Jason Halstead - The Colony

They had a transport ship No way they could land that on a planet! The brown haired man talking was soft spoken in spite of his derisive tone. The woman at the radar station looked at the speaker and chewed on the piercing in her lip. It was one of many piercings adorning her face and shaven scalp.

Something you want to add, Lizzie?

She jerked and spun to look at the new speaker, the captain of the Black Hole. She nodded. Klousyes, I mean, yes Sir, that is. I found the Rented Mule, it crashed. In the water, but less than a couple hundred feet deep.

Is that all? Klous snorted. He ran his fingers through his spiked blond hair and stared at Lizzie until she turned away. The Hole isnt much better than that transport was for planetary operations.

I can set us down nearby. Lizzies coordinates are just off a shore. The speaker was Aran Black, the pilot of the Black Hole.

Itd be a shame to come all this way and go with nothing. The unassuming mans eyes were wide with what the Captain knew to be excitement. Hed known the man far too long to misjudge it, and far too long to repress the shudder at what it meant.

Dont go freaking out, Cooper, Ill have your ass confined, Klous growled at him.

Any survivors?

Klous craned his neck to see the only survivor from the failed boarding attempt of the Rented Mule standing there. The Captains eyes narrowed dangerously but before he could rebuke the man for his uninvited interruption Lizzie spoke up.

I think so. She still stared at the display in front of her while her hands were pressed firmly against the data induction pad on her station. She nodded a moment later, the rings in her ears jangling against one another. Yes, Ive got more wreckage on the shore.

More wreckage?

Not a crash site, but it looks like they used a smaller craft to evacuate the transport.

No signs of life though?

Oh, lots! The entire planet is alive, Lizzie paused to look at them. She shrugged, causing more jangles. Ive never seen readings like this. I think maybe Earth would have looked like this thousands of years ago. Huge forests, warm temperatures, and incredible numbers of animals or other life forms moving.

Humans? Or

Too big for people. No signs of cities or building either.

Klous grunted. I dont like it. We were supposed to board the damn ship in space! We get the cargo and split the bounty on the target. This is a pile of rat shit is what it is!

Klous, this system isnt on any charts. This planet it dont exist.

Whats that mean? The Captain growled back at Aran.

Means this place hasnt been discovered yet. Were outside the core worlds. Shit, were outside the rim systems by light years! Salvage in space is claimed by whoever finds it

This is a planet, not salvage.

All the other planets humans have settled and terraformed they knew about beforehand. Settlers and engineers were sent with that in mind. This place is ready!

No shipping lanes this far out and I dont like a few years of cold sleep between our hideout and civilized space!

Klous, not a hideout we can run this world! That much green down there, its a fucking paradise! People will flock to it and pay whatever we demand.

Klous stared at the excited pilot. His suspicious eyes widened as he digested the words and realized what the man meant.

One problem, Brand interrupted again from behind the Captain. People that discover it first are the ones that got the rights to it.

Klous chuckled. What problem? Its just another salvage run. Sometimes the salvage needs a little help.

Brand nodded. You might still split that bounty.

Two point five million in core script is nothing compared to this!

Cooper leaned forward, his teeth emerging in a smile. We going hunting?

Klous stared at him, shaking his head in mild disapproval. One of these days your hobby is going to get you killed.

Cooper shrugged, clearly unconcerned. So?

Klous sighed. Aran, take us down. Lizzie, find the best spot and see if you can get anything on where the survivors went.

Its been nine months, theres no telling how far they got or if theyre even still alive, her final words sounded almost hopeful.

Klous shrugged. Easier for us then.

Do you want me to send out a salvage beacon marking this as our find? Lizzie asked.

Klous ran his hand through his hair again, then nodded. Yeah, lets make this official.

She focused on her display again as diagrams and words flashed across it. A few moments later she said, The beacons ready. Instead of a derelict ship name we need a name for the planet.

Klous glanced at the others on the bridge. The returned his stare, each openly curious but offering nothing. Finally he grinned. Vitalis. Lets call it Vitalis.

You sure its only been nine months? Ling Soon, the Black Holes engineer, asked. He stood up, stretching to his full towering height, and shook his head. This things been gutted and the rust on it has it falling apart. I dont know much about air and water wearing metal down, but Id say this has been here for years.

Aran shook his head. Lizzie and I checked and checked again, theyve been here nine months, give or take a few days.

Ling whistled, then wiped the sweat off his forehead back into his short dark hair. Breeze is nice but it sure is hot.

Wait until you get in the jungle, Cooper said. The others glanced at him but looked away. The excitement was evident in his voice. No wind, he continued, unaware of their discomfort, just the heat making you sweat and the insects and predators smelling you and wanting to taste-

Cooper! Klous snarled, stopping him. Cooper looked at the Captain and shrugged, then turned to stare back into the forest. Klous glared at him a minute longer then shook his head and turned to the others. Lizzie, Ling, stay with the Hole. Last thing we need is them circling back and stealing our ship while were looking for them.

Go inside and lock it down, Brand advised. These arent just drifters running a transport, they had military experience.

Klous grunted. The last run-in with the Rented Mule had cost him several of his crew. Nobody important to him, other than how a couple of the girls had been trying to impress him and earn a better share. He did miss Talyas lips

Captain?

Klous glanced over and up at Ling. Everyone was staring at him and he realized hed been daydreaming about Talya. Or rather the last time shed spent some quality time in his cabin. He pushed it aside and grunted, Yeah.

We wont activate it unless its absolutely necessary. Ling said, taking Klouss terse statement to be agreement.

He dug deep and realized Ling was talking about JimBob, the modified sentinel robot hed picked up a few years back. Relative years, considering the amount of time spent in hibernation units while traveling outside of the jump stations. The JB-1203 unit had been decommissioned and little more than scrap, but hed picked it up off a fence who had salvaged it and had it retrofitted with pulse lasers. The radioactive isotope that powered the robot still had a half life of nearly 11,000 years. The robots programming on the other hand, had always been a little quirky.

Dont suppose they left a trail for us? Lings assistant asked. She was the Black Holes handywoman, capable of fixing just about anything short of the complicated ships engine. Now she just looked uncomfortable and hot, with sweat stains under her large breasts and running down her displayed cleavage.

Klous looked away from her before he let himself be distracted again. The sudden intense interest he was finding in sex alarmed him. Sasha was okay looking, he supposed, but she was a little big for his tastes. None of his crew was obese by any means, but Sasha had always been a little thicker than he preferred.