and there were no entertainment systems. All of the cargo space was needed for the fuel and the terrain rover. It did have better engines and sensor systems than anything the Intrepid could equip, but it was also unarmed, with no upgrades available for anything.

  For some reason, no-one thought about how tight the quarters were when they delivered the new android crew still in their crates. Without any storage space, they were stashed in the corridors... which were just wide enough for the crate to fit... sideways. They would have to be moved out of the ship in order to open.

  Tanaka opened the airlock into his brand new ship, saw the crates, and nearly screamed.

  "Seriously!?"

  It took Tanaka three days to get the crates back out of his ship so he could meet his new crew. In the end, he had to do it himself, after bribing one of the dock workers to allow him to use the mag-lift, as his 'requests' to Starport management to do something went unanswered.

  Finally, he opened the crates, revealing the four androids, and activated the first one. He could hear cooling fans and motors whirling up to speed, hydraulic pumps start running, and other electric and mechanical noises. Finally, lights came on in the android's eyes.

  The voice that spoke was more monotone and synthetic than Tanaka was expecting.

  "Designate AND-Albatross-1, ready for duty."

  Well, this one won't be our comm officer, Tanaka thought. "Designation change," he ordered. "I'll call you Andy. Take the Engineering station."

  "Affirmative," Andy said. It turned and stomped up the ramp into the ship.

  Shaking his head, Hiro activated the next android. Once again, after a period of warm-up, it came online. This voice was... different, but still very monotone, and very synthetic.

  "Designate AND-Albatross-01, ready for duty."

  "Desig... wait, AND-Albatross-01?"

  "Affirmative."

  That was... odd. "Oh, very well. Designation change. I'll call you... I'll call you Andi, with an 'i.' Take the navigator's station."

  "Affirmative."

  There was no verbal difference between the two androids’ names he gave, but then there wasn't all that much difference between their original designations, either. He couldn't tell them apart, outside of slight voice variations. It would be easier to call them by their position than by a name... but he certainly wasn't going to call any of them 'Designate AND-Albatross-whatever.' It was probably a mix-up when naming conventions were changed or something, Tanaka decided, as he activated the third android. He'd change their names after informing Interstel of the original designation mix-up.

  "Designate AND-Albatross-001, ready for duty."

  "Seriously!?"

  With Andee (AND-Albatross-001) taking Medical and Ann D (AND-Albatross-0001) taking comms (if Interstel's personnel department was going to play these sorts of games, he was more than willing to do the same), crew assignments were complete. As they set up their individual stations, Hiro went to check his Starport messages and see if he had any assignments, yet.

  The screen displayed three different recommendations, and other colony world evaluators had already taken on two of them. That left the recommendation from...

  "Rodney Ware," Tanaka sighed. "Great."

  Rodney Ware was, in his own mind, the greatest ship captain Interstel had ever produced. Which wasn't saying much, since the only Interstel captains active for any length of time were the Interstel Corporate Police, who had a shorter training program than those officers in other divisions, and the other members of their own graduating class.

  Admittedly, Ware had been useful. He wound up the literal poster child of Interstel's recruiting drive, having his face posted on every poster, vid, and other advertisement they could possibly get. It had been such an effective drive, getting Interstel off the ground, that Interstel found it critical to ensure he graduated, even though he was... not the top of the class. In fact, he was the bottom of the class (at least, of those who passed), but that didn't humble him at all, nor stop him from getting a top-of-the-line ship.