HUMEROUS HAIKU # 1

 

I heard about the

Claustrophobic astronaut

Who wanted some space

THE HARVEST MOON APPEARS

 

The harvest moon appears

In an Amethyst sky

The centre piece

Amidst the heavenly array

Of jewelled stars on display

Where such brilliance captivates

With spiritual delight

As you stand in awe

And imagine life

Beyond the stars

DARK CLOUDS CONCEALED

 

Dark clouds concealed

The firmament

The moon and stars

Still shone

Though not apparent

And heavens jewels

Remained, unseen

A DAZZLING ARRAY OF STARS

 

A dazzling array of stars

Carpet the night sky

Enlivening the heart

And making spirits fly

I SEE THE BRIGHT STARS HIGH ABOVE ME

 

I see the bright stars high above me

I almost feel they are a part of me

But as each one sparkles like a gem

I know one day I will be part of them

The Tornado Sojourns (5) – Chapter 5 – All Square

 

After dropping Coll at his house Lyris and Zerrad Skeet found themselves a comfortable hotel on the classier side of town.

They spent much of the next day mooching about Ditton doing not very much at all, and later in the day they sat in a restaurant and over a meal discussed what to do next about Coll.

“He’s definitely hiding something” Lyris said

“I agree, but we don’t know if that’s a murder or not” his brother responded

“Well I think there’s one sure way to find out and that’s to go and ask him” Lyris added

“Ok let’s go and see him now” Zerrad said

 

It was quite late when they pulled up in Coll’s neighbourhood, and everything was quiet, so they parked in the first available space, it was only as they walked along the alley that they noticed the front door was ajar.

The Skeets drew their weapons and Lyris pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside the dark hallway.

“Coll!” he called

 

Coll Musak heard the call just as he aimed the Pulsar Laser at Knarf, who, on seeing Coll momentarily distracted took his chance and sprang up off the sofa and launched himself at him, then he fired the fully charged Pulsar Laser, and the bolt hit Knarf squarely in the chest throwing him back onto the flexible alloy covered sofa, but because the Laser was discharged at such short range the Laser bolt went straight through the Adnarian before continuing its flight, and hitting the wall by the door just as Lyris opened the door. 

 

Lyris burst into the room and heard something hit the wall about twelve inches from his head, he wasn’t sure what it was until he saw the Pulsar Laser in Coll’s hand, then he looked at the scorched hole in the plaster and said

“That was too close for comfort”

He tried to put the fact that he had narrowly missed being killed from his mind and quickly surveyed the scene, a motionless body, the flexible alloy sheet, a Gold Watch on the table and a Pulsar Laser.

However, while he was surveying the scene his brother pushed past him and took the weapon from Coll who relinquished it without argument then he checked the motionless body for signs of life, before he turned and said.

“He’s dead”

“Good” Coll retorted

“What the hell happened Coll what’s going on here?”

“I set a trap for him, ambushed him if you like,” He pointed at the faux Gold Watch

“I lured him here with that and then executed him”

 

Lyris sat down on the vacant chair and Zerrad sat on the arm of the sofa and looked at the corpse, while Coll filled them in on the events of that evening and the previous months which lead up to it.

He told them everything, seeing Knarf leaving Sonda’s house, the call to the Prefecture, the lying, the intimidation, the vandalism and the brain tumour, right up to the point when the Skeets entered the room.

“You can call the prefects now” Coll stated.

Lyris sat in the arm chair with his head back and his eyes closed and said nothing.

“Lyris you must”

“I’m not going to call anyone” Lyris replied leaning forward.

“But I killed him, you know I did” Coll said

“We’re not calling the Prefects” Zerrad confirmed

“But you have to, I killed him, and I’m prepared to take my punishment” Coll said

“If they arrest you for murder you will spend your last days in prison awaiting trial” Lyris said

“And you don’t deserve that”

“I don’t want you two throwing your lives away to save me” Coll said

“We wouldn’t have lives if it hadn’t been for you” Zerrad said “So what’s our next move Ly?”

“We need the Spider Hawk” Lyris replied and then to Coll he asked

“Is your Runabout driveable?”

“Yes, I just keep it in the lockup to stop it being vandalised” he replied

“Ok we’ll sort things here, while you return the Runabout and get the shuttle to Rendon, pick up the Spider Hawk and the meet us….” He paused as he consulted an electronic map “This old derelict quarry workings”

“Ok I’m on my way” Zerrad said “Rendezvous in 5 hours”

 

The first hour following Zerrad’s departure passed largely in silence, as Lyris and Coll wrapped the corpse in the flexible alloy sheet which they then carried out to Coll’s lockup, fortunately it was possible to access it from his back yard reducing the risk of being seen, and they managed to get to the garage unnoticed.

Once in the garage they put the body in the back, then paused for breath.

“What now?” Coll asked breathing heavily.

“Go back to the house and get all your belongings together, you won’t be coming back to Ditton again” he replied

 

It only took Coll about half an hour to throw what he wanted to take into a couple of bags, and another twenty to gather together his most precious belongings into a third.

The three bags were loaded into the Runabout and then Lyris went back to the house to make sure there were no signs of foul play and then he turned out the light and closed the back door and joined Coll in the lockup.

“Ok let’s go” he said

A thick fog had descended which was something of a blessing and a curse, a blessing as it was good cover if you were up to no good but a curse when the people you’re rendezvousing with are unable to see the ground.

So they drove carefully away from Coll’s house, away from his neighbourhood, through the industrial district and beyond to the old derelict quarry workings.

 

They drove off the main road and followed the rough track that lead towards the quarry and continued on round to the back of the abandoned buildings, to a spot that couldn’t be seen from the main road and pulled up in a cancelled spot some fifty yards from where the Spider Hawk could land.

They had about an hour to wait before Zerrad was due and Lyris was relieved to see that the fog was thinning as a light breeze began to blow.

 

It was half an hour beyond the agreed time for the Rendezvous and Lyris was beginning to get concerned but then the comms crackled into life

“Spider Hawk calling Chic’s, come in Chic’s” Zerrad said

“Chic’s receiving Zer, loud and clear” Lyris replied

“Visibility poor, can you give me a target” Zerrad asked

“Received Zer, look for my lights” he replied and turned the Runabout lights on full”

“I have visual, coming down”

 

The Spider Hawk landed and Lyris drove the Runabout closer to reduce the distance they would need to carry the body. 

They got Coll and his bags aboard first and then opened the boot and transferred the body into the Spider Hawks hold.

Finally, once Zerrad was at the controls Lyris set the timer on a burner and tossed it in to Coll’s Runabout.

A burner was an incendiary device with a time delay which would give them time to get airborne before it went off, so Lyris got in the Spider Hawk and Zerrad took off.

They hovered just above the quarry until the burner ignited and once the Runabout was well ablaze they sped off at speed directly towards space, and as soon as they left Eikon Majors atmosphere Zerrad slowed down.

“Shall we let him go here?” he asked

“It’s as good a place as any” Lyris said and remotely opened the hold, and they watched as the alloy covered bundle tumbled through the outer atmosphere and burned up as it went.

“Good riddance” Coll said

 

There was real relief in Coll’s face as they left Eikon Major, even though he had no notion where he was going.

For the Skeets it was a no brainer, like all the Tornado’s lame ducks, like Duff Tarver and Ambor Etra, they took him to Montrose, but unlike Duff and Ambor there would be no recovery, but he would be able to end his days in peace and dignity among friends new and old, and attended by the Tornado’s healer, Terrell Vorton.

 

Coll Musak’s passing coincided with Ambor Etra’s recovery from her Pulsar wound and the Tornado’s readiness to resume its duties for Golbolt Interstellar, so it was decided Ambor could tag along aboard the Tornado until such time as Ferro Scanner returned from protective duty on Andraxis and Captain Merionwen Strong returned to the Eikon Cluster after her sabbatical.

 

 

 

The Tornado Sojourns (5) – Chapter 4 – Entrapment

 

It was the day after the chance meeting with the Skeet brothers that Coll put the plan, meant to cleanse his shame, into action, and it was a plan hatched when he got his first diagnosis at the Mission Clinic.

The first part was quite simple and involved luring the greedy and grasping Knarf Dann to his house, and he decided the best way to do that was with the lure of money or valuables.

The only snag being that he didn’t have any of either, so he had to be creative.

He spent a couple of weeks trawling street markets looking for any items that might suit his needs, and when he had acquired some suitable candidates he took them home and set about converting the drab worthless junk into shiny expensive looking bait.

Before the Shaxon war he and his wife Silia lead a quiet peaceful life on the agrarian planet Shax.

But when he wasn’t toiling on the land he indulged his hobby which was repurposing any old junk on the farm, like old farm implements and making something aesthetically pleasing from them either for their home or to sell at market.

During the war it preserved his sanity and after leaving the Shaxson system it provided him with a living.

So, once he had accumulated his bits of junk he began to cannibalise the bits from each piece in order to produce the eye-catching bait he was looking for.

The item he finished up with appeared to be an old Earth pocket time piece, complete with heavy chain, made from Gold, in truth the watch itself was a base metal trinket box, painted gold, and the chain was actually a cheap alloy also painted gold.

The whole thing looked very impressive, providing you didn’t look too closely, but he was counting on Knarf Dann being blinded by greed.    

So part one was complete, the second part involved making sure Knarf saw the bait and that would be achieved by way of an improvised meeting.

Coll knew that Knarf was a regular at the local bar at the end of the alley and was generally in the bar between six and seven most evenings, so Coll made sure he was in there in plenty of time, he was worried when he was drinking with the Skeets earlier that they might delay him.

Coll got himself in a position, so he could see through the window and spot when Knarf approached the bar, then he drained his glass quickly and made sure he was on his feet directly in his targets path as he entered, so he was stood blocking his way as he put on his overcoat.

“Get out of my way” He sneered, and Coll made an exaggerated movement to get his arm through the armhole and could see by the expression on Knarf’s face the precise moment he saw the fake Gold Watch clearly visible peeking out of Coll’s inside coat pocket.

“I’m going, I’m going” Coll said and made his goodbyes to the other patrons he had been conversing with, fully satisfied that the bait had been well and truly taken.

He knew he had plenty of time to walk back to his house as the Knarf Dann would have to stay in the bar as was his normal habit so as not to draw suspicion on himself.

Once he was through the front door he quickly took off his coat remembering to retrieve the prize from his pocket and went straight to the sitting room.

He had now reached the third and decisive part of his plan which he had pondered on long and hard.

As he would soon be dead he intended to regain his self-respect by addressing the situation of allowing himself to be intimidated by a petty crook before it was too late.

Before sitting down, he adjusted the angle of his armchair so that it faced the door he had just come in through, but was not visible from the doorway until the door was fully open, then he sat down and with his left hand picked up the Pulsar Laser from the table.

The weapon was his trusted sidearm from his time as a Corvette Captain in the Shaxon War, which hadn’t seen the light of day since he first arrived in Ditton.

He spent most of the previous day cleaning it and fully charged it, then fired a test shot in his lockup.

He covered the sofa with a large heavy-duty flexible alloy sheet that he used to cover his Runabout.

The sheet wasn’t meant to conceal the crime, he just didn’t want to ruin the furnishings for the next tenant.

At first, he thought he would just scare a confession out of Knarf, but it would never have held up in front of a Justice and he would retract it as soon as he could, so he had resolved to kill him quickly and cleanly and then give himself up. 

Coll knew Knarf Dann would come through the front door, so he just sat there and waited, he didn’t suppose it would be long, the lure of a large lump of Gold is very strong to a hardened criminal, and he was proved right, when he heard the wood splinter on the front door.

Knarf Dann had stayed little more than an hour at the bar and was now inside the house.

Coll transferred the weapon into his right hand and pointed it in the direction of the door.

What Coll hadn’t considered until that moment was the possibility that he wouldn’t come alone, but then he thought he was far too greedy to share the spoils of such an easy score.

 

The door handle turned, and the door began to move and suddenly it was wide open, and Knarf rushed in.

“Hello Coll, I thought I’d come for a little visit” He said looking round the room.

“I think you have something for me…”

He left the sentence unfinished when he saw the Pulsar Laser for the first time and started to edge backwards to the door.

“No need to rush off, come in and sit down, make yourself comfortable as you’ve come for a visit”

Nonetheless Knarf Dann carried on edging backwards then Coll primed the Laser and a feint hum could be heard, and his visitor turned white, which caused Coll to smile.

“Sit down” Coll said again, and this time he did sit down on the flexible alloy sheet.

“Is that thing supposed to frighten me?” Knarf said trying and failing to regain his bravado.

“No, it’s supposed to kill you” Coll replied coldly, and Blake started to shake

“No, please” he begged

“You don’t have to kill me, I’ll leave you alone from now on, I promise, please don’t kill me”

“Why should I spare your life, you miserable piece of Adnarian scum?”

“I beg you please don’t kill me, I don’t want to die”

“Did Sonda beg for her life before you beat her to death?” Coll asked coldly, “Why should I spare your life, you didn’t spare hers?”

“It wasn’t me, I’m innocent” he stammered

Coll was shaking with rage now, all the anger at his shame and cowardice was coming to the fore, he wanted to tell Knarf how he had stained his life, how he made him feel about himself, but the words wouldn’t come, instead he sat and stared at the snivelling creature before him and decided now was as good a time as any.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tornado Sojourns (5) – Chapter 3 – An Old Comrade

 

Zerrad Skeet brought the Runabout to a halt parallel to the Tram Stop and his brother Lyris leant out of the window and shouted

“Captain Musak! Is that you? My God it is! As I live and breathe”

The sound of the shouting brought Coll back from his self-pitying reflections and he looked up to see a Runabout parked in front of him with the passenger window down and a familiar face looking down at him from the window.

The door opened, and the man got out, so Coll got to his feet and walked stiffly to the meet him.

“Lyris Skeet you haven’t changed a bit” he said and then the two men embraced heartily, and when he relinquished his hold on Lyris he realised they had been joined by his brother

“And Zerrad too” he said and embraced the other Skeet. 

“Can we give you a lift Coll?” Lyris said

“Thanks” he replied “As long as it’s not out of your way”

“Well we don’t know if it is or it isn’t but it’s not a problem either way” Zerrad said “Come on and get in”

Coll nodded and opened the back door and then he glanced back to the bench

“Could we drop this lady on the way?” Coll asked “She only lives a block away from me”

“Of course,” Zerrad said so Coll opened the door and he and the lady got in.

“Thank you, this damp weather gets right in your bones” she said rubbing her knees.

“No problem” Lyris said “so what brought you outside in this awful weather?”

“Just visiting a friend” lady said

“Me too” Coll lied not wanting to be pitied. “What about you two?”

“We were making a delivery” Zerrad said “That’s what we do”

 

Five minutes later the Skeets dropped a very grateful Gouveian lady on her block, and as they drove away, Lyris said

“We’re done for the day, how about a drink? If it’s not too early for you”

“Ok” Coll agreed “Take the next left and there’s a bar a hundred yards up on the right”

“Is that your local?” Zerrad asked

“No, no, my local is a bit of a dive” Coll replied

 

Once they were seated at a table with drinks in their hands

Lyris said

“A toast, Shaxon”

“Shaxson” they echoed

“So, Coll how come you were catching a tram?” Zerrad asked

“Don’t you drive anymore?

“I do, it’s just that I can’t afford to use my Runabout anymore”

Coll replied.

“I only have my pension now”

The rest of the conversation consisted of small talk about the war and catching up with the years since, until they’d had a good few drinks and it was time to complete the journey to Coll’s house, and they were very soon pulling up adjacent to the tiny house where he lived.

“Thanks for the lift boys it’s really appreciated” He said as he opened the car door “And the drinks”

“We’ll have to do it again, soon” Lyris said

“Ok, thanks boys” He replied a little uncomfortably and then he got out the car after some undignified effort.

“I don’t move as well as I did, even when I haven’t had a drink” he said with a laugh, just before he closed the car door.

He said goodbye, then made his way unsteadily a short way up the alley to his door.

It was an unremarkable little house build in the days when Ditton thrived and looked as if it had stood the test of time better than Coll.

He fumbled for his door key and slipped it into the lock and having unlocked the door he went inside turning briefly to wave to the Skeets before closing the door behind him.

 

Lyris and Zerrad sat in the car and watched Coll walk up the Alley and returned his wave and carried on watching him until the door closed.

They had always liked Coll, even before he saved their lives, and it was good to see him again, and while they were laughing and drinking and sharing war stories there was no hint that he had murder in mind, but there was something he had not shared with them.

 

Safely in his house Coll turned on the heating but kept his coat on when he sat down while he waited for the room to warm up.

It had been nice to see his old comrades in arms again, he had always liked the Skeets, but as much as he liked them and appreciated seeing them, the talk of the old days had left him feeling ashamed.

 

The reason for his great shame was that he had lied to the Prefects in regard to the brutal murder of his friend and neighbour

Sonda Grarb, an elderly Orsinian lady, who lived in the house across the alley from his own.

 

On the evening of the murder he had been in his bedroom, sitting by the window reading, as it was a warm night he had the windows open wide to let in some air, but because of the uncomfortable heat he found his mind kept wandering from the text and he spent more than a little time, idly looking out through the window, he had an unhindered view of the alley and the houses across the other side due to the fact that the windows were open wide.

Just as he was about to return his wandering mind to his book he saw Sonda Grarb’s front door open, which surprised him because she didn’t get many visitors, especially after dark and she certainly wasn’t one for going out of an evening, so he was curious to see who it was.

The outside lights were off, and in the shadows, he could only just make out a slight figure, but as they moved down the path to the gate they were illuminated by the bright moon light and Coll’s jaw dropped to see it was Knarf Dann.

Knarf was an Adnarian, small wiry, almost human in appearance, but had scales instead of hair, and breathed through gills in his neck.

He was also a vicious thug, a ruthless criminal who made his living from preying on the weak.

But then to Coll’s horror, Knark looked directly at him and smiled a very unattractive smile, and then his blood ran cold as he made a sweeping gesture across his throat.

Coll was frozen to the spot, powerless to move under his evil gaze, then he turned and walked casually down the alley.

Coll was in turmoil, he knew something bad had happened, and that Sonda could be laying in her house injured, but the implication from Knarf was clear, if he said anything he was dead, so he didn’t know what to do, he wanted to call the Prefects, but if he reported it to them he would have to say what he saw.

So instead he rushed out the back door to where his Runabout was parked and then he drove a couple of blocks to a bar, from where he called the Prefecture, and by the time he got back to his house the Prefects had already gained entry to Sonda’s house and he could tell by their body language and the lack of urgency that she was dead.

The prefects knocked on his door the next morning and that was when the lying began.

 

Knarf Dann however had not been satisfied with his implied threat to Coll on the night of the murder so he made a point of reminding him whenever he got the chance during the months following the murder, and whenever he got to hear that Coll had been seen talking to a Prefect, a window would be smashed, a tire on his Runabout would be slashed, the last occasion his wipers were ripped off, he replaced them but after that he kept his Runabout in a lockup, as he couldn’t afford to keep making the repairs.

But the worst thing of all was when he just stood in the Alley and stared at his house, taunting him, shaming him.

Every act perpetrated against him underlined the contempt he had for himself for succumbing to Knarf’s intimidation, but now the worm was turning, he was dying and that he could do nothing about, but he didn’t want to die a coward and that he could rectify.

It was too late to tell the Prefects what he saw that night, the brain tumour would see him in the ground long before the case got before a Justice, it was too late for the law to deal with him, but he had something better in mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tornado Sojourns (5) – Chapter 2 – Coll Musak

 

Coll Musak stepped out of the run-down Mission Clinic and tried to think of a time when he had left that dreary building with good news, but he couldn’t, so he proceeded to the tram stop through the mist, murk and smog.

It was cold, and damp and the air was foul, the smog was so thick that it was impossible to discern where the buildings ended, and the sky began.

When he reached the Tram stop he sat down on what passed for a bench, leant his walking stick against the bench beside him and then reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a flask and put it to his lips and took a swig.

“You shouldn’t do that you know, it’ll kill you it will” A voice said from the other end of the bench.

He turned his head to see that the voice belonged to a small skinny Gouveian woman of indeterminate age wearing shabby clothes, who he had seen on the Tram several times before, but they had never spoken.  

“It killed my husband” she continued “And he was much younger than you”

He smiled and nodded then he took another swig.

Coll was fifty-nine years old, almost sixty, and he gave up drinking thirty years before when he met Silia, who soon after became his wife, and he remained tee total, even though war and grief, until a few weeks before that day when he was first diagnosed with a rare brain tumour, inoperable.

There were treatments of course but they would merely delay the inevitable, the prognosis was that without treatment he would probably see his sixtieth birthday but definitely not his sixty first, so he figured a drink wouldn’t hurt him

“I will just have to take that dear lady” he said to her and smiled.

 

Coll was a big man; over six feet tall and broad shouldered and despite his need to walk with a stick he still carried himself with a military bearing and apart from Plasma shell remnants in his leg, hence the need for the stick, and the fact that he was dying he had felt ok, an occasional nagging headache but no more than that.

He had lost a little weight of late, not a bad thing in itself he had been a stone or two overweight for a good few years, and he had felt tired a good deal which he put down to his age, he wouldn’t have seen a doctor at all but for the fact he had had an accident and been knocked down in the street by a man running from the Prefects.

But in those few short weeks since the initial diagnosis the pain had started, and it was getting worse, pain like he had never known before, even when he was blown up in the war it didn’t hurt so bad, and he was starting to look gaunt and skin hung loosely about his neck.

He thought back to the conversation he had had with the Mission Doctor, barely an hour earlier, a man who looked older than his years who smelt of whisky and peppermint and had tremors in his hands.

“You have a little time to get your affairs in order” he said to him.

“But you will deteriorate very quickly”

“Just as well I have no affairs to get in order” he had thought to himself.

He had no one to miss him or mourn him; his passing would be as insignificant as a ripple on a pond.

Silia, his wife of 19 years passed away more than ten years previous after a Legion air strike, and his only child Kered died a few days later of his wounds.

He had lost touch with the friends and comrades from the war and those friends he had made on Eikon Major were either already dead or unable to recognise him, so there were no beneficiaries of his meagre estate.

There was enough in his savings to deal with his mortal remains but no more than that.

He wasn’t scared, he was ready to die, he had had enough, his life had been almost intolerable since Silia died, lonely and meaningless, but the last year had all but broken him and he was ashamed of himself and that was something he thought would never happen, but he had allowed himself to become a victim, giving in to intimidation and what was most unforgivable of all he had become a coward.

 

After flying the Spider Hawk to Eikon Major, Lyris and Zerrad parked at the space port, then caught the Hi-speed Shuttle from the capital City Rendon and travelled for three hours to the grimy run down former industrial power house of Ditton, where they rented a Runabout.

The Skeets, Oshwin Lemik and Coll Musak were all from Shax and all fought against the Legion in the Shaxon War, the Skeet brothers were fighter pilots, Oshwin was Logistics Commander and Coll Musak was a Corvette Captain.

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.

None of them had any reason to stay when 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.

After leaving the Shaxon System they all went their separate ways, and it was just a twist of fate that they had all ended up in the Eikon Cluster.

Oshwin had been there the longest arriving within a year of leaving Shax and Coll arrived a few months later, though neither knew of the others existence, the Skeets arrived some years after that, but they had only learned that Coll was in the system after Oshwin passed on a message to them from Vinid Cupra, comms officer in the transmitter hut at the Odekka landing field on Achrem, to say that he had been drinking with some Shaxon Grain Freighter hands, and they told him they had met another compatriot in a shithole of a town called Ditton, on Eikon Major, and whilst in his cups, he let slip that he was planning to kill someone.

It was that news which caused them to act, he was clearly in trouble, and that they had to help him because they owed him, had it not been for Captain Coll Musak the Skeet brothers would be dead.

Which was why they were in Ditton, and they had been in town for three days before they tracked him down, and they were parked in the street when they saw him leave the Mission Clinic and watched him cross the road.

They knew that Coll was a proud man, so they couldn’t let on they had gone there to find him, it would have to appear that they had stumbled upon him and make the chance meeting as casual as possible.

So, they watched him walk towards the Tram Stop, then sitting on the bench and talking to an elderly lady and when he took his second swig from his flash they drove towards him and when the Runabout was parallel to the Tram Stop Lyris leant out of the window and shouted

“Captain Musak! Is that you? My God it is! As I live and breathe”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tornado Sojourns (5) – Chapter 1 – A Friend in Need

 

With the Tornado grounded at Cranack port on Eirkos for repairs and Captain Merionwen Strong two systems away from the Eikon Cluster in the Messengis System visiting Andraxis with her newly acquainted cousin Dwynwen, they were at a loose end after completing their share of the chores.

The vary capable engineers, Pulsat and Vanzyl worked on the Tornado to get her back to her best and would ultimately get her to beyond her best.

They rest of the crew weren’t idle either and took the opportunity of their downtime to get the interior back up to snuff, Terrell spruced up the sickbay, Bagg did a complete spring clean of the mess and kitchen, while the two Gouveian’s, Parse and Asti, sorted the flight deck.

Everyone did their own quarters and they all came together to do the common areas.

When the Tornado was fully functional they were based on Eirkos’s second Moon Soman and worked exclusively for 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.

It was through that friendship that Oshwin loaned the Tornado crew a clipper called Darios, so that acting Captain Malena Endia and temporary first officer Shiyne could do some local freight hauling and the clipper also allowed them to keep the supply of parts coming to facilitate the engineer’s repairs on the Tornado.

It was also through Oshwin, as a result of a conversation, that the Skeet Brothers chose to use the down time to fly the Spider Hawk to Eikon Major because they had news about an old friend and were concerned for his well-being.

 

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, Lyris was 22 and his brother Zerrad was just 19 when they left their home.

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 left the Shaxson system and signed on to an inter galactic freighter and 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.

They found life was different outside of the cossetted world of the “deep spacers” and found that most employers treated people very differently and they had a very uncomfortable 12 months working as flight crew on an Omega class planet hopper, the Phoenix, until one day as they were approaching the Exodus 9 space dock to drop off a load of farming implements Lyris made a hasty decision.

As they were on their final approach an Apantician grain freighter was just leaving and momentarily it put the little Omega on its blindside so instead of proceeding to dock on the outer docking ring Lyris had a sudden rush of blood to the head and concealed the Phoenix beneath the grain freighters starboard engine array rendering it invisible to the ship’s crew and the space docks instruments.

“What the hell are you doing?” Zerrad asked

“We’re getting the hell out of this system before this work bores us to death” Lyris replied

“Better that than being worked to death on a penal planet” his younger brother pointed out “and if we go through the gate we don’t have enough fuel to get us to the next one”

“Firstly, these little Omega’s are ten a penny so they’re not going to waste time and money tracking us down and secondly we don’t need fuel, we’ll just hitch a ride on this beast” Lyris said

“But we don’t know where it’s going Ly” Zerrad said

“Anywhere is better than here” he retorted 

Which was how and why they ended up living and working

in the Cammaratian System plying a fairly lucrative trade going from planet to planet, moon to moon and mine to mine where they worked on the margins of legality, frequently operating on the wrong side of the law just to make a living and with Scav Raiders at large they needed their wits about them at all times just to stay alive.

But although the Phoenix was unarmed it had a good turn of speed which could outrun most of the trouble they came across.

 

They were only half-brothers, but despite their differences they were unmistakably brothers.

They were both six feet tall, broad and muscular but Lyris had black hair, dark almost black eyes and a short fuse, while Zerrad was blonde, grey eyed and was quiet and thoughtful.  

 

Like many of the independents in the system they had their base on Alwi the fourth moon of the seventh planet Aragon, which was where they got to know the crew of the Tornado, and Merionwen, Malena and Shiyne were their closest friends although Zerrad secretly hoped for more in regard to Malena.

Lyris was content with friendship though, although they were all really attractive and of the right age for him they all had drawbacks, tall slim Merri with her abundance of red hair trailing behind her like a mane, pale skin, penetrating green eyes and an altogether striking appearance but along with that she was a forthright, volatile and feisty personality and that made her far too like him for them to be anything other than friends.

Then there was the smaller Shiyne, who was completely bald, had cerise coloured skin and purple eyes who he found to be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, alas though she was a Vann, and the Vann were telepaths and he couldn’t get anywhere with someone who could actually read his mind, it was difficult enough with the ones that thought they knew what he was thinking.

And finally there was Malena, also tall and slim, brunette hair, olive skin and hazel eyes, at least that was how she appeared but of course in reality, she was an Obgaron shape shifter so in her own natural Mercurial form of liquid silver glass she looked very different, not that he had ever seen her in that form or any other Obgaron for that matter, but he understood that even in their natural state they were very pleasing to the eye, but Lyris was a meat and potatoes kind of guy, unlike his brother who he knew saw her in a very different light, though nothing came of his attraction until one day when they didn’t outrun the trouble they came across, when they were ambushed by Scav Raiders, but fortunately the Tornado was on hand to rescue them, just in the nick of time, and the love between Malena and Zerrad which had been ever present beneath the surface was suddenly brought to the fore when they so nearly lost each other.

It was just after their dice with death and their joining the Tornado’s crew that Lyris met Princess Asti Alegionaris and his fate was sealed the moment he first laid eyes on her.

So, they both had a lot to lose as they flew to Eikon Major, where they parked at the space port and rented a Runabout.

The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 17 – Delivering Bad News

After engaging the Tornado’s four vertical take-off jumper engines the Tempest class freighter landed softly on the apron at Cranack and when the freighters ramp lowered the Tornado’s APMTV, (All Purpose Multi Terrain Vehicle), nicknamed the “Stroller”, followed on foot by Asti,

The name Stroller was an ironic one because when Shiyne or Merri were behind the wheel it did anything but stroll, the moment it came to a halt Asti paused before remotely closing the ramp and then climbed aboard, and as the Stroller pulled away

Malena looked long and hard at the blackened scars on the Tornado and said

“Let’s go and give Pulsat and Vanzyl the bad news”

 

It was mid-morning when they reached the settlement, and everyone was surprised when the Stroller pulled into the yard.

There first port of call was to find their crewmate Visitor Parham, known as Bagg, who was staying with his brother Trebreh, who was also a Visitor, and his wife Xandra and her brother Ale who was Bagg’s boyhood friend.

 

As they disembarked from the Stroller Malena turned around and perused the two familiar figures walking toward them, surrounded by children, Pulsat Rad was slightly shorter than the other, and the heavy set Prinsloovian was unmistakable, with his rough bony skull raising up like a crown above his Mahogany scaled brow.

He was clearly enjoying himself, his smiling ivory coloured face bore testament to that and his yellow eyes were twinkling.

His friend Vanzyl was slender and although they both shared reptilian ancestry Vanzyl was more akin to a fish than a lizard, with large eyes and pursed lips, and of course gills.

 “Good meeting again” Pulsat said and clicks and whirls began to emanate from Vanzyl which were clearly directed at Pulsat

“Ok I speak” he said, and more clicks and whirls followed

“I ask, I ask” Pulsat retorted

“Vanzyl say why you early back?”

“It’s a long story” Malena replied and in response Vanzyl made a long whistling noise followed by a succession of clicks and Pulsat snorted.

“Yes, Yes, I ask, I ask” Pulsat retorted

“Where Captain?”

“That’s another long story” Mal replied “Come and sit with us and we’ll explain everything”

The Strollers arrival had been met with mixed feelings by the children of the village and Pulsat and Vanzyl, a sign that it would soon be time for them to leave was not well received by the children and there were vociferous calls of disappointment when Pulsat and Vanzyl had to join the crew, but their displeasure didn’t prevent them from walking with their friends to the courtyard and hugging them when they got there, and the two engineers were reminded of how sad they would be leaving the “small humans”

 

After the greetings were over with the first task was to introduce the injured Andraxian, Ambor Etra, to them who was confined to a stretcher and discharged her in Xandra’s care who they knew would ensure she got the bedrest she required.

Once Ambor was settled, as she had been clearly tired by the journey, the crew told the tale of the meeting with Merri’s cousin Dwynwen, and what brought her to the Eikon Cluster, the mistaken identity which lead to Merri’s abduction and the subsequent rescue, and the perilous voyage to the rendezvous.

Vanzyl started clicking and whirling agitatedly.   

“I do it, I do it” Pulsat said to his Kesslerian friend, and Vanzyl whistled and clicked again and Pulsat snorted.

“Tornado shot?”

“A little bit” Mal replied and Vanzyl became very excitable and clicks and whirls began to emanate from him which were clearly directed at Pulsat

“Ok I speak” he said, and more clicks and whirls followed

“I telling, I telling” Pulsat retorted and to the group he explained

“Vanzyl say we must look” 

“There’s plenty of time to do that, we’ll look later” Malena said

Then there were more Clicks and whirls

“I telling, I telling”

“Vanzyl say we look now” Pulsat insisted

“Ok” Mal said in surrender

 

Shiyne accompanied Malena as moral support for the journey back to Cranack, she would have preferred to have spent the time with Terrell, but he was busy attending to Ambor.

As she approached the Tornado Mal braced herself and when they had an uninterrupted view of the ship Pulsat screamed and he and Vanzyl jumped out of the Stroller.

“Argh!” The former exclaimed repeatedly while running back and forth, while the latter stood transfixed while uttering repeated strings of whirls whistles and clicks.

It was a full five minutes before Pulsat could utter a sentence

“What kind Holiday, you have?”

Vanzyl whistled and clicked again and Pulsat snorted.

“Tornado broken, yes” Pulsat agreed

“Can you fix her?” Malena asked

“We fix, yes” Pulsat said sadly as he realised it would be some months before they would return to Montrose and their friends.

“We go Soman soon?”

Soman was where Golbolt Interstellar was based, which was where they got most of their work and 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.

Golbolt also had an abundance of hardstanding where the Tornado could stand while it was repaired.

“I thought we’d just stay on Eirkos while you fix it” Malena said

Vanzyl uttered a soft whistle like a plaintive flute, then he looked at his friend and whistled again.

“Yes, we fix”

 

So, over the next three months, while Ambor Etra convalesced amidst the gentle people of Montrose, the two reptilian engineers worked on the Tornado to get her back to her best, however they actually got her to beyond her best.

The rest of the crew weren’t idle either, and took the opportunity of their downtime to get the inside back up to snuff, although thanks to Oshwin, who loaned them a clipper called Darios, Mal and Shiyne did some local freight hauling and the clipper also allowed them to keep the supply of parts coming to facilitate the engineers repairs on the Tornado, but the Skeet Brothers used the down time to fly the Spider Hawk to Eikon Major because they were concerned about an old friend.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 16 – Rendezvous

 

The Corvette carried much more armour so the Pulsar Lasers wouldn’t be as effective even with concentrated fire and knowing the Tornado had a rear facing Plasma Cannon they were never going attack from behind so there was no surprise on the flight deck when the Corvette turned onto an attack vector that would bring them nose to nose.

 

As the distance between them shortened both vessels opened fire and every shot from the Corvette hit home hard, but the concentrated fire from the twin Pulsar Lasers seemed to have little or no effect

“This doesn’t look good” Merri said as the Taipan Corvette bore down on them maintaining their steady pattern of firing.

“She’s a touch old ship” Lyris said as another cannon blast hit home and smoke began to emanate from one of the wall panel.

Asti moved quickly to deal with the fire so missed the moment that the Corvette shuddered and appeared to move sideways, seconds before it exploded into atoms.

“Help has arrived” Ferro Scanner said proudly  

“Thank God” Merri said “But we still have work to do, Mal you take the left seat, Lyris and Zerrad check for damage”

“On our way” Lyris said

“Asti, right seat, do a roll call make sure no one is hurt”

“Consider it done” Asti retorted

“What do you want me to do?” Ferro asked

“You’d better standby for when our saviors make contact” Merri replied and almost the moment she finished speaking Malena said

“We’re being hailed”

“Right on cue” Merri said, “put it on speaker!”

“Tornado, this is Captain Monat of the Andraxian Dreadnaught Hyperion”

“Hello Hyperion, Captain Strong of the Tornado responding, Thank you for the assistance”

“I’m only sorry we cut it so close, is your vessel sound?”

“It appears to be so, yes, we’re still checking the damage though”

“Let me know if the situation changes and in the meantime follow astern of us and we’ll escort you to the rendezvous

“Thank you, Captain,” Merri said

 

Once they had fallen in line behind the Hyperion Merri left the flight deck and went down to the sickbay.

“Everything alright down here? Is Ambor ready to be transferred to the Frigate?” Merri asked

“Well she’s stable but I’m not comfortable with her travelling long spells in Hyperspace, I don’t think she’s strong enough” Terrell explained

“Then we’ll take her to Montrose where she can recover safely”

Merri suggested

“I’d be much happier with that” Terrell said

“You could go with her Ferro”

“I can’t, I have to go with Dwyn to Andraxis”

“In that case you need to tell her how you feel before you go” Terrell said

“What do you mean?” Ferro said

“He means tell Ambor that you love her before you go” Merri said “You’ll regret it if you don’t”

“How did you two know?”

“It’s wasn’t difficult, you haven’t let her out of your sight since she was shot” Merri explained

 

When they reached the rendezvous point Malena brought the Tornado to a halt above the Frigate she reported to Merri and the Captain immediately called a crew meeting in the mess room.

 

“As you all know” she began “Ambor isn’t well enough to travel back to Andraxis, so she will be convalescing with the good people of Montrose and shortly Dwyn and Ferro are transferring to the Frigate, but what most of you don’t know is that I’m going too”

“What?” they all chorused with the exception of Parse, Malena and Shiyne who she had already told.

“I’ll only be gone for six months and Malena will be acting Captain in my absence” she said

 

After all the goodbyes were said Lyris brought the engines online and with him piloting and his brother Zerrad in the co-pilot seat, he used the Tornado’s four vertical take-off jumper engines to maneuver the Tornado towards the Frigate.

There were two docking rings on the Tornado to facilitate transfers to and from the freighter while in space, one in the belly below the loading bay and the other was amidships above the cargo bays which was also the mooring point for shuttles or ancillary craft, such as the Tornados Spider Hawk.

He killed the engines and was using the thrusters to hold the ship steady and maneuvered into position then he landed softly and docked with the Frigate using the ships belly docking ring.

Once the docking was complete and sealed, Merri, Dwyn and Ferro climbed through the docking ring into the ship below.

 

After watching the Andraxian Frigate burn its main thruster and head into the distance Malena sighed and then took her place in the pilot’s chair and Shiyne said from the copilot’s seat

“Good to go Captain”

“Ok, set a course for Eirkos number one” Mal said

“Oh, I like the sound of that” Shiyne said

“Don’t get too used to it I’ll want my job back when Merri returns” Mal said

“I can live with that” she replied “Course locked in Captain”

So, with Malena in the left seat and co-pilot Shiyne monitoring the instruments the Tornado’s 4 Plasma Turbine Pyroclast Engines were engaged and the Tempest Class freighter headed for Eirkos as their Captain and friend headed in the opposite direction.

 

When they got back in the Eikon Cluster proper, the Skeet Brothers took off in the Spider Hawk from the upper docking ring bound for Eikon Major where they would collect all their personal belongings from their rooms and settle their accounts while the Tornado headed for Eirkos to be reunited with their other crewmates who had spent their holiday at the agrarian settlement of Montrose, and although they were looking forward to seeing them again, they were dreading revealing the extent of the damage the Tornado had sustained to their engineers Pulsat and Vanzyl.  

 

After engaging the Tornado’s four vertical take-off jumper engines the Tempest class freighter landed softly on the apron at Cranack and when the freighters ramp lowered the Tornado’s APMTV, (All Purpose Multi Terrain Vehicle), nicknamed the “Stroller”, followed on foot by Asti,

The name Stroller was an ironic one because when Shiyne or Merri were behind the wheel it did anything but stroll, the moment it came to a halt Asti paused before remotely closing the ramp and then climbed aboard, and as the Stroller pulled away

Malena looked long and hard at the blackened scars on the Tornado and said

“Let’s go and give Pulsat and Vanzyl the bad news”