The Ship and Its Captain

“Interested in a transport ship, sir?”

Maximillian Piper turned his gaze away from the ship he’d been examining and turned toward the space ship dealer. The man facing him was well dressed and looked like a high quality salesman but he still had that sleazy aura about him that all space ship dealers seemed to have. The man folded his hands in front of him and wore a friendly smile. Max might have been fooled by him if it hadn’t been for his parents. Lucky for Max, he’d seen many dealers trying to sell space ships to his parents and therefore, knew exactly what to look for when buying a ship for himself.

At last, Max was to set out on his own and create a business. His chosen career lay in the transportation industry. Transporting people, transporting goods; it didn’t matter to Max, so long as he got paid for it. It might sound heartless, but business is business. However, to get Piper Transport Inc. started, he needed a transport ship. That’s what brought him to Terren Five, the Toyota headquarters in the Andromeda Galaxy.

“I am interested.” Max replied simply, only a few seconds after the salesman spoke, then turned back to examine the ship. The ship was a very well built transportation ship, the Toyota Robin. Max had been reading up on these ships and had learned that it was eighty meters long by forty meters wide and had a very large cargo bay. He’d come all the way from New Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy just to find one.

The dealer smiled, “Well, if you have any questions…” The man paused to indicate that he had yet to learn the customer’s name.

“Max Piper.”

The dealer’s eyes widened in surprise. “As in Piper Intergalactic? The Pipers?”

Max released an irritated breath and nodded. “Yes, The Pipers. Tell me about this ship.” He added to stop other questions about his family. Really, there wasn’t much he didn’t already know about the ship, but he hated talking about his family. Right now, he wanted to focus on his own business, rather than his parents’.

The man got the hint. “Well then, Mr. Piper, It’s made of olympium metal, all the way from Mars so it is extremely durable.” That was enough to impress Max. It was important for a ship to be durable so that it wouldn’t damage easily when entering atmospheres. Mars had the highest quality olympium yet discovered in the universe. Most ships were made of other materials and even the information he’d read about the Robin had said that there were only five ships made of olympium. How had Max been so lucky as to run across one such ship? He decided to buy it, however, he didn’t want to announce his decision until he’d heard what else the salesman had to say.

The man continued, oblivious to Max’s thoughts, “It’s a state-of-the-art transportation ship, capable of traveling five times the speed of light and, if you’re looking for transporting goods, it has a cargo bay of forty thousand cubic meters. That is the largest cargo bay of any transport ship available. This ship has been nominated for best transport ship ever made.” He boasted, and spoke as if he was certain that this ship would win the award. Max didn’t doubt it, however, he already knew all of that. It was one of the first ships of that model, made three years prior, in 3025.

After hearing all of the salesman’s speech about the ship and having a tour of it, Max bargained the price down to something reasonable, handed over the credits and boarded the ship with his belongings.

The door to the cockpit chimed as it opened, then, when he’d walked through, the computerized door spoke, “Thank you for using the door!” it had a female computer voice and spaced the words strangely.

That is going to get annoying… He thought as the door chimed shut and he made his way to the pilot seat.

He powered up the ship and prepared for take off.

“Please fasten your safety harness.” Came the voice of the ship’s computer. In contrast to the door, the ship had a male computerized voice.

Max sighed and ignored the demand, continuing to activate the controls.

“Please fasten your safety harness, now.”

Again, he ignored the demand and tried to take off manually.

“I said ‘fasten your damn safety harness!’” The voice was more normal than computerized and very impatient. Max looked up at the word “I”.

“Are you… is this…?” Max couldn’t figure out how to word his question but the computer was way ahead of him.

The voice held an almost amused tone, “Artificial intelligence? Yes, I am.”

Max was silent. He was caught between jubilation for getting such a great deal on this rare ship and irritation at having to put up with talking to a computer until he decided what to do with it.

The computer continued, oblivious to Max’s dilemma, “You can call me Robin, or Rob. What should I call you?”

“Uh… Max… I’m Max Piper.” He replied, still a bit shocked at the situation.

“Hmm…” the voice replied, “First born son of the current owners of Piper Intergalactic?”

Max rolled his eyes. “The Piper Empire; yes.” He called the company that because they had rights to pretty much every company and institution in the known universe. “They are always present, no matter where you go. They own Starbucks and have a shop on every bloody rock in the universe!” Max was sick of hearing the name of his parents’ company, so he threw that in just to end that conversation.

The ship wisely changed the subject, “Pleasure to meet you, Max.”

“Right. Take off and set a course to New Earth.” Max said, donning his business voice.

“Not until you fasten your safety harness.”

The man tensed in irritation and obeyed. Then the ship performed the smoothest take off Max had ever experienced.

Once they’d exited the atmosphere, Rob had them cruise toward New Earth until they were in public space, then Rob fired up the ship’s rockets and took off at light speed and slowly accelerated to five times the speed of light.

“Look,” Max said, suddenly, “I don’t want you thinking you can boss me around.”

The ship was silent.

“I own you.” Max continued, “That means that I call the shots. Understand?”

The ship was silent.

That irritated Max even more, “Are you listening to me?”

“Sorry?” Rob asked, as if he hadn’t heard what Max had said.

Max spoke through clenched teeth and fisted his hands, “I call the shots. You do as I say; not the other way around. Understand?”

“Sure thing, Chief!” Rob’s cheerful tone really pissed the man off.

“Don’t you dare speak to me like that! My name is not Chief, it’s Max!”

“Like what?”

Max frowned and lost his temper, “Don’t speak to me so disrespectfully! I’m bloody serious!”

“I did not intend to offend you, Max. I’m sorry if you felt that I did.”

Max took a deep breath and counted to ten then left the ship to pilot itself while he got his belongings in order.

“Thank you for using the door!” Came the irritating voice of the door.

“Shut up!” Max growled as he headed to his cabin.

Author's Notes: So I'm thinking this is going to be a four-part, maybe five-part story. It's a project for one of my classes but I'd definately like some input from people who aren't in my class. Please don't forget to review and point out any mistakes you've noticed or things you think I should elaborate on. Constructive criticism is always welcome :) I hope you enjoyed it so far! The next part will be up soon!