The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 12 – Planning for the Future

It had been an uneventful voyage and they were making excellent time, thanks to Pulsat and Vanzyl’s repairs and maintenance of the Plasma Turbine Pyroclast Engines which had never run so well all the time she had been on board.

In fact things were going so smoothly Merionwen had plenty of time to think about the future.

She was enjoying having a full complement of crew aboard the Tornado for the first time in 5 years and during the quiet moments she had pondered the possibility of making it permanent.

It was feasible, the Skeets where after all ship less and homeless and with Zerrad well on the way to a full recovery they would need to remedy both of those situations so she thought she would offer them the opportunity to sign on with the Tornado, providing Shiyne and Malena were in agreement before she spoke to the Skeets.

As Malena had finally declared her love for Zerrad she was certain sure she would have no objections as she liked one brother and loved the other but she still needed to ask Shiyne and as she was her Navigator she would have to work closely with whoever occupied the Pilot and Co-pilot seat so she had to be in full agreement.

So she chose to broach the subject when Merri and Shiyne were alone together in the cockpit on the late watch.

“So we’ll be at Delta 500 in less than two days” Merri said

“Yes we’ve made great time” Shiyne agreed but Merri struggled to find the words that would steer her to the question she wanted to ask.   

Shiyne was a telepath and could easily have read Merri’s thoughts but the reason their friendship had endured for so long was she didn’t use telepathy on her friends.

Because of Merri’s inability to find the words she needed, a prolonged silence ensued and finally it was Shiyne who broke it.

“What’s going to happen when we get there?”

“What do you mean?” Merri retorted

“The Skeets and the Healer” Shiyne elaborated “Are we just going to dump them off with the cargo”

“Do you think we shouldn’t?” Merri asked

“Lyris and Zerrad have lost everything, could we not keep them on?” Shiyne asked

“I was going to ask you that” Merri remarked

“Well it’s alright with me” Shiyne said

Merri was relieved to say the least that she was in complete agreement regarding the Skeets so that just left The Healer to discuss.

He was a traveller so to her mind there was no reason why he couldn’t travel with them and there was no doubt having a Healer aboard full time would be a definite plus but she didn’t know how Shiyne would feel about that.

“What about Terrell?” she asked

“What about him?” Shiyne asked suspiciously

“Do you think he would stay on?”

“I think so” she replied vaguely “I mean he might”

“You mean you don’t know?” Merri asked with surprise

“No I don’t” She admitted “I’m having trouble reading him”

“What?” Merri retorted

“But you’ve spent long enough in sickbay or at the mess table with him since we left Alwi to have got in his head countless times”

“I know” she agreed

“You could read him before we left” Merri pointed out

“I know but now I can’t” she admitted

“Do you mean that he’s blocking you?” Merri asked

“No, definitely not” Shiyne responded adamantly “I just can’t read him”

“But…” Merri began and then she remembered a conversation she had with her friend shortly after she joined the crew, when she mentioned that Vann telepaths could not read someone that they loved.

“You love him!” Merri exclaimed

“Nonsense” Shiyne said “I like him that’s all”

“You love him, that’s why you can’t read him anymore” Merri pointed out

“The Vann can’t read the one they love, you told me that”

She did indeed say that, she remembered the conversation well, but she was just passing on what she had been told, Shiyne had never been in love so she had no personal experience of it but she couldn’t argue with the logic, and the thought that he would be getting off at Delta 500 and she would not see him again had left her with an uneasy and unfamiliar feeling.  

“I do love him don’t I?” she said

“Yes” Merri agreed “So why are you still here?”

 

Terrell was not looking forward to the Tornado reaching their destination for a variety of reasons, the primary one being Shiyne, who was completely bald, had cerise coloured skin and purple eyes and when he first saw her he thought she was the most beautiful and striking looking woman he had ever seen, but since being aboard the ship he had found that there was so much more to her than mere beauty and he had fallen for the girl totally.

It was the first time since he had lost his wife that he had even looked at another woman let alone dare to have feeling for one, but he was a realist it was never going anywhere, he knew she was way out of his league but that didn’t stop him from dreaming.

 

Malena had got to know Terrell very well while she was holding vigil at Zerrad’s bedside and as her heart had been opened to love she was sensitive to its presence and she knew there were embers of love between him and Shiyne so she decided to blow on them.

“If you hurry you’ll catch her in the mess room” she said

“Catch who?” he asked

“Our pretty navigator, you know the one you can’t take your eyes off” Malena said

“I think you’re imagining it” he answered as he left the sickbay

“I think you’re besotted” she shouted after him and he was about to unleash a witty retort in response but he was suddenly knocked sideways into the wall.

“Sorry” she said “I wasn’t looking where I was going”

Terrell turned around to face his assailant

“That’s…” he began but that was all he could say as he gazed upon the smiling face of the beautiful Shiyne.

Neither of them knew quite how long they stood there staring at each other or how long they would have continued to stare had Shiyne not broken the spell by kissing him which he reciprocated and the kiss also suspended their concept of time.

And while they embraced in the corridor leading to the sickbay Lyris passed them unnoticed on his way to visit his brother

“This is becoming a bit of a habit” Lyris said to himself “there must be something in the food”

The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 11 – The Awakening

 

As Malena sat beside Zerrad’s bed she was very relieved that he was on the mend but after her three day vigil in sickbay she was

All too conscious of the fact that she had shown her hand to the rest of the crew in regard to her feelings for him and there was no putting the genie back in the bottle.

The Tornado was about three days out when Terrell Vorton decided it was time to bring his patient out of his medically induced coma.

So he sent Malena out of sickbay so he could slowly reduce his sedation.

“But I could stay and help” she said

“You need to go and eat something, freshen up and change so that when he wakes up he sees you at your best” he said

“You do know that I’m an Obgaron shapeshifter and the freshening up thing doesn’t really work for me” Malena pointed out

“Yes but you can eat and you can change” Terrell said “So go”

She reluctantly agreed and as she left the sickbay she realized just how hungry she was so she headed straight for the mess room and she got there just as Asti was leaving and tantalizing smells escaped through the open door making her mouth water and she hoped Bagg would have something inside to satisfy her appetite and she was not disappointed.

 

“So what’s the passenger’s story?” she asked as she wiped her mouth on her napkin and Bagg filled her in with the little information he had managed to glean from her over scones and coffee.

“So is she running away from her past or running towards her future?” Malena asked

“A little of both I think” Bagg replied enigmatically but the nuance of his reply went unnoticed as Malena’s mind had wandered back to sickbay.

“So todays the day” he said

“What?” she exclaimed

“Isn’t the Doc waking the patient today” he asked

“Yes” she replied suspiciously

“So there will soon come a moment when you will no longer be holding the hand of an unconscious man” he pointed out “and he might well question why the co-pilot of the Tornado is keeping vigil at his bedside and holding his hand”

“I know but…” she began

“It’s obvious to all of us how you feel about him” Bagg said “And you can’t undo that”

“I know that” she said and sighed

“So have you thought of what you will say to him when he wakes?”

“I have thought of little else” she replied “Although at first I didn’t even dare hope he would wake up, and then I have run the scenarios through my head until my ears bleed”

“I know, from what the Captain has said, that he has feelings for you too” Bagg said “if that helps”

“Thanks but I already knew that” she said “it’s not the disposition of his feelings that concerns me, it’s more complicated than that”

“It always is” he said philosophically

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go and hold his hand and watch him wake up” she replied

 

When Malena Endia arrived in sickbay wearing her smartest outfit she found the Healer, Terrell Vorton, at Zerrad’s bedside and he turned to look at her as she entered and smiled

“Perfect timing” he said “He should come round in the next few minutes”

“What will he think?” she asked “When he finds me here”

“He we think he’s in heaven” he replied and she sat in her familiar chair and leant forward and took his hand in hers and stared intensely at his face looking for signs of consciousness.

It was almost ten minutes before his eyes betrayed signs of REM and then the corners of his mouth twitched, but that was all that happened for a full five minutes until the moment his eyes fully opened and they looked straight at her before flicking down to his hand and back to her face and then he smiled and she returned that smile with interest.

While this was going on Terrell tended to him and when he was satisfied all was well he left them alone.

“How long have I been here?” he asked

“Five days” she replied

“And how long have you been here with me?” he asked

“Five days” she replied

“Does that mean what I hope it means?” Zerrad asked hopefully

“It means that I nearly lost you” she responded and they sat in silence while they contemplated the implications of what had been said until he broke the silence.

“You’re lovely”

“You know that this isn’t me” Malena said “this is just the form I took, of a 27 year old human that I met on a remote mining colony when I first entered Legion space, and that was more than 20 years ago, so I don’t look like this, and the person that I touched in order to look like this is twenty years older now and no longer looks like this herself and is probably a grandmother by now”

“You’re still lovely” he repeated

“But you haven’t seen what I really look like” Malena pointed out

“Then show me” he said

“No one has seen me as an Obgaronian for 20 years” she said

“It’s ok, you don’t have to” Zerrad said

“No I want to” she said and got up and walked over to lock the door, then she walked into the adjoining cubicle and undressed.

 

As an Obgaronian shape shifter she could transform at will but she could only shift into a being she had touched.

Only the briefest moment was required and then it was in her memory banks and could be recalled when 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 girl, but she chose to be the human girl and wear clothes on that form, but it wasn’t necessary, she just preferred it that way which was why she needed to undress before she revealed her true self to Zerrad.

And when she had done so she emerged again this time in her natural Mercurial form of liquid silver glass which was very pleasing to the eye.

“This is me” she said and his jaw dropped.

“Wow” was all he could manage to say and then after a minute or so she slipped back into the cubicle and the brunette came out and walked over and unlocked the door.

“So now you know who I really am” she said

“When I said I thought you were lovely, I wasn’t revering to the beautiful brunette outer shell, I meant you’re lovely, inside”

Zerrad said and she returned to her place at his bedside.

“So you’re not put off now you’ve seen what I am?” Malena asked

“Of course not” he said earnestly

“But are you sure about us?” Malena asked

“It’s what I’ve dreamed of” he replied

“But you know we can’t….. couple?” she said

“It’s physically impossible”

“I don’t care about that” Zerrad said

“I can feel you and hold you and that’s all I need”

Malena smiled, then let go of his hand and climbed onto the bed and lay down beside him. 

 

About ten minutes later Terrell returned to the sickbay with Lyris in tow and found the couple asleep, Zerrad had his arm around her and Malena had her head on his chest.

“Well that’s a shocker” Lyris said

The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 10 – The Passenger

Lyris Skeet awoke in the Tornado’s sickbay with a thumping headache and a ravenous hunger to find his brother Zerrad lying sedated in the bed next to him and then he did a double take when he saw the beautiful co-pilot of the freighter, Malena Endia, asleep beside his bed and she was holding his brothers hand.

“Jeez, I must really have hit my head hard”

Malena was a tall slim brunette, with olive skin and hazel eyes, at least that was how she appeared on the outside, but of course in reality, she was an Obgaron shape shifter, so in her 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 Zerrad, who he knew saw her in a very different light.

But what he hadn’t suspected was that she saw him the same way, until that moment.

 

Zerrad had suffered a Pulsar wound to the abdomen and he was alive thanks to the skill of a Sciberran Healer called Terrell Vorton, but there was no sign of him when Lyris woke up as he had gone to pick up his meagre possessions from the Ambassadors Lodge as he was accompanying his patient at least as far as the Tornado’s destination, Delta 500.

By the time he returned to the ship Lyris had made his way from the sickbay to the mess room where Bagg was feeding him eggs and bacon and copious quantities of coffee.    

“I wouldn’t have been so disdainful of your religion if I’d known the food would be so good” he was saying

“Well the way you clear your plate I would suggest that you favour quantity over quality anyway” Bagg retorted with a wry smile

Just then the two engineers walked in, Pulsat was Prinsloovian, a heavy set and had a rough bony skull which raised up like a crown which receded to give way to a Mahogany scaled brow, cheekbones and jawline which framed an ivory coloured face, and he had yellow eyes and his entire countenance betrayed his reptilian ancestry.

His companion Vanzyl was a tall slender Kesslerian who also owed his origins to reptilian DNA, but his scaly countenance was more akin to a fish than a lizard, and he had silver scaled skin, a sleek form, large opaque eyes, pursed lips, and when Lyris looked at him he could see the gills.

“Good morning” Pulsat Rad said and Vanzyl added his own greeting in whistles clicks and whirls.

“Can anyone translate what fish lips is saying?” Lyris asked

“His name Vanzyl” Pulsat said angrily and Vanzyl uttered a series of whistles

“Yes, hit on head” Pulsat said which prompted Vanzyl to make a long whistling noise followed by a succession of clicks and Pulsat snorted, which clearly denoted laughter in the former and contempt in the latter.  

“Sadly Vanzyl he was that way before the head wound” Merri said and he became very animated and exuded an array of audible notes.

“I tell, I tell” Pulsat retorted and to Merri he explained

“Vanzyl say he very much like Captain humour”

“Well I’m glad it amused you Mr Vanzyl, come and sit down” Lyris said and Vanzyl uttered a soft whistle like a plaintive flute.

 

Ten minutes later Merri said

“Right Lyris I think you’ve eaten enough for one sitting, come with me”

“No problem” he agreed “What do you need?”

“While Malena is indisposed you can earn your keep in the co-pilot seat” she replied “We have cargo to pick up”

 

An hour later the Tornado had picked up three cargo pods and Merri and Lyris were on the landing pad waiting for the manifest.

“So how long has Malena carried a torch for Zer?”

“From the first moment she saw him” she replied “But it took almost losing him to admit it to herself”

 

A small hooded figure approached them stealthily, and when Merri turned she was looking at a young woman, of slight figure, only five foot tall, with short platinum hair, ivory skin and silver eyes, who looked about her furtively.

“Are you the Captain?” she asked Lyris

“No I am” Merri corrected her

“You’re Gouveian aren’t you?”

“I am” she replied “My name is Asti”

“You’re a long way from home” Merri said

“Not as far as I’d like to be” she retorted

“I hear you’re leaving for Delta 500”

“We are” she said as she was handed the documentation for their load

“I would like to take passage with you” Asti stated 

“We don’t carry passengers, we carry cargo” Merri pointed out and turned towards to ship

“I have money” Asti said and Merri hesitated because having been laid up for repairs for three months they weren’t really in a position to turn down a paying passenger.

“Ok get your gear” she said

“I just have the one bag” Asti retorted

“Alright get aboard” Merri said and the three of them went up the ramp together.

“Ok Lyris get the door up, while I show our guest around” Merri said “Wheels up in ten minutes”   

 

Merionwen gave Asti the two penny tour and showed her to one of the two remaining quarters and five minutes later the Tornado was airborne and heading towards Delta 500.

Asti’s quarters on board the Tornado were not quite what she was used to but she was relieved to have a berth that would take her another week farther away from Gouveia so that was fine by her.

Asti Alegionaris was twenty three years old and was born and raised on Gouveia in the Dania system.

Although she had platinum hair, ivory skin and silver eyes the Gouveian’s were very closely related to humans, which was why she was hoping to get to one of the human colonies where she could settle.

She spent much of her time in her quarters, which she didn’t mind because she liked her own company, and liked to be alone with her thoughts, and during the journey she only really engaged with a couple of her fellow travellers, one of them being Bagg and that was because he was a Visitor and she was a fervent believer plus he made the most mouth-watering scones.   

And it was on one occasion when she was sat enjoying one his latest batch that he asked

“So what awaits you on Delta 500?”

“Another transport” she replied but Bagg could get no more information out of her than that, so he did the talking instead and  along with his excellent baking he also imparted some words of wisdom which he hoped would take hold in her fertile mind.

Even if it didn’t it was ok because he was a patient man and although she thought she was going to get off at their destination he had a feeling that she wouldn’t.

 

On her way back to her quarters she met the other member of the crew that she would come to regularly interact with, the tall muscular figure of Lyris Skeet.

He was coming the other way and it was the first time they had met since she approached them on the landing ground at the mine.

“Hey Princess” he said cheerfully

“What!” she exclaimed “Why would you call me that?”

“It’s alright, no offense intended are you enjoying the trip?”

“Oh, eh, yes thank you” she replied and continued on her way and he watched her all the way.

“Very cute” he thought “Very cute indeed”

He also thought she was very classy and if he was not mistaken, she was highborn, and he was more than a little intrigued as to why she was travelling on a humble freighter. 

Her manicured hands, her clothes and her jewellery all pointed to her coming from a very affluent life, a life in which she would have been used to much grander accommodation’s.   

 

When Asti had returned to her quarters she closed the door and sighed.

“That was close” she thought, did he know her secret? Had he guessed or was he just being nice.

He seemed nice, and he looked gorgeous, in fact she thought he was very handsome but she could not allow herself to be distracted by a bit of eye candy, even if he was nice.

So she decided to try to avoid him for the rest of the trip.

The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 09 – The Sciberran Healer

After spending the previous five years working his way from moon to moon, planet to planet and system to system, on ships of every shape and size, in search of something, 36 year old Sciberran Healer Terrell Vorton stood next to a Stroller on the surface of Alwi with two a companions.

One was a human who was a holy man, a Visitor, who was somewhere beyond fifty with long white hair and a short trimmed beard.

He was tall and disproportionately thin, and he wore 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.

His other companion was a Vann telepath who was a much smaller being called Shiyne, who like the rest of the Vann women was completely bald, and she had cerise coloured skin and purple eyes.

 

They were waiting in silence for the arrival of the freighter Tornado and they were all wearing grave expressions as there were two wounded people on board which was why Terrell was there,.   

He was a small stout man standing 5 foot 5, and was quite striking in appearance with chalk white skin, short hair of midnight blue and violet eyes.

Terrell was a quiet studious man who apart from medicine, loved science, and had a fascination for off world travel, although it would have remained just that had it not been for the deaths of his wife and child.

He had been on Alwi for about three weeks and was staying at the

Ambassadors Lodge, while he waited for a suitable berth, which was where he met the Visitor.

There were no shortage of offers for a Healer but in the weeks he had been there all the vessels were either going back the way he had come or were leaving Legion space for Mehreen systems.

He had managed to pick up work as a medic at one of the mines, but it wasn’t well paid and so he was eager to move on and he hoped that this might be his opportunity to leave Alwi as the Tornado was bound for Delta 500.

 

“Here they come” Shiyne said a full two minutes before the other two laid eyes on the ship despite the fact they were scanning the skies intently.

“Now I see it” Bagg said and Terrell agreed but in truth it was another thirty seconds before he actually could.  

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 freighter Captains didn’t mind as 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. 

 

The moment the Tornado touched down the loading ramp started to lower and before it hit the dirt Malena had run down it and headed towards them and shouted

“Where’s the Doctor?”

“I’m here” Terrell responded

“Ok follow me”

As Malena and Terrell went up the ramp she was firing information at him about the patients and then the new engineers, Pulsat Rad and Vanzyl hurried down the other way. 

It was their job to make sure the ship was ready to take off again the next day and as they had been in a skirmish with Scav Raiders they had to make sure there was no external damage.

Vanzyl was Kesslerian and his species had evolved from fish and he possessed silver scaled skin, a sleek form, large opaque eyes, pursed lips, and gills.

As he passed Shiyne he made a series of clicks, whirls and whistles which she didn’t understand.

So the Prinsloovian engineer Pulsat translated

“We load Stroller now?”

Although he was the only one of the crew who could understand Kesslerian he was a man of few words and his appearance was a little intimidating.

He was heavy set and had a rough bony skull which raised up like a crown which receded to give way to a Mahogany scaled brow, cheekbones and jawline which framed an ivory coloured face, and he had yellow eyes and his entire countenance betrayed his reptilian ancestry.

He was incredibly strong and looked quite menacing but inside he was a gentle soul.

“Ok” she replied “Come on Bagg, then I’ll help you with the provisions”

 

Shiyne drove the Stroller up the ramp into the cargo hold and then she helped Bagg unload the provisions, some into the galley and the rest into storage while Healer Terrell tended to the wounded men beneath Malena Endia watchful gaze, but her interest was focused on Zerrad’s treatment.

Lyris Skeet had regained consciousness quite soon and his wound proved to be superficial and there was no resulting concussion, Zerrad on the other hand was in a much worse way, and needed Healer Terrell’s very best attention and every ounce of his skill.

 

The Pulsar wound was so severe that even after Terrell had spent four hours repairing the damage he had to keep Zerrad in a coma and Malena again sat at his bedside holding his hand, up until the moment she was summoned by the Captain, so she left Healer Terrell to watch over him.

 

She found Merri and Shiyne sitting at the mess table drinking coffee in silence while the new cook, Bagg was preparing vegetables for the evening meal 

“How are they?” Merri asked immediately Malena walked in.

 

After Malena had explained to them at length what the Healer had done and the prognosis for both patients and the aftercare that would be required for Zerrad.

“I’m glad they’ve both survived” Merri said with relief

“The question is what to do now, we clearly can’t abandon the Skeets, they have lost everything, but we need the job Shiyne has secured for us”

There was no response to her soliloquy only thoughtful expressions so she asked.

“What about you Bagg any suggestions?” 

“Are you asking the cook or the Visitor?” he retorted

Visitors were a Christian sect who took to the stars with the first migrants to visit new worlds, spreading the word while seeking enlightenment, and they had established Visitor enclaves in every corner of the known universe, they even thrived in Mehreen space and they were the least spiritual beings to ever draw breath.

The difference between Visitors and the established Christian Church on earth was its spontaneity, they didn’t wait until Sunday to worship, they did it wherever and whenever it was desired and it didn’t need to happen in a church, Visitors worshipped everywhere.

But Visitor Parham had been taken aboard the Tornado as the much needed cook, but as a holy man he was unable to turn off his spiritual philosophy.    

“Both” Merri replied

“Well as Visitor I cannot advise abandonment” he replied “but as cook I can concoct medicinal broths and soups to raise Lazarus himself from only a breath from death” 

“Yes but what do we do about the cargo?” Malena asked

“I don’t know” Merri replied and went thoughtful for a moment then added “Can we trust the Doctor?”

Shiyne had read him when they were outside the Ambassador’s Lodge and found no dark thoughts or malevolence, she found sadness, regret, guilt, but mainly just a noble desire to do good.

“Yes he’s dependable” Shiyne replied and Merri was thoughtful again

“That’s as maybe but we don’t even know if he wants to leave” Merri said

“We do, and he does” Shiyne corrected her

“Ok we pick up the cargo for Delta 500 and take the Doc along for the ride, then if Zerrad is no better by the time we get there then we can take him to the hospital”

“I don’t think he’ll get better care than Terrell is giving him” Shiyne said

“Maybe not but Terrell doesn’t have access to the equipment the hospital does” Merri pointed out

“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it” Malena said and got up from the table “I’ll go and check on the patient before dinner”

“Don’t you mean Patients” Bagg said

“That’s what I said” Malena snapped and left the room

“Well I think with Terrell’s healing hands, Bagg’s reviving broths and Nurse Malena there will be no need of Hospitals” Merri said and they all laughed.

The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 08 – Shiyne of the Vann

Aboard the Tempest Class Freighter Tornado, Shiyne was the calm and passive member of the crew, but even she was very relieved when Pulsat Rad announced in the mess hall “Engines fixed”

She had been a part of the Tornados crew for several years and felt perfectly at home there.

She knew that Merionwen and Malena were very worried, in fact the latter was terrified she would have to leave the comfortable cocoon she had inhabited for so long, she knew also that Merri had been worried about losing her ship for weeks, though neither of them had verbalised it, they didn’t have to with Shiyne as 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.

In addition to reading minds she could also implant thoughts and the suggestions would stay in place longer with someone who was more intellectually challenged.

 

She left her home world of Vann in the Yucel Seran System after her father died and as he was her last remaining relative and as she had no other ties Shiyne left Vann looking for adventure and she found that in the form of Ben Strong and his crew aboard the Tornado.

Once aboard she never wanted to leave as there was no shortage of adventure with Ben and his daughter Merionwen and she was treated like family because Shiyne was that rare commodity in any crew, someone who could and would perform any task required of them, although obviously her real strength was in the role of negotiator and she was an eternal optimist.

Shiyne was small girl and like the rest of the Vann women she was completely bald, and she had cerise coloured skin and purple eyes.

The only thing lacking in her life was a significant other which was a problem that she didn’t think would be easily resolved.

Being a telepath she found it difficult when she did meet someone she liked not to have a little peak to see what was on their mind.   

Sadly their thoughts were all too revealing about their true characters so she put such aspirations behind her and focused her attentions to life on the Tornado.

But that life was in jeopardy when the Tornado was grounded with engine trouble following a Scav attack so the day after Pulsat and Vanzyl repaired the engines, her relief was palpable and there was a distinct air of optimism on the Tornado again with two new engineers aboard and even better than that Visitor Parham had joined the crew, and he could cook.

The latter was a particular plus because Shiyne liked to eat and had a disproportionately sized appetite for such a diminutive figure.

 

With the engines repaired departure from Alwi was expected in the following few days so Merri was keen to take the Tornado off world to test drive the engines and find out if their engineers had done as good a job as they thought they had. 

So with Merri piloting and Malena in the co-pilot seat and Pulsat and Vanzyl monitoring the engines, the Tornado’s four vertical take-off jumper engines were engaged and the Tempest class freighter lifted off.

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.

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, when necessary. 

 

After watching the ship take off, Clergyman come cook, Bagg went into town in search of provisions, which were seriously depleted on board, while Shiyne went to see if she could secure them a cargo.

Bagg went south on foot to the market place while Shiyne hopped on to the Tornado’s APMTV, (All Purpose Multi Terrain Vehicle) and headed north to the cargo port.

The vehicle was nicknamed the “Stroller” which was an ironic name because when Shiyne or Merri were behind the wheel it did anything but stroll, and when Shiyne accelerated away she left a cloud of dust in her wake.

 

Even on a relatively small moon the mining operation on Alwi meant the cargo port was always busy and that business attracted a lot of interest from those seeking work, cargo or passage off the moon.

One such person was 36 year old Sciberran Healer Terrell Vorton who had spent the previous five years working his way from moon to moon, planet to planet and system to system, on ships of every shape and size, in search of something, though he didn’t know what that something was, he just knew that it was not on his home planet of Sciberras in the Hennis system.

He was a small stout man standing 5 foot 5, and was quite striking in appearance with chalk white skin, short hair of midnight blue and hypnotic violet eyes.

He was a quiet studious man who apart from medicine, loved science, and had a fascination for off world travel, although it would have remained just that had it not been for the untimely deaths of his wife and child.

Their loss had been particularly acute because he was helpless to cure them despite his high regard as a Healer.  

On his world, Healers started their training at the age of 5, but it wasn’t for everyone, but those like Terrell who reached adulthood and remained in training were destined for a lifetime in medicine, but for him he was destined to be the cream of the crop.

But with the premature deaths of his wife and child he came to doubt his ability and that prompted him to leave his home world and try and regain belief in himself and since leaving Sciberras he had learned a lot about the anatomy of other species, who he hadn’t come in contact with before, because Sciberras was quite an insular world but travelling off world had opened his eyes and he was left hungry for more.

He had been on Alwi for about three weeks and was staying at the

Ambassadors Lodge, while he waited for a suitable berth.

The were no shortage of offers for a Healer but in the weeks he had been there all the vessels were either going back the way he had come or were leaving Legion space for Mehreen systems.

He had managed to pick up work as a medic at one of the mines, but it wasn’t well paid and so he was eager to move on.

Overall though after his five year sojourn he was a fairly contented person and having come to terms with his loss he was generally happy with his lot.

But as a result of his nomadic lifestyle he was no longer a wealthy person, but he had learned that life was quantified by a different measurement and he had everything he wanted, more or less.

 

Although he had been unsuccessful every day of the previous three weeks he went to the port again after work in the hope he might have a change of luck, and that hope was realized although not in the way he had expected because fortune came in the form of Shiyne.

 

It was a glorious sunny morning on Alwi, which was in itself unremarkable, as it was almost always sunny on Alwi, so that day was no exception as he made his way to the port office.

As he walked to the office, he was preoccupied by thoughts of worlds as yet unseen that might change his life forever.

Having caught sight of a fellow journeyman, Zelen, who was also staying at the Ambassadors, who was standing on the office steps, he quickly crossed the road and was brought rudely to his senses by the blast of a claxon.

So he jumped out of the way and reached the safety of the footpath and turned to look at the driver and he was greeted by a beautiful smiling being with cerise coloured skin and purple eyes who mouthed the word “sorry” which made him smile.

Zelen was watching from the office steps and thought it was highly amusing that he had nearly been turned into road kill but when he returned his attention back to the startlingly beautiful vehicular assassin she had gone and that was that, or so he thought.

 

It was at the end of an exhausting and seemingly endless round of meeting clerks, pursers, mine managers, and freighter captains that he headed back to the Ambassadors Lodge for a well-earned lunch and he smiled when he recognized another acquaintance standing on the terrace.

Even from a distance the tall pale figure of Visitor Parham was unmistakable with his long white hair blowing in the breeze.  

He was engaged in conversation with someone but he couldn’t see who it was as they were obscured by the Visitors robe but when he got closer he saw that his companion was the beautiful, if dangerous cerise skinned vehicular assassin.

“Greetings my dear Visitor” he said

“Greetings brother Terrell” Bagg responded and the two men embraced “This is most opportune”

“How so?” Terrell asked

“I’m leaving Alwi today” Bagg replied

“Then this moon will be a sadder place by days end” The healer said “Where might we meet again?”

“I am leaving on the freighter Tornado with this young woman and her companions” Bagg replied

“This is Shiyne” he added and Terrell’s eyes were immediately drawn to the beautiful girl seated at the table and he found she was even more attractive at close quarters when she wasn’t trying to run him down.

While Bagg made the introductions Terrell rather tuned out to what he was saying as he was besotted with the diminutive young Vann with the cerise coloured skin and mesmerizing purple eyes.

 

Visitor Parham, Bagg, had had a very successful morning provisioning for the Tornado and after rendezvousing with Shiyne as arranged they loaded the stores onto the Stroller and stopped at the Ambassadors Lodge to collect Bagg’s personal effects, where they waited on the terrace for a call from the Tornado, which happened shortly after the introductions were complete.

“Hey Captain, we have a cargo to the Delta 500 space dock leaving tomorrow” Shiyne said jovially as she answered her comms but then her expression grew grave

“What?” 

There was then a prolonged silence as Shiyne listened intently to what Merionwen was telling her.

“No problem I’m looking at one right now” she said in reply “We’ll meet you there, yes, yes we’ll be ready”

After switching her comms off she turned her attention to Bagg and Terrell

“We have to go, you too Doc, they have two wounded men on board, and they’ll be landing in twenty minutes”

“What happened?” Bagg asked making the sign of the cross 

“Scav Raiders” she replied

“What are the injuries?” Terrell asked

“One has a head wound and the other has a Pulsar blast to the abdomen” she replied

“And what species?” he added

“Does it matter?” she asked sharply

“Well yes” he retorted “I need to know what supplies I need”

“Sorry” she said “Humans”

“Ok I’ll get my bag” 

The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 07 – Breached

The breakthrough occurred just to the rear of the Phoenix’s starboard cargo bay so the Skeet brothers left the cockpit and made their way hurriedly to intercept them so they were unaware another raider had been splashed by the Tornado’s Plasma Cannon.

However had they seen it happen it would not have altered their course of action, because they had to tackle the intruders head on, and if they couldn’t fight them off then they would have to leave in a life pod.

They met the Raiders in the forward hold and killed three of them in the first exchange, and then another five in the resulting skirmish, but then Zerrad took a Pulsar blast to the abdomen, so Lyris threw a gas grenade into the hold which caused panic among the intruders and Lyris took his opportunity in the resulting confusion and dragged his stricken brother out through the door and closed and sealed it behind him.

He had propped Zerrad up against the bulkhead while he sealed the door shut but at the precise moment he finished he passed out and slithered down the wall.

“Come on Zer, we need to get into a pod before they blast through”  

Getting no response from his brother he began dragging him, and this wasn’t easy as he was a big muscular man and as he was unconscious he was a dead weight and they were 50 feet from the nearest pod, and that was not ideal as it was on the starboard side, nearest the planet.

However it was “Hobsons Choice” as he probably didn’t have enough time to get to his preferred option.

Lyris was sweating and grunting as he dragged his brother two agonizing feet at a time, not knowing if the cargo bay door was going to blow any second. 

“Damn Zerrad you’re heavy” he exclaimed as he neared the first life pod, and although the raiders still hadn’t breached the cargo door he was exhausted, so he hit the button and the pod door opened.

After five minutes of pushing and pulling he finally managed to get Zerrad into the pod, which was just in the nick of time as there was a loud explosion and what had once been the cargo door was now scrap metal and shrapnel filled the corridor showering Lyris with debris, one sizable piece striking his temple and throwing him into the pod, dazed and exhausted he managed to summon the strength to close the door and hit the launch button before he passed out.

 

When the life pod was spat out into space the Skeets were blissfully unaware of just how close they were to Zandros or how quickly they were likely to burn up entering the atmosphere.

Fortunately help was at hand, with Merri at the helm of the Tornado and Malena deploying the magnetic grapple and she had a vested interest in rescuing the Skeets because although she had written off any kind of relationship between herself and Zerrad as being untenable she now found that the likelihood of his impending death had left her empty inside and for the first time she was struck by the realization that Zerrad Skeet was more than a friend.

As the life pod tumbled at speed towards certain death Malena’s head was awash with emotions that she didn’t know she possessed as she began the decompression and with every passing second she wished she could speed up the process and then after what seemed an eternity the flashing light changed colour.

“Lowering ramp and deploying grapple array” Malena said    

 

The array was stowed in a compartment in the roof of the cargo hold and deploying it involved lowering it down from its storage space and anchoring it to the floor.

“Any time you’re ready Mal” she said “Don’t miss, we might not get a second chance, we’re running out of space, fast”

“No pressure then” Malena said

 

Lyris was out for the count as the pod continued to tumble but Zerrad was drifting in and out of consciousness but both men were unaware that Malena was poised to fire.

Fortunately she had an uncanny ability to calculate quite complex mathematical formulae in her head so in the time it took her to inhale a breath she had worked out the trajectory, angle, speed and probability so on the exhale she squeezed the trigger and there was a muffled boom and the harpoon was spat out of Tornado’s nose towards the tumbling life pod.

As soon as Merri saw the grapple leave the ship she had to ensure she didn’t deviate from her course to ensure she didn’t influence the grapples trajectory.

For Malena it was agony as she could no longer influence the outcome and just hoped that she had got it right.

 

For the Skeets there was no jeopardy, at least in as much as they were unaware of it, although in reality they were desperately in it.

For Malena the wait was agony, all she could do was to watch the image on the monitor coming from the grapple camera, and pray.

Closer and closer it got and the pod got larger and larger

“Come to mama” she said and then the grapple struck but because the escape pod was tumbling out of control the grapple plate struck the pod a glancing blow and bounced off.

“NO!” Malena shouted but then the tumbling that had caused the grapple to miss bought it back in the path of the floundering grapple and it locked on, and the grapple striking the hull marked the moment that Zerrad finally lost his fight with consciousness.

“Contact” Malena shouted and engaged the winch and Merri began to slow their forward momentum but she had to decelerate slowly so as not to put additional strain on the grapple cable and undo Malena’s good works.

 

It was a slow process and Malena wished she could make haste but she had to resist the temptation and bide her time, but thankfully the moment came when the life pod finally passed the threshold and into the cargo hold  

“It’s in” Malena shouted “deploying clamps”

“Ok quick as you can” Merri said and engaged the engines

“As soon as the door is closed I’ll set a course for Alwi”

“Captain, captain” Pulsat interrupted excitedly “Freighter moves”

“The engines are engaged?”

“Yes captain” he replied “I can splash?”

“No not yet” she retorted “How is it going Malena?”

“Closing the door now, and ….. Pressurizing” she said

 

When the light went green she opened the airlock door and rushed inside as Merri steered the Tornado towards Alwi while keeping the Phoenix in sight.

When Malena reached the pod she quickly found the emergency release lever and opened the hatch and took a deep breath before looking in.

“I’m going in” she remarked and she feared the worse as she put her head in through the hatch but her fears weren’t realized as the Skeet’s were inside, unconscious but alive.

“They’re alive” she shouted “They’re alive”

“Excellent news” Merri said and adjusted the Tornados position to put the Phoenix square astern of her.

“Pulsat!”

“I can splash now?” he responded

“You can splash now” she instructed “and when you’ve blown them to atoms go and assist Malena”

 

So Pulsat manned the Plasma Cannon, he and Vanzyl had been on the receiving end of a Scav Raider attack and he had never had the opportunity before to exact revenge, until that day when he raked the Phoenix from stem to stern, before he and Vanzyl made their way to the cargo hold and helped to extricate the stricken Skeet brothers from the life pod and move them into the sickbay.

The older brother Lyris had a minor head injury while Zerrad had a Pulsar wound to the abdomen so leaving only a debris field in their wake Merri made all speed back to Alwi.

 

Lyris regained consciousness quite soon after being carried to sickbay and his wound proved to be superficial and there was no concussion, Zerrad on the other hand was in a much worse way, and would need better medical attention than they could administer, so as the Tornado made maximum speed back to Alwi Merri radioed ahead to Bagg and Shiyne to have a doctor meet them on landing while Malena sat a Zerrad’s bedside holding his hand.