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.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME (1986)

 

“Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” is a Sci-Fi Action Adventure based on Gene Roddenberry’s original creation, screenplay written by Steve Meerson, Peter Krikes, Harve Bennett and Nicholas Meyer, story by Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett and Directed by Leonard Nimoy.

 

It is the 23rd century and Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his fugitive crew, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Scotty (James Doohan), Sulu (George Takei), Chekov (Walter Koenig), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Saavik (Robin Curtis), return to Earth at the same time as a mysterious alien probe.

After trying to communicate with what sounds like whale call, and receiving no response, it threatened by its actions to destroy the Earth, evaporating the oceans, and devastating the atmosphere, so Kirk and his crew must time travel back to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with the probe, humpback whales.

But despite their extensive experiences in the far-off reaches of the galaxy, none of them were prepared for what they found in 1986.

 

A decent Star Trek adventure with an important message with all the usual faces and a few additions, Jane Wyatt as Amanda, Mark Lenard as Sarek, Brock Peters as Admiral Cartwright and the delightful Catherine Hicks as Gillian.

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”

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984)

 

“Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” is a Sci-Fi Action Adventure based on Gene Roddenberry’s original creation, story by Harve Bennett and Directed by Leonard Nimoy.

 

After the death of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) and the Enterprise crew, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Scotty (James Doohan), Sulu (George Takei), Chekov (Walter Koenig), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Saavik (Robin Curtis) arrive at Spacedock for some essential repairs, only to discover that the Enterprise is to be decommissioned.

But when he learns that the Klingons are planning to steal the secrets of the Genesis Device from its creators (Bibi Besch and Merritt Butrick), for their own deadly purpose Admiral Kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned U.S.S. Enterprise to return to the restricted Genesis Planet to thwart their enemies.

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.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)

 

“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is a Sci-Fi Action Adventure based on Gene Roddenberry’s original creation, screenplay written by Jack B. Sowards and Nicholas Meyer, story by Harve Bennett, Jack B. Sowards and Samuel A. Peeples and Directed by Nicholas Meyer.

 

At Starfleet Academy in the 23rd century, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is feeling his age where he is an instructor and his old command, the USS Enterprise, is now a training ship, but what is making him feel even older is the prospect of attending a two-week cadet cruise.

Nonetheless he seizes the opportunity to get back on the bridge of the Enterprise, however the training cruise soon takes a serious turn.

So, with a predominantly green crew and his old, seasoned crew mates, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Scotty (James Doohan), Sulu (George Takei), Chekov (Walter Koenig), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and an eager young officer cadet Saavik (Kirstie Alley) they head towards peril.

The peril in question comes in the form Kirk’s old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) who appears after years of exile with vengeance in his heart who wants to utterly destroy Kirk.

In the process he captures Project Genesis from its creators (Bibi Besch and Merritt Butrick), a top-secret device holding the power of creation itself, or mass destruction in the wrong hands.

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.