Merionwen
Strong, owner and Captain of the Tempest Class Freighter, Tornado, sat in the
pilot’s seat and her friend Malena Endia sat beside her as they circumnavigated
the Ariadnean worm hole, which was equidistant between the Androsin system
which they had departed from four months earlier, and the populous Eikon
system, which was at least three months ahead of them.
It
was a long boring journey but a necessary one, and a welcome one after the
danger and excitement of their hasty exit from the Tornado and the subsequent dalliance
with death on the seismically unstable surface of Mangium with its extremely
hostile inhabitants and in the quiet hours on the flight deck they silently
reflected on their jeopardy and the timely rescue from the jaws of death by
Lyris’s flying skills, and the time afterwards.
When
they were safely back on board and the Tornado was leaving Mangium in its wake.
Malena
immediately embraced Zerrad and the giant Gouveian Parse Sacrod scooped Merri
up in his arms and kissed her.
Following
the loving welcome, they received they were asked how they were and they both
gave the identical answer uttered in unison
“Starving”
They
were fortunate enough to have aboard Visitor Parham, who was not merely a man
of the cloth who tended to their spiritual needs, because his alter ego Bagg
fortified them with his culinary prowess.
He
was strategically positioned by the mess room door as they came in and he
hugged them both affectionately.
He
was tall and disproportionately thin, and wore a simple grey robe.
Although
he never confirmed it the crew thought him somewhere beyond fifty with his long
white hair and short trimmed beard.
He
was a simple man and his contribution to the rescue was persistent prayer and
excessive baking so he was perfectly well prepared for the moment the ravenous
pair entered the mess.
The
mess room was crowded and filled with the noise of relieved chatter,
Engineers
Pulsat and Vanzyl were busy dealing with fire damage and Lyris was piloting but
there were other absentees and Merri was the first to notice.
“Where’s
Shiyne?”
For the latter
part of the search and during the subsequent rescue Shiyne was in the sick bay
completely exhausted, having used every atom of her strength to pinpoint their
whereabouts and she was there still.
The
second after Bagg had informed them of Shiyne’s location both Merri and Malena
laid their cutlery down and stood abruptly.
“It’s
alright” Bagg said, who had discreetly put himself between them and the door
again.
“She’s
still sedated, so eat first and then you can go and see her”
He
then guided them back to their chairs and took very little encouragement to
continue their repast.
After
eating their fill and refilling their coffee mugs for the third time a period
of questions and answers ensued regarding the time line of events and who did
what and when.
But
it was, for the most part, all done in a very light-hearted way especially when
Malena was talking.
“We’re
running for our lives and Captain Redhead’s main concern was her footwear”
“They
ruined my favourite boots” she said indignantly and put her foot up on the
table so everyone could see her mutilated boot.
When
the laughter had subsided Zerrad said
“Vanzyl
was the hero of the day, without his enhancements to the comms array we would
never have found the pod”
“And
without Shiyne we would never have found you two in time” Bagg said
“Which
is a good reminder that we need to go and see her” Merri said
“There’s
something you need before you do that” Bagg said
“No,
no more coffee” Malena said
“I
wasn’t going to say coffee” he said
“What
then?”
“A
shower” he said and everyone enthusiastically concurred
“Harsh”
Merri said, “Very harsh”
“They
must be talking about you” Malena said, “I’m a shape shifter, and I don’t
sweat”
After
showering and changing they went to sick bay and sat with Shiyne for the next
few hours until she regained consciousness, and an expression of real joy
spread across her beautiful cerise face
“They
found you” she exclaimed and tears welled up in her purple eyes.
They
sat with her for another two hours until Terrell insisted that she should rest
so they joined the rest of the crew as life aboard the Tornado got back to
normal.
Terrell
kept Shiyne in sickbay for three days in all, she was fine after two but he
liked having her all to himself and as she felt the same way there was no harm
done.
Shiyne’s
confinement to sickbay was the reason Merri and Malena were alone on the flight
deck.
Their
destination was known as the Eikon cluster due to the high number of M class
planets and moons in the Eikon solar system, it was a busy and prosperous
system and one which would keep them gainfully employed for some time to come.
They
had to take the long route as there were no hyperspace routes through that part
of the galaxy due to the worm hole, which was an inherently unstable
phenomenon, so there was only one option and that was to take the long way around
and after nearly losing two of the Tornados personnel it was decided to err on
the side of caution and give the worm hole an extra wide berth.
As
tedious as the journey was, over the long boring three months the crew worked
hard to get the ship back in shape and after Pulsat and Vanzyl had finished in
the corridor it was hard to imagine there had ever been a fire.
It
addition, new sensors where installed to warn of approaching hazards, thanks to
the enhancements Vanzyl had made to the array, so they wouldn’t be blindsided
again.
The
only damage they couldn’t put right was to the buckled plates on the hull, they
had been temporarily patched and would be properly repaired when they reached
their destination.
Despite
their unwelcome trip to Mangium and the additional detour around the worm hole,
they reached their destination of Eikon Major three days earlier than
originally expected because of Pulsat and Vanzyl’s stewardship of the 4 Plasma
Turbine Pyroclast Engines.
They
delivered the three pods of Thermalium mineral ore to the processing plant and
picked up one pod of ingots for delivery to Eikon Minor and two pods of
agricultural tools for Eirkos, which was an agrarian world much like the Skeet
brothers home world of Shax so they were both secretly looking forward to visiting.
The
Skeet brothers were born and raised on Shax in the populous Shaxson system,
which was one of the last to join the Legion and it was not an easy transition
or indeed a wholly welcome one.
In
fact, it was a protracted and bloody courtship which involved three years of
bitter war and it was that war that saw the Skeet’s swap their plough shares
for Pulsar weapons and tractors for Spider Hawk Fighters.
When
the war came to an unsatisfactory conclusion for the Shaxson rebels the Legion
exacted a heavy retribution which lead to some of the former fighters having to
turn their backs on their home worlds to escape the Legions punitive
punishments and give up living on the land and live on the lam instead.
Not
that the Skeets had much appetite for farming after all the action they had
seen.
They
had no family left on Shax by the time the war was over so even if the Legion
had been prepared to allow them to live in peace there was nothing left to bind
them to their birthplace, so they took to the stars.
Eirkos was a
simple world for people who lived simple lives, there were no big Cities and no
real attraction for off worlders, so there were no plans to stay after making
the delivery in Cranack but as they sat around the mess table devouring one of
Bagg’s wonderful suppers, Merri said
“After we’ve
unloaded we have a couple of days spare before our next job, any suggestions?”
“It’s a shame that
there’s nothing to keep us on Eirkos, it would have been nice to breathe some
fresh clean air for an hour or two” Shiyne said
“Well we still
could” Bagg said
“But what would we
do there?” Parse said
“Well I have a
brother in Montrose which is about an hour from Cranack, it’s a farmstead
community and I’m sure they would make us very welcome” he said
“Another Visitor?”
Malena asked
“Well yes he is a
Visitor” Bagg said
“But this Brother
is also my brother”
“Then we must go”
Merri said, “is he a good cook like you?”
“No, his skill
lies in Wine making” Bagg replied
“Even better”
Merri retorted
“So that’s
settled” Malena said, “After we’ve unloaded we’re all off to Montrose to see
Bagg’s brother”
“And that includes
you two” Merri said
“We?”
Pulsat asked
“Who
else?” Merri asked and Vanzyl whirled a response
“But
we fix damage” Pulsat said
“You
can do that on Eikon Major” she replied, “I want the whole Tornado family in
attendance”
Vanzyl
uttered a soft whistle like a plaintive flute, then he looked at his friend and
whistled again
“Family,
yes” Pulsat agreed
After arriving at
the port on Eirkos the unloading didn’t take long and then Lyris parked the
Tornado on the apron and then everyone got ready to depart.
The
short heavy set Prinsloovian, Pulsat Rad, was first down the ramp, holding his
rough bony head proudly high.
On
reaching the apron proper he turned stiffly to address his companion Vanzyl,
who was uttering a string of whirls, whistles and clicks.
“I
know it, I know it” Pulsat said to his Kesslerian friend, who was a more
slender and sleek form than he, and he had the hint of a smile about his pursed
lips and Vanzyl whistled and clicked again and Pulsat snorted.
Pulsat
was the only one of the crew who could understand every tone and toot Vanzyl
uttered, as if it were in his own tongue, but that was common place for his
species, there were very few races he had met on his travels that he couldn’t
understand, although he couldn’t speak to them in their language, but he
nonetheless understood every word that they spoke.
While
they stood to one side of the ramp in conversation Shiyne drove the stroller
down the front ramp and the rest of the crew followed in a group in her wake, with
Visitor Parham bringing up the rear wearing his more formal attire of a full
length pale blue robe tied at the waist with a royal blue cord, which was
beneath a full length dark blue leather jerkin, and he carried a simple
roughhewn staff which was undecorated but for a carved cruciform relief a few
inches from the top.
The
Tornado’s APMTV, (All Purpose Multi Terrain Vehicle) was nicknamed the
“Stroller” which was an ironic name because when Shiyne or Merri were behind
the wheel it did anything but stroll.
The
moment it came to a halt the group climbed aboard, Malena paused before
remotely closing the ramp and the joined Zerrad in the back and the healer
Terrell got in the passenger seat beside his lover Shiyne.
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