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 over indulgence 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 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 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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