So with Merri piloting and Lyris in the co-pilot seat she used the
Tornado’s four vertical take-off jumper engines, which were engaged, and the
Tempest class freighter landed softly in the space dock.
It wasn’t a huge ship as freighters go but pound for pound the
Tempests had the highest freight to fuel ratio yield of their class.
The front section comprised of a sizable pressurized hold for large
freight accessed via a front loading ramp, above which was the flight deck,
living and sleeping quarters, mess facilities and bath rooms, at the rear was
the main propulsion and amidships were the universal pod bays, which allowed
for a mixed cargo option, which allowed for quick inspection and loading, although
sometimes pods were sealed which meant it was either very valuable or very
illegal, either way Merri didn’t mind and transporting sealed cargo paid much
much better.
But this time there was no dodgy cargo so they lowered the three pods
ready for unloading.
The Tornado always flew with at least one pod but then that was
because it was where they stowed their gear and where the hidden compartments
could be found, or not, which was where they hid the contraband, or even
fugitives when necessary.
It was eight months
after Bagg and landlady of the Visitors Rest, Wisma Berita, had been an item,
and was more than a month since the Tornado had last touched down on Eikon
Minor, so Bagg was eager to see her.
It was the rainy
season and it was falling in torrents, so because of the weather it was a quiet
night in the “Rest” even for a Tuesday, week nights were normally quieter as
the Legionnaire’s from the nearby Garrison were only allowed off base on the
weekends, but that night it was quieter than usual and the time hung heavy for
Wisma as she knew the Tornado was due, well overdue to be precise, and as they
approached closing time there was only Wisma and barmaid Zydia plus a handful
of regulars.
Due to the bad weather
it took longer than usual to get clearance to land and get unloaded so Bagg was
late leaving the landing field, very late in fact, everyone was ready to turn
in but he persuaded Parse to drive him to the bar so he could see Wisma.
As they drove slowly
through the filthy weather and were about three hundred yards from the “Rest”
when something in the road caught their attention, a man was running blindly in
their direction, which given the rain was not particularly noteworthy, but this
individual didn’t look like he was running to get out of the rain, and as he
got nearer they realized that they knew the rain soaked man, it was one of the
regular customers from the “Rest”, Rowyn.
Parse brought the
Stroller to a halt and jumped down and Bagg followed.
It was more of a step
down for Parse as the Gouveian was huge in stature, stand 6 foot 8 high and he was broad
and powerfully built, his hair was short, curly and the colour of burnished
steel, ivory skin and mercury coloured eyes, and the altogether striking figure
soon had the wet man’s complete attention.
“Hey Rowyn, what’s
wrong?” Parse asked
“There’s trouble at
the bar, bad trouble, they’re smashing the place up” he spurted out.
“Alright, leave it to
us” the big Gouveian said
They got back in the
Stroller and Parse started the engine while Bagg contacted the Tornado and the
Skeet brothers said they would be right behind them.
The Stroller pulled up
sharp outside the bar and the two men decamped and ran in and the scene that
confronted them was one of devastation, tables and chairs had been turned over
and there was broken glass everywhere.
Bagg had eyes only for
Wisma and found her in the back-consoling Zydia.
Parse mean while
perused the damage and a few minutes later the Skeets came through the door weapons
in hand and after surveying the scene Lyris said
“Holy war”
“Nothing holy about
this mess” Parse said just as Bagg reappeared
“Everyone ok?” he
asked, and Bagg gave a reassuring nod and said
“Zydia’s a bit shaken
up but Wisma’s fine”
Bagg looked around
“I’ll call the
Prefects” Parse said,
“Wisma doesn’t want to
report it” Bagg replied
“Why?”
“Firstly there isn’t
much point, they’ve long gone anyway and the girls said they didn’t go anywhere
a customer couldn’t go, so there’s no evidence to be had” Bagg said “but mainly
she doesn’t want any record of an incident that could cause the Legion to make
the bar “off limits””
Parse nodded his
understanding, and knew they would have to take matters into their own hands,
then he said
“Have you got a
recorder on you Lyris?”
“Yes” he replied
“Ok get images of
everything and you and Zerrad can speak to everyone that was in the bar, and
old Rowyn, he’s the one that alerted us” Parse said and they both nodded
When they had finished
Zerrad took Zydia home and when he returned he found Wisma, Bagg and his
brother Lyris had made significant inroads in clearing the mess, so Zerrad
slipped off his coat and joined them, and when everything was shipshape they
all sat down and had coffee.
“So, what happened?” Parse
asked, “What set them off?”
“Four men against two
women and a handful of old soaks, not very brave were they?” Bagg mused
“They wanted
protection money” Wisma said “and I said no”
The four of them were
visibly shocked, and the Parse asked
“They demanded money? Out
of the blue?”
“Not really, two of
them came in last week, but I thought they were just chancing their arms
because I was a woman” she said.
“So, I thought no more
about it”
“Why didn’t you say
something?” Bagg asked
“I really didn’t think
they were going to do anything, if I had I would have told you, I’m not a
fool” she replied and Bagg held her hand
“Attempting to get
protection money from a bar frequented by Legionnaires is very bold” Lyris said
“Or very stupid” Zerrad
pointed out
“Unlikely to be locals”
Bagg said
“They must be “off
worlder’s” trying their luck”
“That seems most
likely” Parse agreed
“They smashed up the
place, so I would know they were serious, they’ve given me two days” Wisma said
“They’ll be in for the
money after closing on Thursday night”
“Well we’d better make
them welcome then” Parse said
“Indeed, we will” the
Skeets added
“What are you going to
do?” Wisma asked
“Well first of all we
need to get to the Tornado and speak to Merionwen, because if anyone can come
up with a fool proof plan she can” Bagg said
“I don’t want anyone
getting hurt on my account” Wisma said
“No one will get hurt”
he reassured her “Merri is good at this stuff”
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