Journeys of the Shepherd

Chapter 4: The Planet Ares

''Goddamnit! I'm getting sick of these damn rats!'' Marshall said, as he looked into one of the compartments on the engine. ''The wires are damaged again.'' The mechanic rolled from under the engine with a creeper board.

''Can you fix it?'' Luke asked, who was standing above him. 

''Yeah, but it's pointless. The casings just won't hold.'' Marshall answered. ''I hope I can find better ones at Ares.''

''I wonder what is so special about that place, since the captain is acting so mysterious about it.'' Luke said.

 ''I honestly don't care. Let's just hope they got carbon casings there, because one day those fucking rats are going to crash the ship.'' Marshall said. He closed the compartment, and got up from the ground.  ''Could you give me that over there?'' 

Luke tossed him a rag that was laying on the ground, and the mechanic wiped the grease of his hands. ''Hey, you.'' They turned their heads, and saw Ash standing in the doorway of the engine room. ''The captain wants you on the bridge.''

''Tell him I'm working on the wiring.'' Marshall said.

''Yeah, that's not why he wants to speak to you guys.''

''Wait, he wants to talk to us both?'' Luke asked. 

''That's right. He wants to show you something.''

Curiously they followed Ash. When they got to the bridge, they immediately noticed something among the stars. Captain Hamilton was staring at a planet in the distance, with his hands on his back. ''Here they are, captain.'' Ash said. The captain turned around, smiling widely. ''Ah, gentlemen!''

''You wanted us to see something?'' Marshall asked.

''Look at this, lads!'' The captain raised his arm to the planet in the distance. ''It's Ares! The pearl of the zone!'' It was indeed a beautiful planet, it resembled Earth in a lot of ways. It was lush, there seemed to alot of vegetation, and there were several oceans.

 ''That's amazing!'' Luke gazed at Ares, it remembered him of his home planet. It had been months since the last time he saw a hospitable planet like this. 

''Indeed, but I take it beauty isn't the only thing that brought us here?'' Marshall asked.

''You guessed that right.'' The captain laughed. ''You see, Ares is also the heart of the zone. It's a pirate stronghold, the center of crime. Alcohol, drugs, weapons, stolen goods,whores, it's all there.'' 

''Sounds like a wonderful place.'' Marshall said sarcastically.

''It is! If there's one place where you can sell your goods for a decent price, it's on Ares.''

''I'm sure it is, captain.'' Marshall said. ''But I would like to talk about that faulty engine.''

''What about it?''

''Well, I can fix the wiring again, but it's not going to work for long. The rats will just chew on them again. But I think I have a solution.''

''And what is your solution?''

''I hope I can find carbon wire casings on that lovely planet of yours, and replace the old ones while we're there. But we will have to shut down the engine, or else it will probably burn out. ''

''Very well then. It's only a support engine after all, we still have three support engines left plus the main engine.''

~*~

Plasma engulfed the hull of the Space Shepherd, as it entered the atmosphere of Ares. The entire ship shook violently, and the crew had no choice but to sit and wait until it stopped.  When the ship reached an altitude of 200 000 feet, the hover engines were engaged. After a few minutes, the heavy shaking slowly stopped. The undercarriage unfolded when the ship descended to 82 000 feet, it had to be massive to support a ship that weighed more than 2000 tonnes.