On the agrarian planet of Eirkos, the crew
of the Tornado were all up early the morning after the feast in Montrose
despite some severe overindulgence the night before and they sat in the orchard
having breakfast and talked about how much they had enjoyed their R & R at
the farm.
There was quite a bit of chatter during
breakfast but Lyris and Zerrad were in reflective mood because although it had
been over ten years since they had left their family farm on Shax, their time
spent in Montrose had rekindled old memories and they both acknowledged to
themselves how nice it was to be back among simple farming people.
The superb rustic breakfast and a seemingly
endless supply of coffee was followed by heartfelt expressions of gratitude and
a slow walk to the Stroller with Bagg and his brother Trebreh bringing up the
rear.
“We can’t thank you enough for your
hospitality” Merri said and the rest of the crew echoed the sentiment.
“You are welcome any time” their hostess
Xandra said
“Well, we might well take you up on that”
Malena said, “were not planning on leaving the system anytime soon”
“That’s very good news” she said,
“Particularly for the village children, they are particularly taken with Pulsat
and Vanzyl”
The two engineers had been the first to
leave the table as the children of the village had arrived in the orchard en masse
to drag them away, as they were such popular playmates, to play again and they
were still entertaining the children as everyone else was approaching the
Stroller.
“Talking of which, “where are they?”” Merri
asked and spotted them in the distance playing in a meadow, so she added
“Give them a call someone”
In response Asti put two fingers in her
mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle, Pulsat immediately looked around so
Asti gestured with her arm.
“I meant use the comms, but that works”
Merri said
The news that it
was time to leave was not well received by the children and there were
vociferous calls of disappointment, but their displeasure didn’t prevent them
from walking with their new friends to the Stroller and hugging them when they
got there.
When the farewells
had been all been said the crew climbed aboard, Merri behind the wheel and her
lover Parse beside her in the passenger seat, while Bagg hugged his brother and
sister-in-law.
And as the
Tornado’s APMTV, (All Purpose Multi Terrain Vehicle) pulled away there was a
lot of animated waving and more than one tear had to be wiped away.
The APMTV was
nicknamed the “Stroller” which was an ironic name because when Shiyne or Merri
were behind the wheel it did anything but stroll and they ate up the miles on
the journey back to Cranack.
When
they got back Malena remotely opened the ramp on the Tornado.
“Alright
everyone get aboard” Merri said and the crew disembarked from the Stroller and
they all walked up the ramp and then she drove up the ramp into the cargo hold.
Ten
minutes later the Tornado lifted off and headed towards Eirkos’s second Moon
Soman.
It was on Soman that
they had decided to make their base as it was the location of one of the
largest Interstellar Freight Distributors in the system, Golbolt Interstellar, and
they had collectively decided to sign up with them rather than operate as
independents and find their own work.
The main reason
for that was that the Operations Manager was Oshwin Lemik and he fought against
the Legion in the Shaxon War with the Skeet brothers, they as pilots and Oshwin
as Logistics Commander.
He
and the Skeet brothers were born on the agrarian world of 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, and Oshwin left his farm
supplies business and instead shipping animal feed and farm implements he
distributed weapons and ammunition.
When
the war came to an unsatisfactory conclusion for the Shaxson rebels the Legion
exacted a heavy retribution which led 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 any of them had much appetite for farming after all the action they had
seen.
None
of them had any 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 left the Shaxson system.
Many
of the former rebels signed on to inter galactic freighters and fled to the
four corners of the universe.
The
Skeets spent two years jumping from galaxy to galaxy until they tired of the
life, albeit a well-paid one, so they disembarked at the Exodus 9 space dock
before the Goliath departed through the star gate.
Oshwin
Lemik however stayed on and through his great organizational skills he slowly
climbed the ladder while the Skeet Brothers found life outside of the cossetted
world of the “deep spacers” but fate eventually decreed that they should meet
again all be it in a place a very long way away from home.
When
the Tornado first arrived on Soman Lyris and Zerrad had no idea that Oshwin was
also there as it was Merri who arranged the jobs.
In
fact, it wasn’t until after they had completed their first run that they met,
quite by accident, on the apron while they were unloading.
Oshwin
was walking towards a Golandan Freighter that had sustained some damage in a
collision with a satellite and was about to tear the Skipper a new one, when
Lyris was guiding the Stroller down the ramp of the Tornado.
Oshwin
spotted him and he did a double take because he hadn’t seen the person, he
thought it was for more than ten years.
“Skeet?”
he called “is that you?”
On
hearing the call Lyris turned around.
“Commander?”
he retorted then stood to attention and threw a salute
“What
are you doing?” Zerrad asked from the top of the ramp then his eyes left his
brother and found the figure he was saluting, a huge man, built like a bear,
with a barrel chest, a full beard and a booming voice.
“And
there’s the other one” he said and then Zerrad was saluting him as well.
“That’s
enough of that, I’m not your commander anymore” Oshwin said as he approached
Lyris “We’re old comrades, and old comrades embrace”
After
prolonged bear hugs with both Skeet boys Oshwin said
“I
have to go and bollock a “soon to be former employee”, and then I’m coming back
to get you two and introduce you both to the delights of my favourite bar”
During
the evening of reliving past glories and remembering fallen comrades, a
considerable amount of alcohol was consumed which almost resulted in a fight
with a group of Legionnaire’s but the resolve of the Legions finest melted away
when man mountain Oshwin stood up and looked down on them and they slinked away
with jeers of derision ringing in their ears.
So, with the
threat negated they returned to the drinking which had an on fortunate side
effect, they’d forgotten where the Tornado was, so they asked Oshwin
“It’s on Soman” he
replied unhelpfully, and his answer necessitated a call to the Tornado to get
someone to come and get them.
When Merri walked
into the bar flanked by Parse and Pulsat
“Taxi for Skeet”
Merri said facetiously
“You’re very lucky
to have such an understanding Captain” Oshwin said
“Oh, I think their
luck will run out when they set foot back aboard the Tornado and their
significant others get hold of them” Merri said
“Ah” Oshwin
exclaimed “Well if it helps you could tell them that thanks to these two the
Tornado is now on the preferred list at Golbolt Interstellar”
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