Spring Mutiny: A LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure (Space Seasons Book 2) Page 3

  “This is…” Jai sat in the captain’s chair. “This is huge. I’ve only met one master in my time here so far.”

  Do you want to tell them anything, Xirob? I asked him.

  Would you let me take vocals? His concern for that one act was very noticeable as I felt myself tremble.

  Of course, please do. If you have something to tell them.

  It was strange when he started to speak. I actually didn’t feel anything different. His voice sounded strange in my ears though, it clearly wasn’t me. It wasn’t in English, but the translation coming through to me so I could understand what he said was fascinating.

  I stood straight under Xirob’s control and looked to each of the team on the bridge as he spoke.

  “My name is Xirob Veti. I am in command of the denti rebellion.” His words hit home. I mean I had my suspicions, but this was confirming it all. I felt him squirm a little at my thoughts. “Yes, I am level one hundred and eleven, and I master in four specialties: Kenosi, Ship Command, Mech Merge and Nanite Engineer. I was upset that being discovered on Tolsa could have led to my death with repercussions for many more generations for my kind. But it was instead a blessing to meet Kyle and Hiroto. I do not think my journey would have led me to do any of these things we have accomplished.”

  Jai moved to stand before me; he placed his palms together and bowed to Xirob. “It is an honour to meet you, Master Xirob.”

  “Thank you. It is my honour to meet all of you.”

  “Do you still have access to your character sheet?” Naylar asked.

  I felt my head shake. “No, I do not. But I have levelled once while Kyle has been in control.”

  “That’s really interesting.” Naylar walked around me. “You’re in control of the body, right now?”

  Xirob nodded. “Yes, I am.”

  “Can Hiroto take over too?” Jai asked.

  “Each mind can, and we can split control.”

  “You can split control…oh my, that’s amazing,” Naylar said, “almost like a mech merge. This would drive Denn crazy knowing all this.”

  “Thank you for your time. Put Kyle back on please, Xirob,” Jai said.

  Thanks, Xirob. I know that was actually really difficult for you. I knew it because I felt it; it was awkward being back in full control and knowing it had to end.

  “Let’s get this ship into real space,” Jai said to me. “I think we should head towards a friendly but open location.”

  I turned to the controls, “Yes, general.”

  “Captain is fine. In fact, all of you get used to it. Ranking slips will get us blasted out of any friendly encounters.”

  A resounding, yes, captain, echoed over the bridge.

  Jai moved to swipe my character sheet from the viewer. He hesitated, stared at it a moment longer.

  “That’s some miracle. Never in my life…” Jai brought up a map of the area we were in, and where he’d wanted us to head. “Travel in space isn’t quick, especially in a ship like this. We’re going to have a lot of time to get to know each other, get used to the way she works and think on the upgrades we want, what we need, what we can aspire to.”

  He then looked to me. “You need to learn more from Xirob. That’s your task for the next few weeks. I am taking a leap here, but have patience and let him teach you, and you should be able to level up from him.”

  I considered my console, saw the complicated side to it, and watched as it moved and morphed into something semi-coherent. I have a lot to learn, Xirob. I spoke to him. Hiroto, you can help as well, right?

  Yes, we’re both going to help.

  I noticed two feet appear at the side of my console and looked up into Rei’s eyes. “Will you ask Xirob if he’ll help me with my Kenosi?”

  I repeated Xirob’s, “I’d be honoured.”

  “For now, though, Kyle, you need rest,” Jai said. “Go with Naylar to the mess deck, eat, refuel, and then sleep. I’ll put your duties on hold till your health is at full.”

  I nodded and stood. “Thanks, captain.”

  I followed Naylar off the bridge, listening to the whistles from Tyto and Rei behind me.

  “They’re not going to forget this very quickly, are they?” I asked her.

  She beamed at me. “Kyle, I’ve never met a master, so for us to be in the presence of one as high up as Xirob, this is something really big. Even if he’s not human.”

  It didn’t take us long to get down a level to the mess. It was a large room with galley and tables. Easily capable of serving a hundred people.

  “We’re vastly undermanned,” I stated, taking in the small bots as they were also scooting around cleaning.

  “I know, but I’m not sure we have enough friends to join us.”

  I nodded. I didn’t know a lot of people. Only those I met with Rytin and at Hope City. I know some who would have loved to join this expedition, but bringing them out while the ship was nowhere near ready to hold them would have been disastrous. To take it to Tolsa as it was would mean we’d be easy targets for them to blast us out of their airspace, despite Jai’s reputation.

  Naylar moved to the galley and pulled out a few things before popping them into what looked like an oven. “It’s pretty basic food groups. But we’ve enough in here for the six of us for quite a while.”

  The oven pinged a few seconds later, and she pulled out the trays and carried them over to a table. I sat down, and Naylar moved to a fountain where she got two cups and filled them with liquid out of a dispenser.

  When she sat down, I realised it was coffee. And I mean real-smelling coffee. I picked up the mug and took in the aroma; it was deep roasted and smoky. I raised it to my mouth and sipped.

  It was heaven. “This…is what I missed. This is amazing.” I picked up a fork, and she grinned tapping the side of the table.

  “Cargo is really easy to watch over, but I have to be wary of what space we have, what resources, and what we physically need. The nites can of course do stock control, but my first job is to do a serious physical check over. The ship itself was a drifter so the resources need a date check too.”

  Xirob spoke. It means her crew perished. She was adrift. Not quite junk, but for some, it had bad karma.

  “Any ideas what happened to the crew?” I asked, wondering if I needed the truth.

  “The logs say they ran into engine trouble over in the Messina Sector, and there was no one around. Once their engines stopped producing power, hydroponics started to fail. Something else was going on before then. Seems the crew were getting sick. Doc logged everything too. But the crew started to forget basic things, and it exacerbated things, so they perished.”

  “Ouch.” I dug into my food, feeling a little on the sick side. “So, what are we going to do to stop that kind of engine and energy failure?”

  Naylar patted my hand. “That, dear Kyle, will be our first major task. At present this ship’s not running at full capacity at all. This gives us a lot of leeway in what we do, how she functions. But to get her up to speed will take some thought, and a lot of mismatched hopping from project to project. Everything’s a priority, and it could be one minute and then not the next.”

  Yeah, there weren’t enough of us to complete a ton of upgrades. This was going to take time. I nodded, and bit into the meat on my plate. The rich flavour exploded on my tongue, and I think I actually grunted.

  “That good?” she asked.

  “Yeah, feel like I haven’t had real food for a long time. I am grateful for you feeding me; don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t the same as Tolsa’s canteens.”

  She laughed. “No, it’s not, but it made you appreciate some of the finer things. Not everything will go to plan, as we well know.”

  “Yeah, I still have no idea how I actually ended up on your planet’s surface.”

  “We have a couple of theories,” Naylar said. “But let me tell you what happened from my perspective first before we tackle those.”

  “Oh, sure. Share away, I’m all ears.”

  “The day we found you, we’d been tracking for most of the morning. The shuttle had dropped us off initially, and the best way in was on foot, nice and slow. A few months’ worth of slow. As you know, the weather was evil, and most of the morning had been a fog of cold mist where we could barely see in front of us and then acid rains that lasted for a few hours, doing damage constantly. I’d been arguing with Rei about hitting the main pass later that night; I wanted us to rest up and recoup for the following day and we’d asked for another tech to join us.”

  I listened while Naylar ate and talked, and I managed one plate full and went back for another. She smiled as I sat down two more full mugs. “Jai was adamant we were pushing on, but then Rei saw a drop flag and a ship in the sky. The fog was clouding most of what we could see, but we did hear it coming in. Having requested another tech-head, we expected something, so this was good. It meant for us someone was paying attention to our mission.”

  I didn’t know how I’d gotten there, but this was interesting. If they dropped me, that was some scary shit, so glad I hadn’t been awake for that.

  “But I wasn’t what you expected.” I sighed. “Sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “I still feel bad.” I sipped more of my drink and sat back while she carried on. I was full now, and my health was nearly full.

  “But yes, when we reached where the target flag had said we’d find our mark, there was a naked denti.”

  “It must have been odd.” I put the mug down once again, empty. I daren’t have another though, in case it really was coffee. My body would need sleep soon, and I felt it creeping up on me.

  “Yes, it was. I don’t think we’d expected it, and that first night we got you to sleep using the main sleep setting was hard for us. We talked a lot about the consequences of having you with us on the mission. The thought we could lose everything.”

  “How did you think the mission went in the end? They must have watched it, right?”

  “I think they will have, yes. They knew you didn’t do exactly what they said, that’s for sure. That information you got out with…you decode it yet?”

  I shook my head. “Maybe Denn can help at some point. I don’t know.”

  “We need the information. It could be vital. They were willing for us to live or die trying. We were giving them everything.”

  I reached for her hand, and she let me hold it. Her skin was soft, her eyes teary. “I understand your consequences now, and I’m sorry I put you in the position of mission failure to that degree.”

  “Thanks. It means a lot. We had some hard decisions to make that night. But Denn was adamant you were something else. I am glad we listened to her. She was right—you are definitely more than you first appeared.”

  I let out a yawn. “So I don’t need to set the sleep setting to actually sleep?”

  She shook her head, her hair bouncing around her shoulders. I again noted her beauty.

  “No, sorry. That was the best way for us to get some serious privacy.” Naylar pushed upwards and stretched out. I couldn’t help but watch her; she was stunning. Her strong physique here, in clean and better clothes, stood out. Inside though, I mentally shook my head. She was not only with one of the most amazing women I’d met here, but I respected her too much.

  “Not the most comfortable place to chat for so long.” She checked the time, motioning for us to leave. “I’ll take you to your quarters, then head to the cargo bay. It will take me some time to do this.”

  “Need a hand?”

  “No, you need your rest. It will be good for me to do this, keep me occupied.”

  We left the mess, and she took me up another section. “How is Denn? Will it be much longer before she’s up?”

  “I don’t think so. She should be awake now…” Naylar’s voice trailed off, and I heard her sob.

  Oh crap. I had no idea what to do with a woman who started to cry. This totally freaked me out. When she stopped walking and put a hand on the wall, I knew I did need to do something, though. Carefully, I wrapped my arm around her and tugged her into an embrace. She was solid muscle under her uniform, and when she turned into me, I just hoped she didn’t squeeze.

  She didn’t cry for long, but she held onto me for a while buried into my neck. This felt so different than what I had experienced with Saskia. It wasn’t sexual at all, and surprisingly I liked it. I found I’d really needed it myself. Just the contact from someone who had been through some of the shit you had.

  When she moved away, her eyes met mine. “Thank you, Kyle.”

  “For what?” I asked, like the dope I was.

  “For doing as much as you did for her, for us. You may not have the levels we do, or the time here, but you’re already a valued member of Trix.” She leaned in and kissed my cheek. Then she waved to a door beyond where we were. “There’s a lot of rooms, but we’ve got the forward section, meant for officers. The main bunks are fit for crew, and maybe we’ll fill them one day. Good sleep to you. You deserve it.”

  I watched as she walked away from me, her hand trailing along the wall as she did so.

  I looked to the door. It flagged up - TACTICAL LEAD, and I grinned. I loved that title.

  Chapter Three

  My quarters weren’t massive by any means, but they would be more than adequate for me. I walked inside to find a decent bed and wall units, including a drinks dispenser and a separate room that combined shower and toilet. It was compact, but seemed to be extremely functional.

  I put my weapons in a locker, making sure they were secure. I knew I didn’t have much, but I also didn’t need them aboard a secure ship with only the six of us. If I did need them at a later date, I could make sure I carried one at all times.

  As I stripped off my clothes and put them on the bed, Xirob said, Left of the bed there’s a chute. It will clean and return them while you shower. So I did as he said and popped my clothes in the chute.

  I moved to the shower unit and stared at the controls. So, guys? Any idea?

  The panel to the left will start it. It is usually timed, and all water is recycled across the ship. I already checked. You’re good to go for showers.

  I guess I had to get used to the idea of reused water. Nothing fresh out of the ground here. I pushed the button and stepped into the jet streams of hot water. It was a perfect temperature, and I let it wash the days away. I found myself reflecting over the things that had happened to me in the last few months, and I washed carefully, observing the structural integrity of the denti. Each tiny nick and scar was a road map of where we’d come from. My arm was sore but more than healing. My whole body ached, but the water started to make me feel like a new man, and my health moved even closer to full.

  My thoughts wandered a lot. Hiroto, have you looked at the information we got from KronoS?

  I almost felt his sadness. I’ve been working with Xe and Xirob on it so far, although we got a decent amount, we can’t crack their codes yet.

  After what we went through in there, it was frustrating to hear this.

  Both the guys gave me some peace after that revelation. They neither spoke, nor did I feel like they were present. I guessed they needed their privacy just as much as I did. Though for the first time I might have thought differently about both of them. More than family. Brothers in arms, fighting for the right reasons.

  I wondered briefly about the things Xirob had seen. A master…and no one on board the freighter had even met one before. And he was a master of four things. That said a lot, that mostly masters didn’t come out to play, or there weren’t many in existence.

  When the hot water faded, I looked around for something to dry myself off, but Xirob spoke. Just wait. You’ll be dry in moments. There’s nothing wasted.

  I did just that and found soon after there were jets of lovely, warm scented air to dry me off. It was wonderful. When it finished, there were no aching bones, no pain. Everything felt wonderful and relaxed.

  What is it they put in there?

  Enough to get you to relax. Natural plant extracts.

  My clothes were indeed waiting for me in the chute. Clean, and fresh smelling too. I liked this a lot. I dressed and lay on the bed. How do I turn the lights off?

  Just say “dim lights,” Xirob said.

  So I did, and in the darkness my eyes soon closed. Sleep came quickly.

  I woke a few times through the night, wondering where the hell I was, the room dark but quiet. My thoughts drifted, and when I finally woke much later, it was still dark.

  “Lights.” When they came up, I could see the room clearly.

  Feeling better? Hiroto asked.

  I checked my health. Fully functioning and raring to go.

  Good, we have a lot to get started on, Xirob said.

  I was excited to get going. I wanted to learn so much. But I just didn’t really know where to start.

  Let’s take a full walk of the ship, get to know her, Xirob suggested.

  Sounds like a really good idea. I slipped my boots on and grabbed a drink from the dispenser. I was shocked when a light scanned over me.

  “Your health parameters have been logged, Kyle Ranz. Please report to the mess deck at your earliest convenience for your first meal of the day.”

  “Wow, that’s neat!” I said aloud.

  The ship will make sure all her crew are healthy now, Xe said. I spent the night making sure everything is running as it should be, and I compiled a short list of components we need to secure within the next week. I forwarded it to the captain on your behalf.

  It felt a little more than invasive, having no control over what I was to eat, to drink. Told what I needed to be healthy, what to consume to survive or to even better my physique. I sighed, not sure I liked this idea. I would accept it, though, if it helped me.

  Thank you, Xe. I’ll take a look at it from engineering headquarters.

  Yes, there is another post available for you to work from, and for your team, Xirob said.