MegaBoys from Outer Space
Chapter 2: Deep Space

On the second day out, Yelid checked his navigational charts, and was pleased with their progress. The Bedem’s had been using a worm hole labeled K614, as a means to transverse the endless stretches of Space. The Worm hole had been constructed by an unknown civilization ages before Bedem’s recorded time. A great race that had just vanished leaving no trace of their existence, save for these “primitive” byways. They were the first to map the uncharted reaches of the galaxy’s and left a grid for all others to transverse the infinite spaces. The Galaxy, broken into sectors, had been plotted, and now these deep space passages allowed craft all access to the known star systems. K614 was the start off point for all exploration. It was heavily used by all Interstellar travelers. It was a two day journey through hyperspace for the inhabitants of Bedem.

The familiar lights and signs bordering the entrance glowed on Yelid’s view screen. It was a magnificent sight, Yelid remembered the awe he experienced upon first viewing the deportation complex. The wonder never faded.

“You got that Cory, Lets pick up some provisions at the “Last Chance Mart.”

“I hear you Yelid, I need some fresh Charger D units, and then we can have lunch and shop around before our assignment.”

“Good Idea.” Yelid replied, “My units are in need of changing too.”

The boys left their craft at the docking service station, and met at the Marts entrance. Things were always exciting here, Hundreds of vehicles; from small scows, to the giant freighters used K614 as their main hub. It was always busy, There was no other place in the galaxy where so many different races mingled. Pleasure cruisers, Galactic shippers, Military and Police, all intermingled at the various shops and outlets. It was an easy place to be overwhelmed. Cory was studying a guide map projected in the terminal information dock.

“We should take our place on the debarkation platform in 0300 hours to get our assignment. We have plenty of time to check with the rest of the class to see who’s going where” Yelid nodded. Checking his utility belt to see how many Xelon units he had in his credit. His parents had well provided him with plenty of spending credits, for the upcoming journey.

“Mrs. Graf said to rendezvous at gate 40 we really should start heading in that direction” Corey noted. Even though both boys had already traveled for two days, they found themselves restless, hungry and eager to start their own exploration. They had no idea where they would be sent, the destinations were chosen at random, and assigned each explorer group. The destinations, although unexplored, were selected by central computer for safety factors.

Areas of political hostility or revolution were not an option. The well-being of the children was of course, the major concern.

Gate 40 was a sprawl of activity, All of Yelids classmates were there.

“Hey, Yelid and Corey” A familiar voice called out. “They didn’t lock you up yet?” It was Burger, the class wise guy. He was a year older then Yelid, but had been held back due to discipline problems. He usually grouped with his friend Slade, together they made as much trouble as they could get away with. Because Burgers parents were high ranked members of the Association, Burger got away with a lot of mischief that would not be tolerated by any other students. Now he and Slade stood facing Yelid and Cory.

“I hope you two jerks don’t get in my way, I’m going to the Versalon sector.”

“We are suppose to go to unexplored regions, Versalon is a tourist trap” Yelid replied.

“Mrs Graf will flunk you if she finds out” Burger cut him off.

“Yeah, well you can have this exploration crap, I’m going to have a good time. I hear they have some really graphic Sexaphon rides, I aim to check them out.” He paused a second to check their reactions,

“If either of you two wimps say a word, I’ll blow your Monopods out of the sky before you get back” Slade nodded agreement, his mouth stretched into a permanent smirk,

“Yeah, we’re going to check the Sexaphon rides” Slade repeated with a nasty giggle.

“Slade an I are gonna do the Sexaphon tour, top to bottom, I’ll bet neither of you have ever experienced anything like that before” He shot Slade a glance, as he revealed a packet of white powder that was hidden in his Exogear pocket, to the boys, then quickly hid it again and quipped,

“You can get anything you want, here at K614, if you know the right people”

Slade smirked in agreement. As they pushed past Yelid and Cory, Burger said,

“Remember what we said, if you say a word to anyone, you’re dead meat”

“Jerk’s” Cory said under his breath, as the bullies pushed by.

As the class lined up at gate 40, they prepared to enter their recharged Monopods. In the hour before departure, all the students were allowed to do a Free shop, for provisions amongst the many vendors that lined the avenue, everything one could imagine was available, for a price, Xelon units were the barter of preference.

“Hey Cory, look what I picked up” said Yelid with excitement,

“It’s an classic space wave detector, It can scan all frequencies and track any signals”

“That’s a real antique, is that one in working order?” Yelid nodded.

“They hardly use them anymore, but this one works good, the guy at the shop tested it for me” The device was the size of a six inch cube, it had a few dials and a speaker on it’s face, and a few tuning knobs on it’s side.

“They salvaged it from some old junker, It’ll be easy to hook up in my Monopod” Yelid said with some excitement.

“Let me know if you pick up any interesting signals” Cory replied. Even in the worm holes in deep space, one could still pick up trace radio pulses, drifting through the empty spaces. Every civilization from the beginning of their technological age, transmitted signals into space. The random signals were still out there. Finding, Identifying and graphing the signals was now the work of the archivists, there was a one in a hundred chance that a signal might be picked up from some as yet uncharted region of the galaxy.

“Hey Slade, look what I picked up” Burger whispered as he reached into a crumpled paper bag he held.

“What is it?” asked Slade, The device looked like a four inch flexible disc shaped patch. There was a small antenna off to the side, it was the thickness of a pancake, and had an adhesive base that would hold it on the outside surface of a craft, under all conditions.

“It’s a Diwrecker, they are hard to get, they use to use them back in the wartime. You put it on the side of any craft, and it lets you takes control, overriding the navigation of it’s host vehicle. I can control the destination of the craft, wherever this is planted. We’re gonna have some fun once I put this on Yelids pod.”

“That’s so neat,” Slade replied, “but isn’t it illegal?”

“Of course it is you dufus. The crew of the Diwrecked vessel has no control, With the ship out of control, someone could get hurt” Burger laughed harshly,

“All the time without them knowing” He continued, “I control their ship from this remote. Once I switch it on, I’d say Yelid is in for some rough weather up ahead.” Both boys laughed as Burger slipped among the waiting Monopods, he stealthy affixed the unit on Yelids craft as Slade kept watch, he then found his way back on line.

Gate 40 at three hundred hours was a mass of commotion; the assignments were handed out amidst small fanfare, a review of the assignment and a wishing of good luck to the explorers from Mrs Graf, left the students scrambling for their crafts. Astar, a blond girl from Yelids class called out to him, in the line.

“I didn’t know you were taking your brother” She said.

“I’m not,” Yelid replied,

“I thought I saw him at the snack stand, I thought He was with you”

“Well, he’s not” Yelid replied, “You must have seen someone else”

“No” Astar replied, “I’m sure that was Punim” Yelid cursed under his breath, now he would have to call home to make sure his brother was there. His younger brother tagging along could sure mess things up. The “Board your Craft” lights flashed, and the place was chaotic as the students rushed for their Monopods en route to their grand adventure.

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