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.

The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 06 – The Skeet Brothers

 

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 for 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 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 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.

And finally 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.

 

For Zerrad it didn’t matter how beautiful Merri and Shiyne were, he had eyes only for Malena and he knew she was Obgaron and was not really as she appeared to him but he didn’t care, he didn’t love her because she was beautiful he loved her because she was kind, gentle and a voice of reason in a turbulent world.

But nothing ever came of his infatuation, because he was far too shy to press his suit, so he just enjoyed her company on the occasions when they were both on the ground at the same time and she filled his thoughts all the time they were apart, not an altogether sustainable situation which is probably why the universe intervened.

 

It was ten years after they left their agrarian home world of Shax in the Shaxson system and four since they arrived in the Cammaratian system and it had suited them very well because it was one of the few remaining neutral zones left in the known galaxy and it bordered 11 other systems, all much busier and more populous than itself so it was in effect a short cut, a rat run between systems with the advantage of far less stringent border controls, ideal for those either in a hurry or more likely those transporting contraband which the Skeets had often been known to do.

Using the Cammaratian routes however was not without risk, which was because of the lack of scrutiny of the system by the Legion and the Mehreen empire, those choosing the less high profile route were left vulnerable to the other inhabitants of the neutral zone “Scav Raiders” which were in essence little more than pirates, so no one entered the system unarmed unless they were in convoy or had the benefit of speed and the Omega class Phoenix certainly fell in that category.

The other reason it was used so readily despite the perils was because it gave the merchant men easy access to the star gates beyond the frontiers, which in turn accessed the lucrative trade routes through hyperspace.

The Phoenix would occasionally travel in a convoy but more often than not they pressed on alone and trusted to Lyris’s instincts which hadn’t let them down before.

They were quick and they knew the most likely spots where they might be vulnerable and avoided them, which was normally enough.

But no one was completely safe even their friends on the Tornado which was fast enough to out run most of the predatory pirates and certainly out gun them with the twin Pulsar Lasers at the front and a rear facing Plasma cannon, got scragged by a posse of raiders and had been grounded with engine problems for three months.

Which was why Lyris chose the safer route of passing close to Zandros on his way back to Alwi, which was regarded by everyone as a safe passage, a milk run even, so they saw no danger.

They were making good time and Zerrad had allowed his mind to wander to an occasion time when he could spend some time with Malena and then it happened, a photon mine detonated off the port side and disabled one engine.

“What the fuck!” Ly cursed “Where did that come from?”

“More to the point why is it here?” Zerrad asked

“It’s probably just a stray” Lyris retorted optimistically but Zerrad wasn’t so sure

“Maybe” he said and studied the scanners looking for more.

“It must have drifted towards Zandros and got caught in its gravitational field” Lyris added trying hard to convince himself but failed, and Zerrad was even less inclined to that notion, and he was right to be sceptical as at that precise moment three Scav Raider craft appeared on their long range scanners.

“We’ve got company” Z said

“Three bogies closing in fast”

“We’ll never outrun them with one dead engine” Ly pointed out

“Hit the beacon and send out a mayday”

With that said Zerrad sent out the distress call as Lyris tried to put some distance between them and their attackers and he managed to keep out of range of their guns for about ten minute before they were caught and they felt the first Pulsar strikes on the hull which were followed by strike after strike.

“Are you sure there’s only three of them?” Lyris asked as he tried to squeeze every last ounce of power from the engines, but they received repeated hits however they were still maintaining forward momentum and had sustained a lot of damage by the time help arrived and they were still taking fire from two of their assailants while the third was trying to latch on to the hull in preparation to breach.

They weren’t aware of it at the time that the help was in the form of the Tempest Class Freighter, Tornado, and they didn’t even know it was there until one of the Raiders, which was circling around to attack again was taken completely by surprise with a sustained targeted strike from the Tornado’s twin Pulsar Lasers which tore a gash along the ships port side and a few seconds later it exploded into a flaming patch of debris.

“It looks like help has arrived” Lyris exclaimed

“It’s too late” Zerrad retorted “They’ve broken through”

In response Lyris killed the engines and drew his Laser and said

“We’d better go and introduce ourselves to our guests”

The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 05 – Under Attack

 

The Tempest Class Freighter Tornado closed the distance between themselves and the Phoenix in about ten minutes and they discovered they were correct in their assessment of three attackers.

The Phoenix had sustained a lot of damage but was still maintaining forward momentum but was still taking fire from two of its assailants while the third was trying to latch on to the hull in preparation to breach so Merri prepared to engage.

The Tornado was armed with the twin Pulsar Lasers at the front and a rear facing Plasma cannon so she opened comms to the engine room

“Pulsat, stand by on the Plasma cannon”

“Yes captain” he replied

The Plasma cannon was a useful weapon and was powered by the spent Plasma which was the waste product from the Plasma Turbine Pyroclast Engines.

It was useful because it was a very unpleasant material which normal had to be vented into space within the gravitational field of a star to dispose of it safely but the Plasma cannon disposed of it in small bites while punching a whole through any would be attackers.

The twin Pulsar Lasers were nowhere near as powerful but they were rapid firing and deadly accurate.

They took the first raider completely by surprise and the sustained targeted strike tore a gash along the ships port side and a few seconds later it exploded into a flaming patch of debris.

 

The second raider would not be as easy as they had lost the element of surprise and as they very soon had a raider on their tail.

Merri opened the comms again

“We have a bandit on our six Pulsat, splash him with Plasma”

“Yes Captain” he replied and opened fire immediately and on the third pulse the raider was splashed.

By the time they returned to the Phoenix the third raider craft had anchored to the hull.

“Damn it looks like they’ve breached already” Merri said “We’re too late”

“They’ve stopped broadcasting the mayday” Malena said sadly

“That’s that then” Merri added gravely

“Let’s blow them to hell” Malena said

“My thoughts exactly” Merri said turning onto an attack vector

“Pulsat the freighter has been taken, we’re going to splash their prize” Malena said “Stand by with the canon”

“Ok”

“Going in now, targeting the fuel pods” Merri said “Here we go”

“Stop!” Malena shouted “an escape pod has just launched”

“Where? I can’t see it”

“Starboard side” Malena confirmed and added “That’s not helpful it means they’re heading for Zandros”

“I’m guessing it wasn’t by choice” Merri said gravely

“Choice or not, it’s too close to Zandros, get after it before it burns up entering the atmosphere”

“Ok, go and depressurize the main cargo hold and prepare to deploy the magnetic grapple”

 

Malena rushed down the companionway, ordinarily she was a very calm and collected being, but she found that the jeopardy of the situation was palpable 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.

Her 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.

“Decompression complete” she announced “lowering ramp and Deploying grapple array”     

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.

In essence it was a huge winch with an Electromagnetic pad at the end of an ultra-light and supremely strong alloy cable and it was launched much like a harpoon at a poor unsuspecting whale.

By the time the array was in situ the door was fully open and Malena was at the control panel and could see her target on the screen in front of her and using a joy stick she was able to aim the grapple.

Merri had closed the distance as much as she could but there was still a distance between them and a large margin of error to go with it.

“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

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 angel 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.

As soon as the pad made contact, if it made contact, the electro magnet would activate immediately and as soon as it had a solid connection, Malena could engage the winch and Merri could decelerate and halt the life pods progress towards death and destruction.

But the wait for that to happen 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.

“Contact” she 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?” she asked

“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.

The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 04 – Malena Endia

 

Although she didn’t show it Malena Endia was very relieved when Pulsat Rad announced in the mess hall “Engines fixed”

She had been a part of the Tornado’s crew for many years and felt at home and the thought that she would have to leave the comfortable cocoon she had inhabited for so long terrified her, she knew that Merri had been worried about it for weeks but she never shared her fears, not with Merri at any rate, and she didn’t have to with Shiyne as she was a telepath.

 

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 planets 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 every one they could lay there 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.   

 

Over the years, as the Tornado plied its trade, crew members came and went but she remained loyal to the Strong’s and in the three years following Ben Strong’s death the bond between Malena and Merionwen strengthened and she loved her like a best friend, mother and a sister.

When she knew the 9 year old Merri she was indeed old enough to be her mother and now appearance wise at any rate they were the same age.

 

The relief was palpable among Merri, Malena and Shiyne, the day after Pulsat and Vanzyl had repaired the engines, and there was a distinct air of optimism on the Tornado with two new engineers aboard and even better than that, Visitor Parham had joined the crew, and he could cook.

And as their departure from Alwi was now expected in the following few days 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.

 

Merionwen took the ship effortlessly out of the atmosphere and into space and then said

“Well so far so good”

“Yes but we need to go a bit speedier than that if we’re going to cross the system without being trashed by raiders” Malena pointed out

“We had better put the pedal to the metal then” she retorted and flicked on the comms to the engine room

“Pulsat I’m about to put the engines through their paces, let me know if there are any problems”

“Engines good” Pulsat said

“I know, but let me know, if engines bad” Merri said

“Engines good” Pulsat repeated and she rolled her eyes

“Ok here we go” she said and slowly accelerated

“Wow they’ve never been that smooth before”

“Everything’s good on the monitors” Malena said

“Give them some more”

So Merri smoothly took them up to maximum speed and they ate up the space as they left Alwi and headed towards Aragon which was the planet that Alwi orbited.

“Engines good” Malena said and they both laughed

 

They spent the next hour putting the Tornado through speed and manoeuvring trials in their small corner of the Cammaratian System, which was of was moderately sized, comprising of 7 planets and some seventy moons, only one of the planets was an M class, Lazarion, the fourth planet, all of the others were either gaseous, volatile or just plain unpleasant.

There were various mining operations in the system mainly on the numerous moons, the largest of which was on Alwi the fourth moon of the seventh planet Aragon.

The trials passed largely in silence until Merionwen said

“It is so nice to get back out into space”

“You mean it’s nice not to have to swear at the engines” Malena said and laughed

“Very funny” Merri retorted and then Malena noticed some unusual readings on the monitors

“I’m picking up something on the long range scanners” she said

“What exactly?” Merri asked

“I don’t know, get us a bit closer and I might be able to identify it, head towards Zandros”

“Ok here we go” she said and made a bee line for the coordinates Malena gave her, which was in close proximity of the second planet in the system and a few minutes later she added

“It’s a distress call, a freighter, a Scav Raider attack”

“How many?”

“Two for sure, maybe three” Malena replied

“Any ID on the freighter?”

“Only that it’s an Omega class”  

Omegas were very common freighters less than half the size of the Tornado and were unarmed so with three raiders attacking them they were in deep trouble so Merionwen squeezed every ounce of power from the engines and then a few minutes later Malena said

“Oh no”

“What? What?” Merri snapped “What is it?”

“It’s the Phoenix” she replied gravely as they knew the Phoenix well and the Skeet brothers who owned it.

“Shit” Merri said

Apart from being in the same trade and often competing for cargo the Skeets were friends, so it was a bit of a shock.

“We had better go and rescue your boyfriend”

“He’s not my boyfriend” Malena said

“Not for the want of it on his part” Merri pointed out “Or yours”

“Don’t exaggerate” Malena snapped although she could not deny the truth of it to herself.

She really liked the younger brother Zerrad but she had long since decided that there could never be any kind of a relationship for a number of reasons and although she was attracted to Zerrad she saw no reason to change her policy. 

Apart from the fact they were on different freighters and their paths didn’t cross more than a handful of times a year, she was sixty years older than him and a different species entirely.

He was attracted to 28 year old slender brunette and not her natural Mercurial form of liquid silver glass.

But regardless of her misgivings she still found herself thinking

“I hope we can get there in time”