A Space Tramps Luck

Do you believe in luck…?

And in the Union government’s galaxy, there is a place for everyone…

Steven sat on the bench and let the electronic blare of the tele-board rush across him. He took a moment to look up at the 20 foot high sign, the sparkling woman on it speaking as she pointed out the central planets of the galaxy, with huge cities, their skyscrapers reaching up into the sky, long beaches, clear blue oceans…

So come, and live in the beautiful face of Lady Universe…

He smirked. If those places were Lady Universe’s beautiful face, where he was sitting now was her hairy armpit. He took another moment to take in his dire surroundings. The shuttle port was riddled with damp; the walls were cracked, and covered in graffiti. The glass roof, once a wonderful view of the stars, was now rotting after too many years of the pigeons using it for target practise. Everyone else in the port with Steven fitted the same description: Poor, no direction, and solitary.
They were travellers, and they were proud of that.
Steven scowled as the smell of what a tramp was doing in a plot plant nearby him reached his nostrils. Before he could ask how someone could possibly vomit that loudly, a stark voice came over the speakers:
“All ticket holders for the shuttle to Posiris please come to the admission desk.”
“Finally”, Steven growled, and walked up to the queue with the other people, everyone letting out grumbles as they tried to push their way to the front. Eventually, a single line was formed, and Steven waited.
The man in front of Steven was big. Not just big. Huge. He looked like a shaven bear, and about half as intelligent. A strong smell of nightclub toilets was hanging around him like an extra piece of clothing. When the man reached the terminal, his baggage was put through a machine that soon alerted into a large amount of high-pitched beeps. When was told that he was not allowed to take his 37 flasks of Extra strength whiskey, he elected to drink them all instead.
Not for the first time in his life, Steven wondered how his life had ended up like this.
As the huge man stumbled over and spilt whiskey all over Steven’s trousers, the tramp in the corner went on for an encore.

She loved the chase. The thrill of escaping, of evading, of outwitting her enemies. She laughed as she skipped round the corner; it was just like when she was a child, with her dear brother chasing her round the farm.
Except of course, now the farm is an industrial shuttle port, and instead of her brother, she was being chased by high-level security police.
But the differences didn’t matter really, along as she was having fun.
“And oh what fun I’m having!” she thought, and let out a cry of laughter as the bullets skimmed her head and shattered a window.


“Please make sure all luggage is safely concealed in the overhead compartments…”

Steven sat down and sighed. The shuttle was about in the same state as the rest of this damn planet. He sat back against the broken seat, and weighed up the chances of the ship disintegrating as it hit atmo.
Travelling the universe wasn’t working out the way Steven had planned. There had been no glorious adventures, no damsels in distress, and no civilisations in his dept for his amazing heroics.
Well maybe that was a little over ambitious. But nothing had changed since he’d left his home on Io, Except that now he had even less money, and a much lower sense of personal hygiene.
No, being a space-hobo was not how he had pictured his life.

The girl ran round the corner, brushing sweat of her brow. The police squads on this planet matched the rest of it: old and decrepit. It would be more challenging for her to outrun a weight watchers club.
Now if this map was right… Perfect.
In front of her was a huge spaceship, two stories high. This shuttle would fly up and dock with a mother ship, a huge metal goliath, six miles long, that would take the travellers to their next destination.
If the cops thought it was hard chasing her round a shuttle port, the humongous ship in orbit would bring a whole new meaning to the phrase: “needle in a haystack.”
As she climbed into the shuttles luggage compartment, she imagined the corridors, the halls, the vents. It gave her Goosebumps of excitement.
This was going to be the best game of hide and seek ever.
Just as the police ran round the corner, the shuttle broke the bonds of gravity, and soared of into the sky.

As Steven gripped the holds on his seat, the shuttle around him roared and screamed as the metal strained against the pressure. The windows were closed, but through the cracks, red-hot light spilt through, the fire caused by the friction of the atmosphere.
Shaking, Shaking, Steven thought that his teeth would crack with the sheer force of it! His fingers squeezed into the polystyrene seat.
And then it suddenly stopped.
“Thank you for your patience ladies and gentleman, we have left atmosphere. We shall arrive at the mother ship in 30 minutes.”
Steven opened his eyes, the sweat of fear pouring down his face. He took a deep breath, and then washed it off with his old dirty sleeve, leaving a grimy mark across his forehead.
He hated flying.
After a while, once his body had calmed down, he let himself sit back and smile… He was finally off that rock. That scummy crappy excuse for a planet. Whoever had let it get into that state should have been ashamed of themselves. The pollution, the horrible stale air, and worst of all, the dead ground. No wildlife, just buildings, wrecks of buildings, and the burnt ground of a war long forgotten. Who the hell could do that to a planet?

“Ladies and Gentleman, on behalf of the union, we thank you for visiting Earth.”

The woman waited in the cargo hold, as quite as a mouse… listening for her sign to move…

Steven sat with the other passengers, watching the in-flight movie. It was on old sci-fi one, from the 21st century. Retro was really in these days.
He smirked as the hero of the tale fought off a horrible space-blob. Its funny, he thought, how wrong they were back then…

As the human race extended to the stars, they had explored and explored, until they could explore no more. On the constant search for other intelligent life, Homo sapiens had to finally accept that they were completely alone in the universe.
Nothing out there. Not even a slightly interesting variety of pot plant.
So mankind had committed itself to spreading across the universe, and bringing their might onto planets, turning them into other earths, until eventually the original was forgotten. The union of Humanity ran everything, and the space age prospered. In the Space age there was a good life for everyone.
At least that’s what the people were told.

Steven woke up with a start in his seat. He had drifted off, and as he rubbed his eyes, someone nudged him sharply in the side.
“Good to see you’re up mate, here, look out the window…”
What Steven saw was possibly the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.
Outside the shuttles window was another ship. If you could call it a ship. It was a city! A city, floating through space, lights bouncing off every surface. Along one of its sleek sides, it bore the word GOLIATH, printed there in black, one of the only areas that didn’t have light coming out from windows or spotlights.
For the first time in a long while, Steven smiled with feeling. Out there was his salvation. Another try…
A new life.

As the shuttle began to dock with the mother ship, the woman began her countdown.
1…
She heard the ship enter the shield, and with it the sucking sound of oxygen surrounding it…
2…
Clamps locked down onto the shuttle, as it was pulled slowly past the walls of the ship…
3!
The woman burst out of her hiding place, pushing open the emergency hatch and throwing herself against the walls. She gripped on to them as hard as she could, until the shuttle had completely passed her, and then dropped down to the floor. Staying crouched, she looked around until she saw it: The ventilation grill, part of a chute system that stretched across the whole ship. She climbed into it gracefully, grinning to herself.
Cara had always been the best at hide and seek.

Steven walked through the corridors of the ship, fighting to keep his jaw from dropping at every moment. The ship was beautiful. Every surface of it shined, and the uniforms, the people, it had such class!
Steven knew with a certainty that he’d found the life he was meant to lead. He would fit right in here, he could tell.
Steven finally reached a reception desk, we’re a woman who looked like she had come off the advertisement posters for make up sat there, with a smile as white and shining as the ship itself.
“Hello sir, how can I help you?”
Steven tried to smile back, but he felt slightly inadequate for it. His teeth didn’t so much as shine, but considering how much gunk was on them, they may possibly glow.
“I’d like to apply for citizenship on board, please.” Said Steven, awkwardly trying to talk without showing his teeth, or let out enough breath for the young woman to smell.
“Well I could just have you identification card…”
Steven handed it over. It was one of the only possessions he had successfully managed to keep, alibiet slightly torn and very smudged. The nurse swiped it, and it told her everything about him. Steven wondered what sort of life that this ship would give him.
Designer perhaps? Cook? Or maybe something really special, for important people, yes, a upstanding smart person like himself…
“Captain…” muttered Steven, as the woman looked up at him.
“This all checks out sir. Just follow the guard over there; he’ll help you settle in.”
As Steven walked away, the receptionist picked up a microphone, and quickly whispered: “Another one for slave labour.” She quickly put the microphone down as another ragged looking man stepped up.
And another coming, she thought.

Cara crawled through the vents, until she could find a suitable opening. Eventually she found one.
Cara hopped out of the vents, and into a bathroom. After giving herself a quick wash, and using the other facilities, she walked proudly out.
When she opened the door to face a very surprised looking old man, she decided to just smile and keep walking. Walking fast.
“In the future”, she reminded herself, “Don’t drop into toilets with urinals.”

Steven followed the guard into a large elevator, trying to contain his excitement. As the lift went down the shaft, he grinned away, like a child about to open a Christmas present.
Then the doors opened.
The guard smiled and pushed Steven into hell.
As the elevator lifted upwards, the guard’s com beeped into life: "McKay, hurry back up here, we’ve got seven more for the hold.”
McKay loved his job.

Steven couldn’t believe it. Around him were hundreds of people, covered in dirt and grime, moaning and groaning. He had heard rumours about this, but he had never thought them true.
He was going to be a slave.
He was going to be dropped off at a planet, and forced to work in the mines, or whatever other cruel fate awaited him.
He would work the rest of his days then he would die.
Alone.
Steven sat down, put his head in his hands and cried for the first time in ten years.

Cara walked around the ship admiring its chrome walls and shining floors. Artwork was everywhere and friendly smiling people.
Cara immediately decided that the first thing she was going to do was have a good drink. She’d earned it. As she walked around looking for a bar, she wondered in her head how long she could stay here.
As she walked through two metal bars suspended in the doors, her question was answered, because suddenly alarms were wailing, and red lights were flashing. All eyes turned to Cara, but she was already running.

Escape. It was the only thing running through Stevens mind. He had to escape. He couldn’t be a slave. He wasn’t cut out for it. The last time he had done a hard days work was… Well he still had to do his first hard days work.
But to hell with it if it was going to be as a slave.
He had to escape before the ship reached wherever they were taking him. He had to get off the ship, and he had to do it quickly.
Steven stood up, and looked around. He was in a huge room, filled with hundreds of people, all sitting round dirty homemade beds, and the people sitting at them wore the faces of people who had given up on everything.
The room had no exits, except the elevator. He was trapped. Panic gripped his body, he felt his breathing increase, and all he could hear was the fast paced thumping of his heart.
No, his mind said to him, there’s something not right.
Think.
Think…

Cara ran down the corridors, klaxons blaring, and the footsteps of guards behind her. Yet again, she was running for her life, and yet again, there seemed to be no way out.
No rest for the wicked, thought Cara.
She needed an exit, another corridor, a room, a…
No way. That would be too risky.
Can you think of anything else?
No, but surely there must be something else…
Well there isn’t. Call it a leap of faith if you want.
Most leaps of faith aren’t so literal, thought Cara, and then she leapt…
Limbs flailing as she plummeted down the mile long elevator shaft…

Steven waited by the elevator shaft. When the next guard came, he would be ready for them.
“You’re gonna get yourself killed son.” Came a withered voice behind him. Steven turned round to see an old scrawny looking man sitting on the ground.
“Dontcha think people have tried that before? All that’ll happen is the guard will see you, and shoot you dead.”
Steven looked around himself, taking it in for a second time.
“Better dead then this.” He said, and turned back towards the elevator.

THUD.
Cara hit the top of the elevator, and opened her eyes, only to see flashing lights swirling around her. She took a deep breath, and then tried again.
I told you so. Luck be a lady.
She had fallen 20 feet and hit the elevator. Cara sat up, her head thumping, and kissed the cross that hung from a chain round her neck.
As the elevator shot downwards, she searched around until she found an opening, she looked inside.
One guard. Easy enough.
The last thing security lieutenant McKay saw was a foot come flying out of the darkness, and then all he saw was black.

Steven Tensed himself, as he heard the whine of the elevator coming down the shaft.

Cara waited, and readied herself for whatever was coming next. The guard was neatly crumpled up in a corner, and as the elevator slowed down, she clenched her fists.
You’ve gotten out of worse before.
The doors opened…

The doors opened and Steven jumped, arms outstretched, expecting a hail of bullets to hit him.
This made it all the more surprising when he saw the quite pretty girl standing there.

A scruffy looking man came flying through the doors, arms flailing towards Cara. His face turned to surprise when he saw her, then to fear when she caught him by the neck, delivered a winding blow to his stomach, and shoving him against the wall.
“Please don’t kill me!” croaked the man. His breath wasn’t too nice.
Then Cara saw what was beyond the doors. She couldn’t stop herself from gasping.
“Oh God. It’s true.”
The slave ships. Fairy tails told by mothers to bad children. And here they were, filled with starving people, horrible proof of what really happened in the union’s universe.
Through the horror before her, Cara felt a slight proud ness. Proud to be an anti-unionist. Proud to be fighting against this. If being on the run constantly could help stop this, it was worth it.
She was bought back to the present by some gargling sounds from the man she was holding. His face had turned purple. She dropped him immediately.
“Oh my goodness I’m so sorry!”
But before they could do anything else, the elevator doors closed, and they shot back upwards.

Steven sat on the floor of the lift, gasping for air. Question raced through his mind: Who was this woman? Why were they going back up? And how the hell was he going to escape?
“This isn’t good.” Said the woman. “The guards have called the elevator back up.” She looked quite worried.
“Well what do we do then?” gibbered Steven. He was already panicking; he could feel the sweat pouring off him.
The elevator began to slow.
“If I were you, I would stand up and put your hands on your head.” Said the woman, and she did exactly that.
The doors opened, and for the second time in his life Steven had the feeling of guns being pointed at him. Of course the first time he had been ten, and it was his brother with a pellet gun. The fact that these guns were real, and would send his brains up the walls rather then leave a small bruise did nothing to reassure him.
“Come out slowly!” barked one of the guards. Taking the woman’s lead, Steven did so. He was shaking.
The woman was turned around as they began to search her. She looked at him straight in the eyes.
“You know that old story” she started, keeping her eyes on his almost unblinkingly. “In a bad situation just close your eyes, click your heels, and say there’s no place like home.” She winked.
Steven closed his eyes…
The woman clicked her heels…
And everything went white…

Steven gasped. Even though his eyes were closed, he could still only see an amazing bright light. His eyelids were burning, and there was a small ringing in his ears.
“You can open them now.”
He did, and the woman was in front of him smiling at him.
“Flash-bang concealed in my shoes. They never see it coming!” she said with a lopsided grin. She walked over and took two pistols away from the guards and threw one too him. One of the guards began to stir, making both of them jump.
“What’s your name?” she said quickly.
“Steven…” he muttered slowly. He was still trying to catch up with what was going on.
“Nice to meet you Steven,” she said happily, cocking the gun, and giving him a wink, she suddenly set off down the corridor at a quick pace.
“Keep up with me if you want to live!” she said.
Without thinking about it, Steven was off after her. His brain had officially decided to take an absence, and when he looked back on this, he would wonder what he was thinking.
Quite simply, he wasn’t.
So the two felons ran down the hallways of the humongous ship, with alarms blaring, and messages being screamed to everyone on board.
Steven was smiling, even if he didn’t know why.

“What are we going to do?” Steven asked. “And what is your name?”
“My names Cara.” She panted, as they were both still sprinting as alarm bells screamed around them. “And what we’re going to do…” she faltered, “We’re gonna get of this ship, get some help, then we’re coming back here and getting those people.”
From her lips, the task sounded like the easiest task in the universe to Steven.

This should be simple, Cara told herself. Find an escape pod, blast off, and then I’m home free.
Things are never that simple though are they? For instance, how many guards between you and the escape pod?
We’ll overcome that problem when we reach it, Cara thought.
Exactly. WE. Since when did you take passengers?
What else could I do? Leave him to be shot by the guards?
All I’m saying is when you meet trouble, how useful is he going to be?
Cara shook her head and concentrated on where she was going. She was running short of breath, and looking at Steven, well he looked like he was about to have a heart attack. When he saw her looking, however, he took a gulp of air, and grinned at her.
But was he going to be a danger?
She’d put people in danger before… Could she handle doing that again?
Little did Cara know, in precisely 37 seconds she would find out.

Steven knew he was out of breath, and that he should stop, but he had to keep going. He owed Cara his life, and he had to prove his worth to her.
They rounded the corner, and Steven had the breath knocked from his lungs as Cara slammed herself into him, sending the two both of them flying through the air, and then scraping along the ground and behind a box.
Steven wondered why she had done this, until he heard the guns firing, and the bullets smashing into the wall above them.
Steven felt the elated happiness he had felt before leave in an instant, as if his brain had come charging back, and now wanted to know what the bloody hell was going on.
He felt panic grip his soul, felt his heart beating, they were doomed, they were going to die, it was all over…
And then he saw her.
Cara, a beautiful angel of death, as she rose up from their cover, and fired off shots at the guards, not even blinking, her arm not even affected by the power of the guns recoil. Through a crack between the crates, Steven could see the guards falling, the surprise on their faces. This is what it should be. Good beats evil. Hope flickered in Stevens mind.
And then that brief moment of wonder and hope was gone.
The first bullet hit Cara in the leg, the second in her shoulder, and the third in the centre of her chest.
The angel fell…
And Steven rose.
His brain was there, but he was no longer listening, and for this moment in time, his being was purely hate and vengeance. He lifted the gun in his hand.

This is not a story of fate or destiny.
This is a story of luck, and goodwill.

And as luck would put it, there was one bullet remaining in Stevens’s gun.
He didn’t know this, but its worth mentioning.
Through his fury, Steven lifted and fired the gun, spitting a bullet faster then the eye can see.
At a probability of 32 to one, the bullet Steven fired missed the guards.
At a probability of 3459 to one, the guards missed Steven.
At a probability of 9083490 to one, the bullet went past and hit a fire extinguisher.
At a probability of 902184218421.5 to one, the bullets impact set of a spark, which at a probability of 576 to one was enough to set off a chemical reaction.
The fire extinguisher exploded, and the shrapnel, sprayed around the room, ricocheting everywhere, and killing the guards instantly.
At a final probability of 8976764729456398287 to one, none of the shrapnel hit Steven or Cara.
All together, the events just described where the most improbable things that ever happened in the Universe to date.
Steven, who had stood completely still through all of this, took a deep breath, and let the oxygen rush round his body.
Then he caught up, and ran back over to Cara, who was clutching her leg.
For a women who had been shot three times, she wasn’t bleeding much.
She looked up at him and smiled, and he realised she was wearing a bullet proof vest. This hadn’t saved her leg, but it was enough to make every cell in Stevens body scream for joy.
He helped her up, and watched her look of surprise when she took in what had just happened.
As he helped her limp past the doors, and into the elevator labelled “POD ACCESS” she said one thing to him.
“Beginners luck.”

Inside the elevator, Steven took of his shirt.
Cara took this as quite a mixed signal, as she thought he was coming on to her, and not as he was actually doing, using the shirt as a makeshift bandage for her leg.
Steven was having a lucky day.

The couple hobbled out of the elevator as one, Cara needing to put even more weight on Steven as time went on, and her claims of that she was fine were becoming less believable as her groans got louder, and her face paler.
It was with great relief that they stumbled into the small escape pod.
“Have you got any idea how to pilot one of these?” said Cara quietly.
“No,” replied Steven, “I thought you knew how!” his voice becoming suddenly less confident, as his brain conjured images of how flat his body would be when they crashed.
“Figure it out quickly please.” Said Cara quite calmly. “Because in a minute we are going to be in really really deep...”
"Trouble?", he finished for her. "Because I've had enough of that for a lifetime... well a day at least."
He busied himself with the controls. This was an ESCAPE pod. It shouldn’t be that hard to work!
For the first time that day. Steven was right.
For an advanced spacecraft, it was quite amazing that the controls were limited to a big red button, and a arcade style joystick that looked that it would have as much effect on the flight pattern of the ship as would a grain of sand be able to stop a bull.
He reached for the button… and hesitated.
What would happen next? Could they help the slaves? Could they run from the Union? What if…
As his brain busied itself with this, his body took sides with his heart, and hit the button as hard as he could.
The pod screamed out of the ship, and then it was alone, with its two occupants at its mercy.

Their journey had only just begun.
Because in the Unions galaxy there is a place for everyone.
But it isn’t necessarily a good place.
Cara and Steven would help.
With a little bit of luck…