ARE YOU WEARING A SPACESUIT?

Are you wearing a spacesuit?

Good that makes two of us

Because I'm an astronaut and

My mission is to explore Uranus

The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 12 – The Concord

Dwynwen Strong and the Tornado Crew were a discreet distance from the Concord Hotel where Merionwen was being held prisoner and exchanged ideas on the best plan to rescue her for about forty minutes before Malena and Shiyne exchanged thoughts and the former said

“Ok the plan is this”                                                                               

Malena went on to explain

“Lyris and Zerrad you take Dwynwen back to the Tornado and get the ship ready to leave, which we might need to do in a hurry”

Parse, Terrel and Ferro will go with you, Parse get the Stroller equipped, you know what we need, comms and Pulsar Lasers, the small concealable ones not the cannons, Terrel, get your medical kit just in case, and then get back here double quick, Ferro, you know what you need to do.

 

While they waited for the Stroller to arrive, Malena Endia, Shiyne, Asti Alegionaris and Ambor Etra kept the Hotel under surveillance and discussed in more detail how they were going to execute the plan.

They looked an unusual quartet, Malena in the human form of a tall slim brunette, with olive skin and hazel eyes, giving no hint of her feelings of anxiousness, the tiny figure of Shiyne who was completely bald, with cerise coloured skin and purple eyes, which were closed as she scanned the Hotel again, Asti’s slight figure, only five foot tall, with short platinum hair, ivory skin and silver eyes, who was looking about her furtively, and the assured figure of the Andraxian, Ambor, with jet black hair and the typical Andraxian opaque grey green skin which darkened or lightened depending on their mood, as she was in a heightened state of excitement she was luminescing.   

 

Apart from surveillance they also started to prepare for the rescue and the first thing they had to do was to secure a laundry trolley because Mal was going to change into a Melmanc and push the trolley with Shiyne hidden inside because no one would look twice at a Melmanc pushing a laundry trolley.

Melmanc’s were a race of Dwarfs, immensely strong with an unquenchable work ethic, and there wasn’t a Hotel in Clarissoss that didn’t employ Melmanc’s.

Malena was an Obgaron shape shifter, and in her natural Mercurial form of liquid silver glass she looked very different to the tall slim brunette human, and even more so to the Melmanc she was going to become.

As an Obgaron 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 whom she met on a remote mining colony when she first entered Legion space, but she chose to be the human girl and wear clothes on that form but it wasn’t necessary and for the rescue mission she chose to simulate her clothes in case she needed to shift, it would have looked very odd indeed if the Melmanc, who were very drab dressers, was wearing her clothes.

So, the first thing Malena did when Parse pulled up in the Stroller was to go inside and remove her clothes.

 

Once the rescue party were armed they left Parse and Terrell aboard the stroller and headed for the Hotel and once safely inside they went to a quiet spot were Malena transformed.

“Ok let’s go” she said as they left their place of safety and a few moments later they had recovered the earlier acquired laundry trolley.

“What a brilliant idea” Asti said “I’m not sure even Merri would have thought of that”

“I’m sure she would” Malena said “get in Shiyne”

The Vann telepath sat in the laundry trolley completely covered by a bedsheet, apart from her cerise fingers which were gripping the edge of the trolley and the top of her head, as she peered over the edge.

“Ok get down and hide” Mal said and once she was sure Shiyne was safely hidden she pushed her towards the lift, and once she had checked that the coast was clear she pushed the trolley into the lift that Ambor had secured.

As they travelled up to the 14^th floor Shiyne had emerged from beneath the bedding, closed her eyes and performed a telepathic scan.

“I’ve got her!” she exclaimed “She’s conscious”

“Is she ok?” Mal asked

“Yes, she’s confused, because she doesn’t know where she is” she said and then she laughed “And she’s angry because she’s tied up”

“But she’s ok?” Asti asked

“Yes” Shiyne assured her

“How many people are with her?” Mal asked, so Shiyne closed her eyes again and a moment later she looked at Mal with her purple eyes wide open and exclaimed, “She’s on her own”

“What?” Asti exclaimed “No guards?”

“None” she confirmed

“What about adjoining rooms?” Ambor asked so Shiyne closed her eyes once more and expanded the scope of her scan.

“Room thirty-six is empty” she said without opening her eyes and then she smiled “thirty-two is occupied but so are the couple in the bed”

“We couldn’t be that lucky, could we?” Malena said

“I’ll take all the luck we can get” Asti retorted

“Me too” agreed Shiyne

“Ok then get going before they get back” Ambor urged

 

The plan was for Malena, as a Melmanc, to push Shiyne in the trolley to room 34, as no one would give a second thought to a Melmanc moving laundry, and once there they would gain entry either by, ruse, Shiynes telepathic ability, or failing that brute force, hopefully with the abductors being absent, gaining entry would be simple.

Once inside they would get Merri into the trolley and return the way they came.

So as soon as the lift doors opened Shiyne hid under a sheet again and Malena pushed the trolley out and then along the corridor and left Ambor and Asti to secure the lift for their escape.

 

Unfortunately, the low numbers were nearest the lift, so they had to trundle the laundry cart some distance before they reached room 34 and Malena was relieved when they got there, but that was only half the job, she would have two in the trolley for the return journey.

She stopped the trolley and whispered to Shiyne

“Is it still all clear?”

And a moment later Shiyne’s muffled voice replied

“Yes, all clear”

So, using a tool Lyris had given her, she punched out the lock and the door flew open.

A few moments later she had pushed the trolley into the room safely away from prying eyes.

“We’re in” Malena said and closed the door as Shiyne sprang out from her hiding place from beneath the bedsheets, then they both drew their weapons, Shiyne checked the bathroom and then they went deeper into the room, but the sitting room was empty, so they proceeded into the bedroom and found Merri laying bound and gagged on the bed, in a state of agitation.

“It’s ok Merri we’ll soon have you out of here” Mal said and quickly loosened her gag

“What’s happened, where am I?” she asked

“You were abducted” Shiyne replied as she began untying her feet

“Why? I’m on holiday” she retorted indignantly

“It wasn’t you they were after” Mal replied and freed her hands

“That should make me feel better, but it doesn’t” Merri snapped but then the penny dropped

“Oh God is Dwyn ok?”

“Yes, she’s fine, we’ve got her on the Tornado” Mal replied

“Thank God” Merri exclaimed and then the three friends hugged.

 

ARE YOU WEARING SPACE PANTS?

Are you wearing space pants?

Well your virtue may be imperilled

Because wearing those pants

Your arse is out of this world

The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 11 – Sleuthing

 

Dwynwen Strong, Parse Sacrod, Malena Endia, Vann telepath Shiyne and Andraxian agent Ambor Etra were stood in the security office of the Galileo Hotel.

And among the group, dressed in her official uniform of a blue skirt and jacket with a crisp white blouse, was head of security, Stradd of the Vann, and like Shiyne she was a Telepath, as were all of their kind, though 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 worked 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.

Stradd’s abilities however were much lower, but for her job, it was only reading skills that were required, she couldn’t scan deeply but she knew who was telling the truth and who was lying.

Stradd was a small woman and like Shiyne and the rest of the Vann women she was completely bald, and had cerise coloured skin and purple eyes, though she was a good many years older than the Tornado’s navigator.

It was clear that the two Vann were deep in conversation though they didn’t speak, and this went on for almost ten minutes, until they broke their telepathic bond and Stradd said

“We caught the moment of the abduction on our video scanners” 

She nodded towards a large screen on the wall and everyone turned around to look.

The first image they saw was of Merionwen walking into the lift followed by two humans, one tall and one small, the small one was shabbily dressed, with weasel like features, and the other was cut from very different cloth, tall good looking and well dressed, but they were clearly together.

They reached the lift at the last possible second, just before the door closed the big man used his arm to halt the doors progress and then the two men joined her in the lift.

The next image was a bird’s eye view inside the lift and the door had just closed and the good-looking man said

“It’s Miss Strong isn’t it?”

Merionwen turned to look at him and replied

“Yes, it is, but I don’t know yo…”

While the good-looking man had her attention, the small one paralyzed her with a jab to the neck with a needle and Dwynwen gasped.

“Oh God this is all my fault”

“Nonsense Dwyn” Malena corrected her

“Are they known to you?” Parse asked

“No, they’re not” Stradd replied “But one of my people thinks they are mercenaries, he recognized one but couldn’t recall his name”   

“Mercenaries, that’s good news” Mal said

“Why is that good news?” Dwyn asked “it sounds like terrible news to me”

“It’s good because it means they are in it for the money” Parse explained

“If they wanted to kill her they would have done it and left her body in the lift” Shiyne added “I suspect they want your evidence as well, and they need her alive for that”

“Where did they go when they left the lift?” Andraxian agent Ambor Etra asked and Stradd pressed another button and some more footage appeared

“We tracked them all the way through the Hotel until they went out of this exit which leads to an alleyway” Stradd said “But I have nothing else after that I’m afraid”

“So, we have no idea where they could have gone next” Dwyn stated

“No, but if I have to hazard a guess as to where they took her, where they wouldn’t look out of place, despite their differences, then I would say they’re at the Concord” Stradd said

“We appreciate all your help” Malena said

“Yes, thank you” the others chorused and Shiyne and Stradd stood with brows touching while they shared a farewell.

Once they had left Stradd’s office they were instantly barraged with questions by the rest of the crew and Ambor said

“Ferro and I will see if we can track down any other footage, from outside the Hotel”  

 

In their shabby Hotel room, Geloc and Hatt had just finished searching Merionwen’s sedated body and were angry as they had found nothing.

They were searching for the data tablets that Dwynwen had secreted the damning evidence about Captain Bersian of the Alexandretta, two of the Science Directorate aboard, Brenhol and Ocec and the Captain of the freighter Hollander, Ca Erdd, and the corruption.

“Can we just kill her now?” Hatt, the little weasel of a man asked

“Of course, we can’t you idiot” Geloc replied 

“Stopping her reaching Andraxis is only half the job, and half the money, so No we can’t kill her”

“Half’s better than none” Hatt retorted

“Listen to me, this is the biggest score we’ve had for years I’m not going to let it slip through my fingers, so we need the tablet and then we’ll get the other half the money”

“Yes, but where is it, we searched her room and now we’ve searched her and there’s no sign”

They had bribed one of the Hotel staff to let them into Dwyn’s suite and the two of them had searched every inch, but to no avail.

“We simply wait for her to wake up and we ask her” Geloc said

“What if she won’t tell?” Hatt asked

“Then we cut chunks off her until she does” he replied

 

After updating their crew mates, they all headed for the door were Merri and her abductors were last seen but Dwynwen was stopped by Ferro and Ambor

“It looks like Stradd was right about the Concord” Ferro said

“Great let’s go and get her” Dwyn said

“Hold on, you can’t go” Ambor said

“I have to” she replied “it’s my fault”

“We are under orders to protect you” Ferro said “and protect you we will”

“Then you’ll have to come with us” Dwyn said “Because I’m going with them”

“Excellent idea” Ambor said “a bit of action at last”

 

Once outside they made their way towards the Concord Hotel with Shiyne stopping every 50 yards to scan for signs of Merri and after the tenth stop Shiyne closed her eyes and tuned her mind in and scanned the vicinity and after a few moments she smiled.

“Well?” Dwyn asked

“Yes, she’s there and she’s fine” she replied, and they all breathed a sigh of relief

“Is she awake?” Parse asked

“No, but she’s not as heavily sedated as before” Shiyne replied

“Can you pin point the room” Mal asked and Shiyne tuned her mind in again and after a few minutes she said “Got it, 14^th floor room 34”

“Great let’s go get her” Parse said

“Wait a minute we need a plan, and as our chief planner is the one that needs rescuing, it’s down to Malena to take charge as the Tornados second in command”

Asti said, and Murmurs of approval went around the group

“Wait a minute I’m not a leader” Mal protested “Second in command is just an honorary title, Parse is far better qualified, or Lyris”

“Nonsense” Lyris said “I’m too hot headed”

“And I have too much at stake” Parse added

“Well ok then” Malena said reluctantly “but we need to give it some thought, before we go blundering in”

“Agreed” they chorused

 

A DAZZLING ARRAY OF STARS

A dazzling array of stars

Carpet the night sky

Enlivening the heart

And making spirits fly

The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 10 – Doppelgangers

Merri was lying in bed semi-conscious when Dwyn walked in carrying a coffee and she said

“You’d better drink this, you look awful”

“Thanks for that” Merri retorted “but I’ll be fine if I get some more sleep”

“I thought you and the crew were going out on hover buggies this morning” Dwyn added

“Not until later” she answered sleepily “What is the time anyway?”

“Later” Dwyn replied and after a few seconds Merri sat up in bed a look on her face like a startled rabbit.

“Oh God” Merri said with panic in her voice “I’m going to be late”

“Well only just” she said with a smile on her face

“I need to get dressed” she said panic stricken “I’m in the wrong room”

“Ok just take a breath” Dwyn suggested

“That’s all very well but what am I going to do?” she ranted and picked up her posh frock and threw it on the bed.

“Well don’t panic for a start” Dwyn suggested

“But I can’t walk back to my room wearing that, everyone will think I’m doing the walk of shame” Merri snapped

“Alright calm yourself” Dwyn said trying to control her laughter,

“Calm down? Calm down? It’s alright for you” she shouted “You’re not the one that’s going to look like a tart”

“Nor are you” Dwyn said but Merri continued her rant and then when the penny dropped

“What?”

“You can wear something of mine” Dwynwen suggested

“Really?”

“Yes really” she said “I sorted some out already, they’re on the chair”

“You mean I’ve been ranting and raving all this time for no reason?” Merri exclaimed

“That’s about the size of it” she said

“I should thump you, But I won’t” she said and hugged her instead

 

Merri dressed quickly and said

“Ok I’m off, I’ll quickly pop to my room and then join the others downstairs”

“Ok I’ll meet you down there after I’ve spoken to my minders” Dwyn replied and quickly embraced her, then Merri opened the door, and Ferro Scanner and Ambor Etra immediately sprang to their feet.

“It’s ok” Merri said “I’m the other one”

Ferro nodded and opened the door and Merionwen slipped out and then walked briskly towards the elevator.

She only had to wait for a minute or so before the door opened, and once inside she said

“Level 3”

But just before the door closed an arm halted its progress and two men joined her in the lift, both were humans, one was small and shabbily dressed, with weasel like features, and the other was cut from very different cloth, tall good looking and well dressed.

As soon as the door closed the good-looking man said

“Its Miss Strong isn’t it?”

She turned to look at him and replied

“Yes, it is, but I don’t know yo…”  

Her sentence tailed off because while “Good looking” had her attention, “Weasel” paralyzed her with a jab to the neck with a needle.

 

Once Dwynwen had finished dressing, she and her bodyguards, Ferro and Ambor left her suite and took the elevator to the ground floor and then they walked through the busy reception until she spotted the Tornado Crew laughing and joking in one corner, so she headed straight for them and said

“Hello Tornadons”

“Hi Dwyn” Parse responded, “Where’s Merri?”

“She’s not with me” Dwyn replied “She went back to your room to change ages ago”

“I’ve just come from the room and she’s not there” Parse retorted

“Well she should have been” Dwyn repeated “She must have got distracted, or….”

“Or what?” Parse asked urgently, and the rest of the group stopped their chattering, as Dwynwen turned to gesture towards Ferro Scanner and he immediately moved towards her.

“She left MY room this morning” she said but got no response, so she added “She looks like ME”

But still the penny hadn’t dropped

So Dwynwen took a deep breath and said

“She left MY room, looking like ME, so what if someone grabbed her thinking she was me?”  

“Oh God” Parse exclaimed “What are we going to do?”

“Do we know who might have done it?” Asti chipped in

“It could be anyone” Ferro admitted “Mercenaries or bounty hunters, we just don’t know”

“So, what can we do?” Lyris Skeet asked

“We can check to see if she left the hotel” he replied and left the group to consult with Ambor Etra and after a few moments Ambor rushed off.

Meanwhile Malena and Shiyne exchanged a look and discreetly stepped to one side.

“Time to switch your radar on Shiyne” Malena said, which of course meant that Shiyne should use her telepathic gift, because Shiyne was a Vann and 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 worked 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.

But in this instance, it was her reading skills that were required.

“Just what I was thinking” she responded and closed her eyes, creased her cerise coloured brow with concentration and began scanning.

Malena and Shiyne’s discreet withdrawal hadn’t gone entirely unnoticed by Dwynwen so while Ambor was checking with security and Ferro Scanner was in communication with the Embassy she also sidled over to join Mal and the Vann and arrived just as Shiyne said

“I’m getting nothing”

“Oh God they’ve killed her” Dwyn exclaimed 

“No, it’s not that kind of nothing” Shiyne explained “it just means that she’s unconscious, probably sedated”

“Are you sure?” Dwyn asked

“She’s sure” Mal said “It’s what she does”

“So, what can we do?” she asked

“Keep trying” Shiyne replied 

“The problem is that I can’t get a fix on her because of her sedation”

“Is there anything we can do to help that?” Dwyn asked

“Yes, we can get closer” Malena said

“Good, let’s go” Dwyn said

“In which direction?” Mal asked

“What?”

“We need to know which general area she might be in” Shiyne said

“Can’t we do it by a process of elimination?”

“Sure, but it they move her while were searching I might never find her” the telepath explained

“So, it’s hopeless” Dwyn said resignedly

“Not if your Andraxian’s can tell us what direction the abductors were heading in” Malena said

“Then I can start my search there” Shiyne added

“Let’s go and talk to them then” Dwyn said and made a bee line for Ferro Scanner, who took a step back as Dwynwen and the Tornado crew bore down on him.

 

AMIDST THE MYRIAD STARS

 

Amidst the myriad stars

The bright crescent moon

Hangs in the midnight sky

And palely paints the ocean

With its gentle lunar light