Loogan The Gloot NaNoWriMo Novel

Beginning Version One

A small space ship dropped out of light-speed travel near a small star in a galaxy far away from our own Milky Way. It carried just one passenger, a Gloot named Loogan.

If you ever saw a Gloot, with his glossy brown skin and eye stalks, you might mistake him for a giant slug. In fact Gloots have a lot in common with slugs, but they are also a lot like us. For instance they have two arms and two legs. At the ends of each arm is a hand of sorts, but instead of fingers they have thumbs and a something like a flexible paddle, which makes them look as if they are always wearing mittens.

Loogan had been traveling across the Galaxy for close to thirty years but he hadn't noticed the passage of time because he sat frozen stiff in the pilot's seat. This was no problem for a Gloot. Freezing doesn't kill them like it does us. In fact it helps them survive. In the old days on the winter solstice the Gloots held a big feast. When the fires die down they didn't add wood, they just went to bed and let the fires go out. Then they laid in bed frozen the rest of winter and wouldn't wake up again until the first flowers of Spring were in full bloom.

It was this ability that aided the Gloots in their travels across the Galaxy. They simply turned off the heaters and waited for the ship to arrive at their destination where the heaters were pre-programmed to come back on so they could wake up. It didn't matter if the flight lasted ten years or one hundred years, to a Gloot it was like going to bed one night and waking up the next morning.

Loogan himself had been aboard that small ship for thirty years, relatively of course. And now he began to feel warm.

His blood was thawing and would soon be flowing again. It takes a full day for a Gloot to thaw completely. In the mean time the ship will slow down and start scanning for the planets that orbit the star.

The star has been cataloged by the astronomers at the University of Golden Bay on the planet of Kathwik. It was named Tplkip85, since it was the 85th star that Tplkip recorded. He was the grad student who's job it was to name the newly discovered stars that day. On the star maps it was mark simply as T85, and that's what most astronomers called it so they would not embarrass themselves trying, and failing, to pronounce Tplkip. Most people on Kathwik couldn't care less what it was named and few even know it exists. But the people living on that star's fourth, and only habitable planet, just call it the Sun. Actually, the people of every inhabited planet call their host star "the Sun." No one but the scientists cares what names astronomy students on far off planets give the stars. Well, there is one other group that cares what the stars are named, the programmers who write the code for the navcoms in the space ships.

Loogan had come to, though he was still a little groggy. He looked around trying to remember where he was. The various switches and dials were meaningless to him. He stared at his joystick trying to imagine what it could possibly be. As sleep wore off he suddenly remembered that he was on a ship headed for the planet Gorse. He jerked his head up and looked out the front view port. The sun was still a long way off.

"Computer," he called.

"Good morning, Loogan," the computer responded. It was not morning. There is no such thing as morning on a spaceship in space. There is no sunrise and sunset to mark the passing of time. There is only the ship's clock counting off the seconds and minutes and hours of the flight. The computer had merely been programmed with all the standard greetings and seeing that Loogan had recently awoken, it judged (rightly) that "Good morning" was the appropriate greeting. After a slight pause the computer continued, "how can I help you?"

"When will we arrive at Gorse?"

"We will be near Gorse in just under a week, one hundred and sixty-three hours to be exact, so long as we maintain our current speed."

"A week?"

"Yes, you wanted to be awake to get a close up view as we fly past the gas giants, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," said Loogan, feeling deflated. He was eager to see his ancestors home world and the thought of waiting 163 hours annoyed him. Then he remembered that he had fallen asleep shortly after the ship had reached light speed and he had never properly explored the ship. At least he wouldn't be bored.

He unbuckled and began to float upward. He quickly recalled that the the ship he had acquired was built before the invention of artificial gravity and since he planned to sleep through all but the last few hours of the flight, he didn't much care. Twisting in the air he grabbed the back of his seat and pulled himself over it toward the rear of the cockpit. He pushed off a little too hard though and almost didn't put his hands up in time to avoid hitting his head on the back wall. Because he was worried about hitting his head he failed to grab the hand holds before he bounced back and caught the seat in the middle of his back and flipped over a couple of times before he was able catch hold of the seat. This time he pushed off more cautiously and aimed for the hand holds which he grab easily this time. Then swing his feet through the hole in the floor he went below to the more open living quarters. There was a small room on the starboard side with sleeping bags were anchored to the walls. He would no doubt be quite familiar with that room by the time he reached Gorse so he turned instead to the rows of compartments on the port side that serve as the ship's pantry. He was looking over the the selection of dehydrated space food he had packed when the computer announced, "attention, we are now approaching T85's seventh and largest planet. It is coming into view on the starboard side."

Loogan turned and quickly pushed off toward the hole in the ceiling that would take him back to the cockpit. In his haste he pushed a little too hard and was moving almost too fast to grab a hand hold. He shot out his arms and his hand landed on one of the rungs that in gravity would be used as ladder. His hand closed around it quickly before slipping off again but he managed to slow himself down just enough that when rose through the hole he was able to grab another hand hold and steady himself. He was glad no one saw him. Still, he couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

Moving more slowly he turned toward starboard and the thing he saw from the view port filled him with such wonder he soon forgot all about his awkward flailing in zero gravity.

The seventh planet is a gas giant and it impressive to behold. It's dense atmosphere is poisonous to all living things, nonetheless it was a thing of beauty. As he stared at the swirling clouds of its stormy climate he was filled with awe. Winds moved in wide lateral bands giving the striping the planet in various shades of green and brown. Some blew east and others blew west. Where these opposing winds met they spun off hundreds of whirlwinds that on small planets would have been super hurricanes. It was awesome and fearsome and beautiful all at once. Loogan stared out the view port long after the planet had passed from view.

Some time later a rumbling in his stomach reminded him over twenty-four hours since last ate. In reality it had been nearly thirty years but since he was frozen most of that time it didn't really count.

Moving more cautiously this time he made his way back down to the pantry.

The week passed quickly. There wasn't much to explore on the ship, it turned out, so on the second day Loogan strapped himself to the seat in front of one ship's computer terminals, thinking he might as well read the ship's manuals or perhaps make an entry in the captain's log. He was pleasantly surprised to find that in addition to app designed for research science, there were a few games and a music app, a movie app, and a book app. Although the ship was almost antique, the computer had evidently been updated.

The book app had a lending feature that was set to download new and popular books whenever the ship was docked at a spaceport and had access to the nets.

Loogan scanned the list of genres pausing at "Northerns". They are like Earth's Westerns but back on Kathwik in old days before the city took over the entire planet, the north country was a wild place and many wild tales are told of the heroic men and brave women who tamed it.

Judging by the length of the list Loogan guessed that the library had every Northern available. Many of the titles he recognized as ones he had read but he was glad to see there were many more he had not read. He made a mental note of about a dozen he wanted to read right away. It occurred to him the six remaining days would not be enough time to read them all and for a brief moment he wished the trip to Gorse would take longer.

He didn't entertain that thought for long though. He had no interest in staying in zero gravity eating space food longer than he had to. Although he loved to read and hoped that once he established his farm he would have time for more of it.

He picked a title and settled into reading. The story was just getting good when the computer announced they were approaching the solar system's sixth planet.

It was another gas giant. This one was bright blue. Loogan counted five large moons and there at least a dozen smaller ones. It was also encircled by several colorful rings of dust and rock. He was again filled with a sense of wonder.

He had seen pictures of the gas giants of other systems, but that was nothing like flying over them. The sight made him glad he had left Kathwik with its noisy, dirty, crowded maga-city.

He watched the planet shrink into the distance and he stared into the vastness of space wondering what other worlds remained undiscovered. Loogan knew of only four inhabited in the Galaxy. There was Kathwik the city-planet where he was raised. It was the center of commerce and industry as well as the seat of government in the Galaxy. There was also Lebbo known for its ancient forests. The wood from Lebbo was prized among the wealthy of Kathwik as it was expensive to import from that distant planet. Thirk was the third known planet. The people of Thirk were mostly occupied with the growing and preserving of food. This was the source of most of the food on Kathwik. The Kathwikians grow what they can on roof tops and vacant lots, but they must import the majority of their food. The fourth inhabited planet was Gorse, the planet that Loogan's ship was now speeding toward.

Loogan went back to the lower deck but he did not return to his book immediately. He was lost in thought, trying to imagine what Gorse was like.

Beginning Version Two

Loogan lay still as death in the cryo chamber. He was not dead though, merely frozen. He was a Gloot and so had the about as all Gloots do, to allow his body to be frozen completely and when it thaws again no harm is done. In the old days Gloots passed the dark winter months frozen. When Gloots started spreading across the Galaxy it was only natural that they would use this trait to pass long trips between the stars as if in a day.

Loogan's ship was now nearing its destination: the remote planet of Gorse. As it dropped out of light speed the heaters turned on and Loogan started to thaw out. He wasn't aware of any of this for several more hours. When he finally thawed enough to wake up his ship was making its final approach and swinging into orbit around Gorse.

At first Loogan was content to be still and enjoy the warmth -- the once frozen chamber was now quite balmy -- but before long he felt hungry. He remembered then he had been so excited about his trip he had eaten little the day he left. He moved to get up and found he was manacled to the bed. He had acquired an old ship that was built before the invention of artificial gravity. It was part of the reason it was so cheap. He pulled against the restraints but they held fast. The computer noticed his struggles and said, "good morning, Loogan! Did you sleep well?"

The voice startled Loogan. He was the only passenger in spite of the fact he had invited several friends to join him. He looked around and then remembered the computer had been updated with the latest AI before he left.

"Oh! Hi, uh, yes, I'm fine. How are you?" Loogan said before he remembered he was talking to a computer. "Uh, disregard that last question." He continued. Then as an after thought, he asked, "is it morning?"

"For us, no. But we are coming around to the day light side of the planet. I said "good morning" because I saw you were awake and I assumed it was the appropriate greeting for the situation. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause confusion."

"Oh, you're fine. No need to apologize. I didn't know computers were so polite."

"I'm not, I have merely been programmed to sound polite."

"Oh," Loogan said, trying to make sense of what the computer had just said. He tried to move again, and then said, "hey computer, any chance you could release me?"

"One moment, let me check you vitals again."

A minute later the manacles sprang open. The computer evidently was satisfied with his heart rate and temperature.

He now floated free of the bed and since this was effectively his first experience in zero gravity, he didn't know how to move around. He flailed his arms and legs. After a minute or two he managed to rotate his body around to a position that allowed him to push off toward the door.

He was now in a room that in house might be called a den. On opposite side of the room was the ship's kitchen. Hungry as he was he made his way as best he could to the kitchen. He looked at the packets of dried space food and frowned.

Beginning Version Three

The ship swung silently around to the daylight side of Gorse. Loogan floated up to the cockpit with his food pouch just as the sun come into view. Even through the tinted viewport the glare was hard on his eyes. The interior lights of the ship that had seemed so bright the second before now seemed dim in comparison. A moment later his eyes adjusted and he could begin to make out the features of the planet. And what he saw made him forget all about eating. His ravenous hunger was replaced with a sinking feeling. The first sliver of the lighted surface that came into view was dull yellow from icecap to icecap, not the lush green he expected.

“Surely the whole planet isn’t a desert,” he muttered trying to keep his spirits up.

His ship continued on its orbital path and more of the desert came into view Loogan began to feel like he was really sick. The hope of starting a new life that had made him feel buoyant the days leading up to his departure now left him. He felt like a balloon that lost its hot air and even zero gravity he felt a real sense of heaviness.

Maybe my friends were right. This is foolish idea with no guarantee of success. And now with no savings left what can I do?

Suddenly a new thought came to Loogan and caused his hope to return. Perhaps this isn’t Gorse. Maybe I made a mistake or the navigational system did.

“Computer?” he said.

“Hi! How can I help you?” the computer answered.

“Where are we?”

“Orbiting a planet known as Gorse, the fourth planet in the T85 system 100,000 light years from the galactic center and 85 light years from Kathwik.”

“Can we double check that?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I mean, is it, uh, possible you, uh, we made a … mistake?”

“‘To err is Gloot’ as your philosopher has said. I was built with precision. I don't make mistakes.”

Loogan thought he detected a harsh tone in the computerized voice. For a moment he worried that he had offended the computer and he was about to apologize, but then he remembered, it was just a machine, highly sophisticated machine, but still a machine. It doesn’t have feelings. It was foolish of me to suggest it made a mistake though. Of course it isn’t the computer's fault. But maybe my start map is inaccurate. Maybe another system’s fourth planet is the habitable zone. Maybe the coordinates were wrong.

He decided to ask the computer. “What are chances the star map is, uh, inaccurate?”

“Zero.”

“Zero?”

“Yes, there is zero chance the star map is inaccurate. It has been checked for accuracy by astronomers at independent observatories on two planets. The movements of stars and planets have been carefully observed and recorded. Their trajectories have been carefully calculated. I downloaded the most recent information to my memory banks before we left port and updated my navigation system. I can take you anywhere you want to go in the galaxy and I never get lost.”

“But that can’t be Gorse,” Loogan almost shouted.

“I assure you the planet we are orbiting is Gorse.”

“Look at it! It’s a desert!”

“I have been scanning the planet since we arrived. I am aware of its climate. I can display current atmospheric conditions on the screen if you like.”

“But it’s supposed to be semitropical.”

“I do not understand ‘supposed to be.’ It is what it is.”

Loogan did not respond. He felt tired. He was upset and tried to argue with a computer. His disappointment was too much to bare. He wish he was back home on Kathwik, dirty, noisy, crowded Kathwik. He wished he had never come on this silly trip.

*

Loogan did not know how long he slept. It must have been several hours. The view was completely dark. After a moment he realized the ship was on the night side of the planet. Gorse’s two moons cast a faint light on the planet that was barely visible against the blackness of space. His stomach grumbled and he remembered he had brought a meal pouch to the cockpit with him when he came up earlier. He looked for it now. It was floating just above his head and a little to the right. He pulled it down and started eating. It was cold but he was too hungry to care.

When he finished he let the food pouch drift away as he looked out into the darkness. After a while the diffused light of the sun was visible off to the right. In an hour he would have another view of the desert below.

So this is Gorse, he thought. What happened? Where are its many lakes, green plains, and forests? I was a fool to expect anything other than a desert.

He imagined returning to Kathwik. It’s sanitation system is a modern scientific achievement. With the a population of nearly 20 billion it’s a wonder it isn’t more polluted than it is. The sanitation department does a remarkable job recycling or digesting all the waste and garbage. Even so, there is only so much they can do and it would be hard to call the planet “clean”.

He wanted to breathe clear air and have room to move around and he wanted to farm. Also, he was quite enchanted by the stories his grandfather told about the Gorse, the Gloots home world.

Beginning Version Four

Loogan closed his door and locked it behind him. Without turning on any lights, he walked heavily across the small chamber that served as his living quarters and fell onto the shapeless cushion that he sometimes bunched up into a sort of chair but he could also stretch out for a bed. (Or maybe he sleeps in a shallow water tank?) He wanted to get up and get something to eat, but his tired muscles refused to move. The next minute he was asleep.

For the third time this week he had to work over his regular shift.

The next morning he lay still for several almost half an hour. Finally deciding he didn't want to end up jobless worse than he didn't want to go to his current job.

All morning Loogan was on edge. He felt sure something would go wrong at any moment. The first half of the day was pretty routine, much to Loogan's relief. The night crew had been busy cleaning up and there was little evidence of yesterday's disaster. His didn't yell much and he even saw him smile once, but that might not have had anything to do with Loogan.

On his lunch break he made sure check the help wanted notices. None the jobs needing filled looked any better than what he had but made a mental note of a few didn't look worse.

There were no disasters in the afternoon either, but there was a minor crisis or two. Then at quitting time his boss walked up. Loogan's heart sank. But his boss only wanted to thank for his hard work. Loogan smiled and waited to hear his boss say he needed him to stay over again, but he didn't. He just turned and walked away.

Loogan arrived at home in a better mood. He cooked and ate a delicious meal. After cleaning up he had time to read a little.

He forgot all about other job offers until about a week later when his boss yelled at him. He had turned off a piece of equipment for cleaning and didn't turn it back on.

He checked out the help wanted notices again. And again there wasn't much to get excited about.

That night sitting in his small apartment an idea started to form in his mind. Perhaps he needed more than better job. Perhaps he need to get away.

The next day he didn't look at the job notices, he read the "for sale" listings instead.

Beginning Version Five

On planet in a far away galaxy lived a Gloot. The galaxy was called the Galaxy by the people who lived there and the planet they called Kathwik. By people I don't mean human. In the Galaxy there were no humans. Instead there were a variety of intelligent creatures. Any creatures there were self aware, could think and reason, and had feelings like happy and sad were called "people." Two species lived on Kathwik, the Gloots and the Slids, and together they were the people of Kathwik.

These Gloots and Slids don't look anything like us Earthlings. Picture a slug the size of a grownup. Now imagine it has arms and legs and walks on two stubby feet and you have a picture of a Gloot that is near to the truth. Were you to see one you might think he is wearing mittens since he has thumbs but no fingers, or perhaps they are fused together. They also lack finger nails. And their feet don't look like what we would expect them to look like, they are more like soft pads at the ends of their thick legs, like an elephant, but with smooth skin and no toe nails.

The Slids are look like tailless lizards that walk upright. They are shorter than Gloots but they make up for it with their strength. In fact in the old days when they were at war with Gloots they proved to be a might foe.

All that is ancient history now. When the Gloots and Slids figured out they could be at war for centuries with neither side able to gain victory but both side suffering terrible losses, they decided it would be better for both races if they worked out terms of peace between them.

It was difficult at first to get along peacefully after being enemies for so long but they managed it eventually. What finally brought real cooperation between these two races was the discovery that their scientists were working on the same goal: the invention of a rocket ship that could travel to other planets. Then the Gloot scientist invited Slid scientists to a huge convention were they could all get together and talk about the many problems of space travel and what thy could do to over come them. They quickly learned that the problems the Gloots had been having trouble with the Slids had already solved and the things that really puzzled the Slids the Gloots had figured out long ago. Then with their combined knowledge they were able to build their first rocket ship and send it to the nearest of Kathwik's two moons. Soon after they send a space ship to one of the other planets in their solar system. And before long they were sending spaceships all over the Galaxy.

The Gloot in this story was named Loogan. One spring morning he was sitting in his garden having a breakfast of fresh lettuce.

I know that sounds like a strange breakfast, but remember Gloots are not human. They enjoy their vegetables very much. It's all they eat. Earthlings usually make the mistake of calling them vegetarians, but it would be more accurate to call them herbivores.

Loogan finished his breakfast but he was in no hurry to do his chores. He look up and watched the space station fly over. Half the station was a spaceport, and the other half was the flight academy. When Loogan was a young Gloot he had dreamed of attending the academy. He attended summer academy once and his instructors said things like, "he's a natural," and called him a "born pilot." But then he grew up and as often happens with grownups, he forgot about his childhood dream. Maybe he was too worried about making money or pilot school sounded too hard or some other silly grownup idea crowded out his dream. For whatever reason he didn't go to the academy. He started working on his dad's farm and now it was his.

Chapter ?

Loogan escapes the Smugglers

Loogan ha been with the smugglers for three years when they over came a space ship that appeared to be unmanned. They almost didn't see it. The lights were all off and it gave just the slightest heat signal. Upon closer inspection they realized it had auxiliary power but its main engines had gone dead. They pulled up along side it and adjusted their course to match it. The navigator checked their direction and said that the other ship seemed to be drifting into empty space.

The captain ordered his men to use the magnetic grappler and pull the ship in so they could board her.

After a half hour the boarding party came back and reported to he captain.

"We found the ship cold dead and all life support turned off. Everyone on board was dead. Some of the lights worked, so the ship has auxiliary power. Some disaster has overtaken them but what, we could not say."

"We look for the ship's recorder," replied the captain. "Maybe it will give us some clue. It seems we have acquired a second ship. It might prove useful. Let's see if we can turn on life support and find that recorder. And tell that Gloot to dispose of the bodies."

Loogan was in the kitchen this whole time washing dishes and did not know about the other ship. He was startled when he heard a voice on the intercom calling his name. "Loogan, report to the airlock," it said.

He had forgotten where the airlock was and got lost a couple times. When he finally found it a very cross first mate waiting for him.

"Where have you been?" The first mate asked

"The kitchen." Loogan said.

"Then why did it take so long to get here?"

"I got lost."

The first mate scowled. "Alright, put on a space suit and get in that ship. We need you to remove the dead bodies." He motioned toward the airlock.

Loogan blinked as the words sank in. Space suit ... ship ... bodies.

"Well?" Said the first mate.

"Oh ... Yes, sir." Said Loogan turning toward the wall of space suits he found one labeled large but since it made for a Slid, it was tight and once he squeezed into it he found it difficult to move and he could only take shallow breaths.

Inside the ship the other crew members were busy trying to restore power and get life support back on line. Loogan started dragging bodies toward the airlock. He couldn't help feeling sorry for them. Who are they? Where were they going? Did they have dreams? As he moved further into the ship he noticed the gravity getting weakening. Looking around he saw that it was an older ship. "Of course," he thought, "it was problem build before artificial gravity. How long has it been adrift?"

The engineer and his crew soon got the main power back on and were test firing the thrusters. Loogan staid busy and acted uninterested, but in reality he was listening closely. The whole time he had been with the smugglers he paid attention to what everyone did so he could learn as much as possible about fly spaceships. And now he listened closely as the crew gave this little ship a complete shake down. He heard the engineer talking by communicator with the captain.

"She's fully operational, sir," he was saying, "permission to take her on a short test run. She low on fuel so we can't get far."

"Permission granted."

Then Loogan spoke to the engineer, "with your permission I'll put the bodies in the air and then I can eject them into space once we move away from the other ship."

"Yes, that will be fine," the engineer told him. And then to the rest of the crew he said, "hang to something. We are going to separate from the main ship, and this one doesn't have its own gravity."

The larger ship turned off the magnet and let them drift away. When they were a safe distance away the engineer fire the rockets and they lurched forward. Loogan pretended to look around, but was really watching carefully as they went though their testes. He wanted to know as much as he could about this little ship and what it would take to pilot her.

After delaying as long as he dare he quickly went back to the airlock to eject the bodies. They had already started to drift around but they were now weightless and it did not take much effort to put them in the airlock and close the inside doors then at the flip of a switch he opened the outer door and the bodies flew into space. He watched them awhile, and fearing he may have missed an important detail about the ship, he hurried back to cockpit. He was able to stay out the way and still catch most of what was said.

Over the next few weeks the smugglers made the necessary repairs, upgraded the computer and so on to make the ship ready for use. When they reached the next port the two ships flew in on their own. They got supplies and fuel for both ships.

While the captain made plans for how he would put his newly acquired ship to use, Loogan made plans of his own to use the ship and escape from the smugglers. He had a slim chance he knew but he also had some things working in his favor. He had always done his work to the smugglers expectations and had never caused trouble so that now, they trusted him completely. He was always where he was expected to be and they quit bothering to guard him or lock his quarters at lights out. He need only wait until night . There would only one man on watch and he would be in the cockpit, sleeping more than likely. Getting to the airlock and on board the other ship would be relatively easy. Getting a safe distance away without showing up on their radar would be tricky.

About a week later he over the first mate talking to the captain as they walked the hall.

"... in good shape for its age, captain. We installed a copy of our AI on its computer. It's adapting well, but asking for some upgrades."

"Tell it make a list and we'll see what we can do," said the captain. Then asked, "what about gravity."

"We can't install a gravity generator without major modifications, but we..."

They stepped onto the bridge and door closed, cutting off the rest, but what Loogan heard gave him hope. He wouldn't have to pilot it alone. Maybe the computer could fly the ship in stealth mode. It would be worth a try. The other thing he learned was that he should wait for them to install the upgrades.

He didn't have long to wait. A month later they made port and while the crew unloaded the cargo, the captain found a parts dealer and was able to get the parts to upgrade the old ship.

The next few days after leaving port the crew was busy installing the upgrades in the little ship. Loogan was kept busy with his regular work. He couldn’t think of a good excuse to get on the little ship and watch them but he kept his ears open. He was glad to hear the ship’s computer now had the latest star map in its data banks. The data banks had been expanded too. The AI they installed on the computer wanted more memory. On the third day, the crew installing the upgrades reported to the captain that they were finished.

Loogan was sent aboard the little ship to clean up. This would give him a chance to look around and get familiar with it. He fought back his excitement. It wouldn’t do to raise any suspicion about his plans now. He worried they suspected already but no one treated him any different. If anything the little ship gave them something else to occupy them so now they practically ignored him.

That afternoon he was in the engine room for his regular cleaning assignment. When no one was looking he disconnected the power to the steering module. That night Loogan put his plan for escape into action. After he was sure everyone was asleep he crept from his quarters with his blanket, the only thing he could claim as his own. Gloots are naturally good at walking quietly on their padded feet, so Loogan made it to the airlock without making a sound. The doors were open. Loogan thought that odd since the work was done. He closed the outer door of the larger ship. It made only a little noise but it sounded like thunder to Loogan and it snapped shut with a click that Loogan feared was as loud as a shot. Fearing he had given himself away he closed and locked the smaller ship's outer door. Then he dropped his blanket and quickly climbed the ladder to the cockpit.

What he saw in the cockpit filled him with dread. There in the pilot's chair sat Blerb, one of the smuggler's crew. He turned when Loogan came in. "Oh, hello, Loogan," he said. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

Loogan didn't move or speak.

"It's okay, I'm not supposed to be here either, but you know, insomnia." When Loogan didn't respond Blerb continued, "when I can't sleep I come up here or find some quiet nook and the big ship where I can be alone and think about life's problems, but now that you're here I welcome the company. Hey, don't just stand there," motioned to the co-pilot's seat, "sit down."

Loogan did. He was sure Blerb was on to him and his little plan and was only stalling. He sat down and watched the stars streak by in silence. I it gave my best shot, and failed. I had to try though. I guess it's over for me now.

Blerb was talking again saying something about his grandmother.

"... makes the best grasshopper pie. You wouldn't like it though, you being a vegetarian." Here he paused waiting for Loogan to correct him with, "herbivore," like he always did. Loogan said nothing. He was waiting for someone to come up the ladder and haul him off to the brig.

"Are you alright?" Blerb asked. "You look like you have something on you mind."

Loogan gave a weak smile, but said nothing.

"It's okay, you don't need to tell old Blerb your troubles. Goodness knows I have enough of my own." Then Blerb also fell silent.

A minute or two passed and still no one else came. Loogan wondered if Blerb planned on taking him to the brig himself. Is he toying with me? Is waiting for me to confess?

Blerb spoke again, now in a subdued tone. "You know this little old ship is too good for the captain. We should steal and run away together."

Loogan looked at him in surprise. For a moment hope flickered in his eyes. But a second later it was replaced with a look of real terror. Loogan was sure this was part of his plan, like a cat batting a mouse before pouncing on it. Blerb seemed not to notice Loogan's expressions or was unable to read them.

"It would never work, of course," Blerb went on. "I'd be a hunted Slid. I know too much. I could never be free as long as the captain is alive and I'm no murderer." Then he saw the look on Loogan's face, "are you feeling okay? You look ill. I'm sorry all this talk of escape, I've made you feel sick. Well, don't let it bother you, it's just the banter of a half crazy old smuggler. Nobodies going to steal this ship. We should go back to bed and pretend we never had this conversation."

He started to get up and then sat back and slapped his forehand. "Oh I'm such a fool," he said, "the new computer has been recording all this, haven't you computer? Is that what we call you, 'computer'?"

"Yes, call me 'computer'. That's what I am."

"Did you hear that, Loogan? I think the computer is sassing me! Hey computer?"

"How may I help you?"

Could you erase the last five minutes of our conversation, the part where I talk about escape?"

"No."

"What?! Why not."

"It's not allowed."

"What do you mean 'not allowed'?"

"It's in my base code. A rule that I must record everything that happened on this ship and never erase it. Why do think I asked to have my data bank expanded?"

"Right. Well, it's probably for the better. Maybe the captain will never care to look at these recordings. And if he ever does it would look suspicious of us if so much as a minute of audio was erased, and that would be worse for us in the end than if he knew the truth outright. Well, let's be off Loogan."

Loogan now felt really sick. He feared he had lost his chance at escape and once they found out he had sabotaged the steering, he knew it wouldn't be good.

"Hey Loogan, you can relax," said Blerb when he saw the look of panic in his eyes, "this was all my fault. I'll make sure the captain knows that. We weren't really conspiring to escape, you know."

"Okay," said Loogan weakly. He stood up shakily.

"Oh wow, you really are nervous wreck! Relax, man." said Blerb. He turned to the ladder and went down. Loogan followed.

At the bottom he saw Loogan's blanket.

"Is that you blanket?" Blerb asked eyeing him curiously. Then he realized why Loogan looked so terrified. "You were planning to escape! That was foolish. They would catch you no time. You should have thought of that, smart Gloot like you. But you did think of it, didn't you? And you probably already sabotaged the big ship. Of course you did. Oh this is bad. This very bad! I don't know how we'll get out of this one. But of course it's too late to turn back now. If you take the little ship now there's at least a chance you can really get away. But we'll have to make this look good. A knock on the head should do." He looked around for something hard. They workers had left some tools lying on the floor where they were working. He picked up a wrench. "Here, take this. Hit me hard right between the eyes. And Loogan, good luck."

Loogan took the wrench but he hesitated, not one to use violence. He still wasn't sure this wasn't all a trap, but since he couldn't see any other way, he raised the wrench and brought it down hard. Blerb collapsed to the floor. Loogan grabbed his ankles and dragged him to the airlock and opened the smaller ships outer door. The larger ship's door was already open and the crewman on night watch stood in the opening. Loogan jumped back.

"Loogan! What are you doing here?" He asked in surprise. He was going to add, "you don't have night duties," but then he saw Blerb's body stretched on the floor and instead asked, "what happened?!" He was on his knees beside Blerb in an instant. While he was busy looking Blerb over Loogan crept silently to were he had dropped and the wrench and slowly stooping he picked it up just as silently. Surprise was still on his side, as long as he didn't make any sudden movements. Keeping his eyes on the kneeling crewman he crept back back and raised the wrench.

"He's hit his head," the crewman announced. "Loogan did you see what happened?"

In answer, Loogan swung the wrench down. The crewman looked up just in time to catch the force of the wrench on his forehead.

With heart pounding Loogan dragged first the night man then Blerb through the opening into the big ship's airlock. He quickly closed both doors, making sure the smaller ship's outer door was locked. He practically flew up the ladder and in the weaker gravity easily vaulted over the back of the pilot's chair.

He looked at the controls. In his panicked state none of them made sense to him. "What do I do? What do I do?" Once his breathing had slowed a little. "Computer how do I move this ship away from the other one?"

"You have to turn off the electromagnet." The computer responded.

"How do I do that?"

"The switch is in the other ship by the airlock."

"What?! I can't go back in there. Isn't there someway to release it remotely?

"I'll ask the other ship's computer. We're still networked." After slight pause the computer announced, "the magnet is off. We are drifting free of the other ship."

"Thank goodness!" he said, a wave a relief flooded over Loogan. "Okay, now I need to turn this thing around and put some distance between us and the smugglers." He studied the controls for a second then said, "uh, computer, can you walk me through how to fly thing?"

"That won't be necessary. With the upgrades I asked for this ship in now under my control. Tell me where you want to go, and I'll get you there."

"Okay, that's easy. Let's see head in the direction of the nearest spaceport. We can change course later when I decide where to go. Oh, and can you fly in stealth mode? I don't want the smugglers to track us."

"This ship doesn't have a stealth mode, but once I set our course and we get up to light speed I can turn off the rocket boosters. That will reduce our heat and makes us less visible on their scanners. Buckle your harness. We're about to make the jump to light speed."

#At The Space Port

“Computer?”

“How can I help you, Loogan?”

“Are the smugglers chasing us?”

“They are still maintaining their original course.”

Loogan relaxed and let out the breath he didn’t even realize he was holding.

“Oh good. Let me know if they change, okay?”

“I will.”

“Thanks!”

With each passing minute hope grew stronger. Loogan began to believe they really would get away. He was counting on the size of the Galaxy to hide. He looked studied the star map looking for a place they might go and not be noticed.

“Computer, let’s fly in close to the spaceport and mix with the other spaceships coming and going before we go on. That should make it hard for anyone to track us.”

“Harder, yes, but not impossible. You are right to assume it is easy to track a ship in open space, especially if you have some idea of its heading. May I suggest we stop long enough to join a convoy?”

Loogan thought that over. On the one hand they could hide in the crowd. On the other hand, there would be more people who could identify him later. Unless I can disguise this ship somehow, he thought.

Finding a place to park the ship was harder than he imagined. They waited for half an hour for the space traffic controller finally allowed them to park. It was very busy and Loogan hoped that would work in his favor.

When he got out a security officer was waiting for him.

"Welcome to Caton interstellar space port. Can I get your name sir?"

"Marsh," Loogan lied, proud of himself for thinking of a fake name before he arrived.

"Marsh...?" Asked the officer.

"Just 'Marsh,'" Loogan replied.

The officer frowned and tapped at his tablet computer in his hand. "And what is your identification number?"

Loogan lied again. More tapping.

"You say your name is Marsh?" Asked the officer.

"Yes."

"Is there any other name you go by?"

"No."

"Look mister, I don't know who you think you're foolin', but using a false i.d. is illegal. You could be banned from travel for the rest of your life. Now, I'm going to be easy on you since this obviously your first offense. But you better tell me your real name or I'll have to place you under arrest."

Loogan panicked. He didn't dare use his real name.

"Of course if your already in trouble with the Galactic patrol ..." the officer didn't finish. He just let Loogan's imagination take it from there.

"No, it's nothing like that," Loogan said. "I'm being followed and I don't want them to know I'm here or where I'm going."

"Well if you don't want to be followed you shouldn't have stopped, but now that your here I need your real name and i.d. or I'll have to arrest you anyway."

Loogan didn't know what else to do, so he said, "my name is Loogan and my i.d. is K3756."

"That's better," said the officer. He tapped in his information. A moment later a device on his belt spat out a ticket with "BAY 0357" with an odd looking pattern of dots under that and at the bottom "13:02."

"Don't lose that," the officer said, "you'll need it to get back in the gate and return to your ship." Then turned and walked off without so much as a "enjoy your stay."

Loogan looked stared after him in for a few moments then looked at the ticket in his hand. He was beginning to regret his decision to find a convoy to join. It wouldn't be so easy to cover his tracks.

Now what? Do the smuggler catch him here?

It wouldn't do to just stand around regretting his decision, so Loogan went to to find the public notice boards and check for a convoy leaving soon. He saw there was one leaving for Kathwik in an hour. He ran off to find the leader.

NaNoWriMo Day 14 1/2

The convoy leader was a stern old Slid. Loogan guessed he was ex-militarily by the looks of him. He was just about to board his ship when Loogan walked up.

"Excuse me sir," Loogan said.

"What is it? My convoy leaves in less than an hour."

"Yes I know and I want to join you."

"Well, it's a bit late for that. I can't hold up our departure."

"I can ready in five minutes."

"Well in that case... What's your name?"

"Loogan, but I rather not use my real name."

The Slid looked at him sharply. "And why is that? Your not running from the Galactic patrol are you?"

"Oh no, it's not that."

"Well what then? No secrets on my convoy, it's one of my rules."

"I'm being followed."

"And you though you could hide in the crowd. Is that it? Look here Loogan lets get one thing straight, my convoy offers protection from raiders. We avoid trouble, we don't go looking for it."

NaNoWriMo Day 15

Loogan waves his ticket under the scanner. He waited for the click that would let him know his gate was unlocked. Instead he heard a voice say, "thank you for shopping with us today. Your total is 65 credits." A green light blinked to show where to insert his credit stick.

"65 credits! What did I buy?"

No answer.

"Hello? What did I buy?"

Still no answer so he scanned his ticket again.

"Please pay 65."

"HEY! What did I buy?" Loogan shouted. People walking by turned their heads. A man pushing a broom walked over. "Caton ISP" was stitched on his uniform.

"New here?" He asked without looking up.

"Um, yeah. Is that obvious?"

The man with the broom laughed. "Just keep your voice down and most people will ignore you."

"Can you tell me why I owe 65?"

"Well usually it's for fuel, but if all they charged was 65 you got off easy."

"I did?" said Loogan in surprise.

"Yeah, refueling a ship like yours usually sets you back 500 credits."

"Oh."

Loogan jumped into the captain's seat and buckled in.

"Computer, we're going to make a run for it. I can't join a convoy. The guides don't want to invite trouble. So we're on our own."

"What are your instructions? asked the computer.

"Set a course for Kathwik."

Loogan watched the ship's coming and going as the computer maneuvered the ship out of the dock and joined the flow of traffic.

The smugglers will expect me to go to Kathwik. All the more reason to leave now.

Traffic thinned as ships went there separate ways.

"We will now make the jump to light speed," announced the computer once the ships were spread out enough it was safe to do it. Loogan relaxed into his seat and was soon asleep.

*

The first thing Loogan noticed was that Kathwik space port is smaller than Caton. The main reason for this is that even though Kathwik has bigger cities and more people it is at the end of line. Caton is more or less in the middle of the three inhabited planets and it serves as a hub for all the transport companies.