Start the Game (Galactogon: Book #1) by Vasily Mahanenko Page A

confident individuals! And I can see that you are quite the individual!”
    “Thank you, sir! Please forgive me but there is another problem!”
    “Another problem?” I tensed up. Was my story about to fall apart at the seams?
    “The warehouse only has enough Raq to fill half of your ship’s holds. I have a solution, though—we can load your holds with two prototypes. According to my data, our scientists have been using the adjacent hangar to develop some kind of new engine. They’ve paused their work at the moment. The mass and dimensions of the prototypes are perfect for filling the frigate’s holds to maximum capacity!”
    “Load them up!” I said, realizing that I had been holding my breath and finally releasing it. “I can see I wasn’t wrong about you, Gartil!”
    “I’m doing my best, sir! I’ve relayed your orders to the deck personnel. The cargo will be delivered to you in five minutes. Best of luck with your tests. May I help you with anything else?”
    “You can make sure that the orbital stations don’t zap us by accident. Over and out!”
    Having disconnected, I leaned back in my chair, which seemed to utterly ignore my immense weight, and closed my eyes wearily. To my great surprise, my hands were shaking so bad that I felt like I had just spent a week drinking, while my pulse was going as fast as a machine gun. If everything worked out now, the Qualian Empire would be off limits to me forever. Personally, I would never forget something like this, much less forgive it…
    “Loading has commenced…sir,” said Lestran, admiration seeping into his tone.
    “Make sure they don’t slip us anything we don’t want,” I asked my partner without opening my eyes. “Meanwhile, I’ll read about how to manage the frigate’s shields…”
    “We’re taking off,” Lestran announced about seven minutes later. Our ship trembled slightly, leaving the flight deck. “Engaging stabilizers,” added my partner, putting an end to the tremors. If I understood it correctly, these stabilizers had to be turned on either before or simultaneously with lift-off. I didn’t tell this to my pilot though, as he was just then trying to guide us through the hangar door. Control comes with experience and anyway, Lestran was an engineer, not a pilot. I’d get a hang of flying once I got a chance to read about it some more. Then you would see me zooming all around Galactogon hither and thither. Let him do the flying for now…
    “We’re leaving the atmosphere. I’m plotting our jump,” my partner went on describing his actions. On my screen, however, an alert popped up, notifying me that we were being targeted by an orbital station. “Hyperdrive initializing, thirty seconds until we jump…”
    “Frigate Dratistan , this is General Trank! Return to base immediately or I shall order your destruction.”
    The voice was so menacing that I got chills all along my body. It looked like poor Gartil was already in trouble …
    “Twenty seconds,” Lestran whispered, letting me take control of the situation.
    “This is the captain of The Space Cucumber ! I am officially announcing the rechristening of this spaceship as well as the ship’s transfer to my command. I am also expressing my categorical opposition to the practice of feeding Training Sector recruits organic food in the mess hall! Pursuant to the Emperor’s directive, recruits must be fed not only organic food but also some sort of vegetable, preferably corn. Considering that this imperial edict has been grossly violated by the facility’s administration, I will be forced to apprise the Emperor of noncompliance on the part of the facility’s Executive.”
    “Whose noncompliance? What are you even talking about? Identify yourself immediately, or I will order your termination!”
    “Five seconds.” Lestran’s face expressed the smile of a man who believed in the impossible.
    “My name is Surgeon…Pirate Surgeon!”
    “Fire on my…” began the general.