Saturn VI
Iced water Titan
Largest Moon of Saturn
Dense Orange sphere
A planet like moon
Iced water Titan
Saturn VI
Iced water Titan
Largest Moon of Saturn
Dense Orange sphere
A planet like moon
Iced water Titan
After an enjoyable and surprising Eastertide Festival on
Marikya
the Tornado returned Bagg’s brother, Trebreh, his wife Xandra, and her brother Ale, along
with Duff Tarver and his wife Chani to the peaceful agrarian settlement of
Montrose on Eirkos, and then proceeded to Soman to pick up a load for delivery
to Eikon Minor.
After delivering the three pods of freight to the
Legionnaires Garrison they returned Wisma Berita to the Visitors Rest which was
the bar she owned in Gipki, then with all their passengers returned to their
homes, the Tornado returned to plying its trade in the Eikon Cluster.
The system was known as the Eikon Cluster due to the
high number of M class planets and moons in the Eikon solar system, they could always rely on an abundance of
work with Golbolt Interstellar, based on the moon Soman, and the main reason for that was that the
Operations Manager was Oshwin Lemik and he fought against the Legion in the
Shaxson War along with the Skeet brothers, they as pilots and Oshwin as
Logistics Commander.
From the moment they were reacquainted, the Tornado
got as much work as they wanted and regularly ran between Eikon Major and
Minor, Eirkos and its moons, Soman, Rekar and Marikya, and neighbouring
planet’s, Achrem and Zenden as well as Zenden’s moon, Linden, plus a host of
other smaller moons and asteroids.
In the time they
had been in the Eikon Cluster they had familiarized themselves with the planets
and moons they visited and had cultivated great friendships along the way, and
in the months that followed their Sojourn to Marikya they delivered their cargo to every planet, moon and asteroid in every
corner of the system with barely a moment’s respite.
Until after almost nine months of continuous toil Merri exclaimed
“We need a vacation!”
She was on the flight deck, sitting in the left seat
with the huge framed figure of Parse Sacrod stood behind her with a hand on
each shoulder, the Tornado’s second in command Malena Endia was in the co-pilots
chair and Shiyne was at the nav panel.
They were in a holding pattern on approach to Eikon
Major following a Leviathan
tanker, which was going painfully slowly, and it was as she
looked out through the glass at the arse end of a Leviathan when she made her
exclamation.
“We need a vacation!”
“Yes, that would be nice” Shiyne said
unenthusiastically, she had made the Vacation statement countless times before
and they never got one, so they had no reason to think this time was any
different, they had short breaks of course like the one on Marikya, but not a
proper holiday.
“I’m serious, we really need a vacation”
“We agree” Malena said “But that doesn’t mean we’ll
get one”
“Why not?”
“Because you always say you need one and then another
job comes up and then bang goes the vacation” Shiyne replied
“Well we’re having one” Merri said indignantly “Get
everyone in the mess room once we’ve unloaded”
“Aye, aye Captain” Malena said and threw a salute
The Tornado wasn’t a huge ship as freighters go,
especially compared to a Leviathan or a Gargantuan, 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.
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, but not so much in recent years, they had
even toyed with the idea of doing away with the “special” pod, but couldn’t
bring themselves to do it.
Once on the
surface the Tornado dropped their cargo pods, which were driven away, and then
the ground crew maneuvered the three loaded pods into position for the return
trip.
Once the Pods were
in place Merri lowered the Tornado to secure them and then lowered the front
ramp, so the remaining smaller freight could be unloaded.
There were only
four small pieces for the return so once they were aboard and the manifests had
been checked and signed they closed the door and as they had three hours until
they could take off again, Merri called the meeting.
Lyris was the last
to arrive in the mess and Merri said
“Good of you to
join us”
“I thought it was
just the usual scones and coffee, or is there a special occasion?”
“Yes, there is and
that’s because we all need a vacation” she replied, and her remarks were met
with a chorus of derision
“Not that old
chestnut” Lyris said
“We’ve heard all
this before” Asti added
“You always talk
about a vacation but that’s as far as it goes” Zerrad chimed in
Even Pulsat and
Vanzyl were emanating unsympathetic noises so she asked
“What about you
Bagg?”
“Well we have been
here before” he replied “and we probably will be again”
“Oh, is that
right, well let me tell you this, I’ve already contacted Oshwin and told him to
clear us a fourteen-day window so what do you think of that?” she said, and a
happy murmur spread around the room.
“That’s made you
change your tune” she said, and they all took it in turns to kiss her and say
thanks.
“Well I suggest
you all start making plans” she said trying to keep her composure and then
added “and now I will have pancakes”
The whole mood
aboard had changed, and the mess room was buzzing with excited chatter as they
made their plans while Bagg fed them freshly made pancakes.
Merri checked the time and after finishing her
mouthful she said
“Our departure time is approaching, so it’s time to
prepare for take-off, Lyris you’ve got the left seat, Asti co-pilot, and I’ll
be up when I’ve had more pancakes”
There was a lot of
discussion among certain members of the crew as to how exactly they would spend
their holiday, but not so much for others, as Bagg would spend it with Wisma
and along with the two engineers, Pulsat and Vanzyl, go to the peaceful
agrarian settlement of Montrose on Eirkos, where Bagg and Wisma could enjoy two
perfect weeks with his family, brother Trebreh, sister in law Xandra, her
brother Ale and friends Duff and Chani Tarver.
For the engineers
the time would be a little less peaceful but nonetheless enjoyable as they
would be run ragged entertaining the village children, or “small humans” as
they called them, Pulsat running and chasing them in the meadows and Vanzyl swimming
with them in the lake.
For the rest of
the crew however, as much as they loved Montrose and the people, had something
a little more adventurous in mind, they would obviously spend a day or two
enjoying their warm hospitality, but the bulk of their holiday would be spent
elsewhere, the problem was where.
Merri, Malena and the
Skeets wanted some adrenalin fueled fun, and although Shiyne would also enjoy
that, she and Terrell also enjoyed cultural centers, where museums, art
galleries, sculptures and antiquities would keep them enthralled, an activity
to be made all the more enjoyable as they were doing it with each other.
Asti was looking
for luxury and pampering, while Parse Sacrod primarily wanted to play some
sports, but they all wanted to spend the vacation together.
So, they looked
for common ground and in addition to their first choices, they all liked to
dance, they all liked to drink, and they all loved to gamble, so in the end it
was an easy choice, The Clarissoss Resort City on Eikon Major.
With Luxury
Hotels, casinos, bars, clubs, and restaurants, sporting facilities to suit
every taste, located close enough to the wilderness for the adventurous types
and only an hour’s shuttle ride away from Eikon
Major’s Capital City, Rendon where those of a more cultural bent could indulge
themselves to their hearts content.
During their time in the Eikon Cluster, they had heard
a lot about Clarissoss, but they had never been, in fact the closest they had
got to it was the capital, Rendon.
Malena Endia was from Obgaron Prime in the Alandis system which was now deep in the heart of the Mehreen Empire, though she, like many of her species, fled into Legion territory after their world was invaded, but many of her kind died after the invasion and she wasn’t sure exactly how many were left because they weren’t easily recognized as they were a race of shape shifters.
The Mehreen were a brutal regime who conquered world
after world without warning, either for tactical and strategic reasons or for
want of the planet’s resources, but in the case of Obgaron Prime there was no
strategic value and it was poor in minerals and Orr, their destruction was for
a very different reason altogether, fear.
The mighty Mehreen Empress feared the Obgaron because
of a long-held prophecy that the Empire would been brought down by beings who
could transform themselves into Mehreen High Councillor’s and seize power
unnoticed, so they thought those beings were shape shifters, so they
slaughtered everyone they could lay their hands on without mercy.
The Obgaron were a peaceful insular people who had had
minimal exposure to the universe outside their own system so the majority of
the inhabitants weren’t fearful of an impending invasion.
Malena however was not among them and fled, stowing
away on a deep space exploration vessel with a few of her like-minded people
and slipped through the Mehreen net by transforming.
Though she could change form at will she could only transform
into a being she had touched.
Only the briefest moment was required and then it was
in her memory banks and could be recalled whenever required.
But that need to touch a subject in order to shift
cost many more lives during the invasion among the Obgaronian’s who had no
suitable form to shift into to when the time came, in order to evade the
Mehreen hordes.
The form Malena took was that of a 27-year-old human
whom she met on a remote mining colony when she first entered Legion space,
that was more than 20 years earlier and she still looked exactly the same.
It was on another mining planet 12 months later that
she first met Ben Strong and joined his crew aboard the Tornado where she
quickly proved herself to be invaluable, firstly as just one of the crew but
she soon showed a natural gift for navigating and she also excelled as a nanny
to 9-year-old Merri.
But in all that time she had never once seen or even
heard of another Obgaron, which was why when Terrell injected the errant Sister, dispatching
her with a jab to the neck so she crumpled to the floor, and she transformed
from the Sister dressed in traditional white habit with the face of a human,
shimmered and faded to be replaced by a very different Mercurial form of liquid
silver glass, she was stunned.
“My God she’s Obgaron” Malena said and sunk to
her knees, as did the other sisters, and then rest of the Tornado crew appeared.
“I’ll get the
Prefects” Parse said
“No, please,
not yet” Malena pleaded “I need to talk to her first”
Never have spoken to or seen another Obgaron in over twenty years she couldn’t
hand her over to the Prefects without a word.
The Sisters
temporarily closed the Chamber and locked the doors leaving the two Obgaron
alone inside, the rest of the crew were anxious, no more so the Zerrad Skeet,
but Shiyne kept up her own line of communication going.
“What if the
Sister changes into some Dragon thing?” Zerrad asked
“Then Malena
will change into a bigger one” Lyris retorted
“What’s your
name?” Mal asked the Sister who had now returned to her human form
“Sister
Tabatha” she replied
“You’re real
name”
“That is my
Church name” she insisted
“Very well”
Malena said and instantly transformed into her natural state and said
“My name is
Malena Endia, what’s yours?”
This made
Sister Tabatha gasp and prompted her to change as well
“Amota Tricona”
she said “I thought I was the only one left”
“Have you never
seen another of our kind either?” Malena asked and Amota shook her head
“The Sisters
took me in more than twenty years ago and I have stayed with them ever since”
she explained “I would have died if not for them”
“And they have
you steal for them in return” Malena said
“No, no, they
didn’t know” she replied “I did it to repay them for their kindness to me, I
told them they were donations, and they didn’t know I wasn’t human”
“Very noble,
but it’s still theft” Mal pointed out
“But I only
take from the wealthy” Amota said defensively
“I don’t take
anything they can’t afford to lose”
“But you have
taken precious things, not precious because of their value but of the sentiment
attached” Mal explained “Irreplaceable things”
“I didn’t think of
that” Amota said “I’m sorry”
“So where are the
things you took today?” Mal asked
“Over here” she
replied and led Malena into a dingy corner and opened a cupboard.
“I’m looking for
an Androsin Gold bracelet with an intricate design inlaid
with platinum and a handcrafted leather bag” she said “Both taken today”
It only took Amota
about a minute to locate the two items and hand them over
“What happens
now?”
“I don’t know” Mal
replied “Under the law you should be handed over to the Prefects, that’s what
we intended before I knew you were you, so now I don’t know”
“What will the
Prefects do to me?” she asked
“I suppose it
depends on the Sisters, and if they will speak in your defense” Malena replied
and Amota’s shoulders slumped and when they did Mal closed her eyes and said
“done” in her head.
Shiyne gave the
signal and they all walked towards the door where Visitor Parham had been in
deep conversation with the Mother Superior.
“We can go in now”
Shiyne said
“Ok, but I need to
talk to you all first” Bagg said
“We are not going
to hand her over to the Prefects” Bagg said
“What?” Parse
exclaimed
“The Mother
Superior will send Sister Tabatha on their next transport, to one of their
closed orders, away from the faithful” Bagg said “That will be punishment
enough”
“What about the
stealing?” Parse asked
“Stop thinking
like a policeman” Bagg said “She wasn’t doing it for personal gain”
“What about the
bracelet?” Lyris asked
“Malena has it,
and the old ladies’ bag” Shiyne announced
“I think it’s the
best solution” Bagg said “I’m sure Malena will agree”
Malena was visibly
relieved when Bagg told her what had been decided, Amota would have been little
more than a girl when she fled her home world, and she believed she was merely
repaying the Sisters for their kindness.
The Sisters didn’t
care that she wasn’t human, and she would always be Sister Tabatha to them and
Malena knew she would be safe in a closed order.
A month later
Malena had Zerrad fly her back to Marikya in the Spider Hawk when it was time
for Amota to leave so she could say goodbye.
“Do you think we
are the only two Obgaron left?” Amota asked
“If I’d been asked
that a month ago I would have said I was the only one” she replied “but now I
know there are two of us so I suspect if there are two then there are a lot
more, we are very good at hiding, but we must stay hidden, because the Mehreen
still want to kill us”
They stood on the
landing field at the foot of the loading ramp and embraced
“We will see each
other again” Malena said “So stay safe”
“You too”
Zerrad put his arm around Malena and she had mixed
emotions
as they watched the transport lift off, she was happy
that she was no longer the last of the Obgaron but sad that Amota Tricona had to leave, but as she
stood with the comforting arms of her lover around her she felt at peace and
she knew for certain sure that she would see her again, even though she didn’t
know when.
For the Auriga constellation
Look up into the northern sky
You will find the charioteer
Between Perseus and Gemini
Merionwen
Strong, Parse Sacrod, Terrel Vorton, Shiyne, and Asti Alegionaris, were sitting
in a café across the plaza from where the Sisters of St Agnes were performing
the healing, when Visitor Parham (Bagg) walked in and sat down with them.
He had just
returned from the enclave where he had left Trebreh, Xandra, Ale and Wisma in
safety, he didn’t want them to get mixed up in one of their adventures.
“We need an old
crock” Merionwen said
“What?” Bagg
retorted
“We need an old
crock” Merri repeated and Bagg looked at her blankly while everyone else looked
grave, with the exception of Shiyne, who knew exactly what Merri was doing, and
struggled to suppress a laugh.
“Well we can’t
queue up to see the healing Sisters if you haven’t got an ailment, and the more
obvious the better” she explained
“Damn”
exclaimed Lyris
“There’s one”
said Asti excitedly
“Hold on
Princess” Parse said “We can’t just grab one at random and kidnap them”
“Trust me” she
said and leapt up “We’re not going to use her exactly”
“Oh God we’ll
all get done by the prefects for kidnapping” Bagg said and put his head in his
hands.
About ten
minutes later Asti returned with an old woman and Zerrad Skeet walked in behind
them.
“Asti you can’t...”
Bagg began
“Don’t worry
Bagg its Malena” Asti said and laughed “Merri sent Lyris to get her”
“So, who is
manning the Tornado?” he asked
“Pulsat and
Vanzyl” she replied
Malena Endia was from Obgaron Prime in the
Alandis system, which was now deep in the heart of the Mehreen Empire, though
she, like many of her species fled into Legion territory after their world was
invaded, but many of her kind died after the invasion and she wasn’t sure
exactly how many were left because they weren’t easily recognized as they were
a race of shape shifters.
She could
change shape at will, but she could only transform into a being she had
touched, only the briefest moment of contact was required and then it was in
her memory banks and could be recalled whenever required.
She could also
manipulate that memory and add or subtract from it for example in her everyday
life she chose to take the form of a 27 year old human whom she met on a remote
mining colony when she first entered Legion space, but she chose to be the human
girl and wear clothes on that form but it wasn’t necessary and that afternoon
for the mission she chose to simulate the old ladies clothes, partly in case
she needed to shift, it would have looked very odd indeed if she needed to
shapeshift into a man and he was then wearing girls clothes.
The second
reason was that she wanted it to appear that she was adorned with jewelry but
when the thief tried to steal it she would know instantly and be able to react.
The Sisters of
St Agatha were not an ancient order but her life predated Christianity.
Agatha was born
on Earth, on the Island of Sicily, in 231 BC and belonged to a rich, important
family but she dedicated her life to God as a young person, and resisted both
marriage and sex, making a vow of virginity.
Young,
beautiful and rich she rejected the amorous advances of the low-born
Roman prefect, Quintianus, who thought he could force her to turn away from her
vow and force her to marry him, but his persistent proposals were consistently
spurned by Agatha who
lived a life dedicated to God, so Quintianus, knowing
she was a Christian during the persecution of her faith by Emperor Decius, had her arrested
and brought before him, where he tried
to profit by Agatha's sanctity.
He expected her to give in to his demands when she
was faced with torture and possible death, but she simply reaffirmed her belief
in God by praying:
“Jesus
Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I
am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil”
She prayed for courage with tears falling from her
eyes but to force her to change her mind, Quintianus sent Agatha to Aphrodisia,
the keeper of a brothel, and had her imprisoned there, but Agatha never lost
her confidence in God, even though she suffered a month of rape, assault, and
efforts to get her to abandon her vow to God and go against her virtue.
Quintianus sent for her again, argued, and
threatened, but once again Agatha
refused his advances, so he had her imprisoned and had her tortured
She was stretched on a rack, torn with iron hooks,
burned with torches, and whipped and she even had her breasts cut off, then after further
dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, Agatha was then sentenced to be burnt
at the stake, but an earthquake saved her from that fate; instead, she was sent
to prison where St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds,
but later she died in prison aged just twenty and following her martyrdom she was venerated as a
Saint.
The Sisters
adopted Agatha as their patron Saint as they were already healers, though more
akin to nurses, but then like the Visitors they took to the stars and thrived.
Terrell Vorton
described them as “charlatans”, but they didn’t do what they did for financial
gain, they were essentially good, and they accepted no payment for their
healing, other than faith.
Which was why
they were so popular with the pilgrims and why there was a long queue to get in
to see them, and in the queue were Malena, disguised as an old frail woman and
she was flanked by Bagg and Terrell Vorton.
The former was
a tall and disproportionately thin figure, wearing his
Visitor regalia, of a full length pale blue robe tied at the waist with a royal
blue cord and a full length dark blue leather jerkin over the top, and he
carried a simple rough-hewn staff which was undecorated but for a carved
cruciform relief a few inches from the top, and the latter was a small stout Sciberran Healer, standing
5 foot 5, though still striking in appearance with chalk white skin, short hair
of midnight blue and violet eyes.
If they were
right about the healers, and it was by no means certain that they were, they
had no idea how many of the Sisters were involved in the thefts, which was why
Malena had two escorts, Bagg had proved himself to be very handy in a scrap,
and Terrell had about his person an assortment of pharmaceutical weapons.
One of the
concerns however was communication, as the healing chamber was a huge faraday
cage preventing any radio waves entering or leaving.
But the crew of the Tornado didn’t need communicators
as they had Shiyne and she was a telepath.
All of the Vann were telepaths, by varying degrees,
and many of them left their home world at some point to use their gifts to earn
a wage.
Those at the zenith of their talents work as corporate
negotiators or in the justice systems of the Legion.
Shiyne was a Vann with mid-range capabilities and she
could read most species to some extent, her skills were limited with the more
sophisticated or complex brains, lesser minds were easier for her to explore,
but she was more than a match for a faraday cage, so she positioned herself on
the plaza with a good view of the edifice.
There was only
one way in and one way out, so the rest of the crew took up station, far enough
away to be able to see someone fleeing but close enough to charge the entrance
if necessary.
When Malena and
escorts reached the front, they waited patiently until the curtain opened and a
Sister stepped through.
And after a
traditional Christian greeting they were ushered inside St Agatha’s chamber and
amazingly the three of them felt immediately at peace, after a few paces
Terrell and Bagg were told to stay and one of the Sisters took Malena by the
hands and led her further and began chanting, but she could still hear Shiyne’s
reassuring voice in her head and then Mal was surrounded by another five
sisters who were feverish praying, and then all of a sudden she felt a hand
grasping at what the thief believed was a bracelet.
Shiyne was
instantly aware and signaled the rest of the crew to be on their guard.
The moment that
Malena felt the thief’s touch she grabbed the arm and dragged the errant Sister
from the pack towards Terrell who had already reacted and had an injector in
his hand and took two steps forward and dispatched her with a
jab to the neck and she crumpled to the floor.
Now if what occurred had surprised the Sister
then what happened next surprised everyone else because the Sister dressed in
traditional white habit with the face of a human, shimmered and faded to be
replaced by a very different Mercurial form of liquid silver glass.
“My God she’s Obgaron” Malena said and sunk to
her knees, as did the other sisters, and then rest of the Tornado crew appeared.
“I’ll get the
Prefects” Parse said
“No, please,
not yet” Malena pleaded “I need to talk to her first”
White as Lunar light
Moonshine birds fly lonely skies
Where echoes can’t be heard
I Love Sci-Fi , but not all of it To give you a clue, I will just say That I’m in my element when I Boldly go to a galaxy far far away