After an enjoyable and
surprising Eastertide Festival on Marikya the Tornado returned Bagg’s brother, Trebreh, his wife Xandra, and
her brother Ale, along with Duff Tarver and his wife Chani to the peaceful
agrarian settlement of Montrose on Eirkos, and then proceeded to Soman to pick
up a load for delivery to Eikon Minor.
After delivering the three pods of freight
to the Legionnaires Garrison they returned Wisma Berita to the Visitors Rest
which was the bar she owned in Gipki, then with all their passengers returned
to their homes, the Tornado returned to plying its trade in the Eikon Cluster.
The system was known as the Eikon Cluster
due to the high number of M class planets and moons in the Eikon solar system, they could
always rely on an abundance of work with Golbolt Interstellar, based on the
moon Soman, and the main reason for that was that the
Operations Manager was Oshwin Lemik and he fought against the Legion in the
Shaxson War along with the Skeet brothers, they as pilots and Oshwin as
Logistics Commander.
From the moment they were reacquainted, the
Tornado got as much work as they wanted and regularly ran between Eikon Major
and Minor, Eirkos and its moons, Soman, Rekar and Marikya, and neighbouring
planet’s, Achrem and Zenden as well as Zenden’s moon, Linden, plus a host of
other smaller moons and asteroids.
In the time they had been in the Eikon
Cluster they had familiarized themselves with the planets and moons they
visited and had cultivated great friendships along the way, and in the months
that followed their Sojourn to Marikya they
delivered their cargo to every planet, moon and asteroid in every corner of the
system with barely a moment’s respite.
Until after almost nine
months of continuous toil Merri exclaimed
“We need a vacation!”
She was on the flight deck, sitting in the
left seat with the huge framed figure of Parse Sacrod stood behind her with a
hand on each shoulder, the Tornado’s second in command Malena Endia was in the
co-pilots chair and Shiyne was at the nav panel.
They were in a holding pattern on approach
to Eikon Major following a Leviathan tanker, which was
going painfully slowly, and it was as she looked out through
the glass at the arse end of a Leviathan when she made her exclamation.
“We need a vacation!”
“Yes, that would be nice” Shiyne said
unenthusiastically, she had made the Vacation statement countless times before
and they never got one, so they had no reason to think this time was any
different, they had short breaks of course like the one on Marikya, but not a proper
holiday.
“I’m serious, we really
need a vacation”
“We agree” Malena said “But that doesn’t
mean we’ll get one”
“Why not?”
“Because you always say you need one and
then another job comes up and then bang goes the vacation” Shiyne replied
“Well we’re having one” Merri said
indignantly “Get everyone in the mess room once we’ve unloaded”
“Aye, aye Captain” Malena said and threw a
salute
The Tornado wasn’t a huge ship as
freighters go, especially compared to a Leviathan or a Gargantuan, but pound for pound the Tempests had the highest freight to fuel ratio
yield of their class.
The front section comprised of a sizable
pressurized hold for large freight accessed via a front loading ramp, above
which was the flight deck, living and sleeping quarters, mess facilities and
bath rooms, at the rear was the main propulsion and amidships were the
universal pod bays, which allowed for a mixed cargo option, which allowed for
quick inspection and loading, although sometimes pods were sealed which meant
it was either very valuable or very illegal, either way Merri didn’t mind and
transporting sealed cargo paid much much better.
The Tornado always flew with at least one
pod but then that was because it was where they stowed their gear and where the
hidden compartments could be found, or not, which was where they hid the
contraband, or even fugitives when necessary, but not so much in recent years,
they had even toyed with the idea of doing away with the “special” pod, but
couldn’t bring themselves to do it.
Once on the surface the Tornado dropped their
cargo pods, which were driven away, and then the ground crew maneuvered the
three loaded pods into position for the return trip.
Once the Pods were in place Merri lowered the
Tornado to secure them and then lowered the front ramp, so the remaining
smaller freight could be unloaded.
There were only four small pieces for the
return so once they were aboard and the manifests had been checked and signed
they closed the door and as they had three hours until they could take off
again, Merri called the meeting.
Lyris was the last to arrive in the mess and
Merri said
“Good of you to join us”
“I thought it was just the usual scones and
coffee, or is there a special occasion?”
“Yes, there is and that’s because we all need
a vacation” she replied, and her remarks were met with a chorus of derision
“Not that old chestnut” Lyris said
“We’ve heard all this before” Asti added
“You always talk about a vacation but that’s
as far as it goes” Zerrad chimed in
Even Pulsat and Vanzyl were emanating
unsympathetic noises so she asked
“What about you Bagg?”
“Well we have been here before” he replied “and
we probably will be again”
“Oh, is that right, well let me tell you
this, I’ve already contacted Oshwin and told him to clear us a fourteen-day
window so what do you think of that?” she said, and a happy murmur spread
around the room.
“That’s made you change your tune” she said,
and they all took it in turns to kiss her and say thanks.
“Well I suggest you all start making plans”
she said trying to keep her composure and then added “and now I will have pancakes”
The whole mood aboard had changed, and the
mess room was buzzing with excited chatter as they made their plans while Bagg
fed them freshly made pancakes.
Merri checked the time and after finishing
her mouthful she said
“Our departure time is approaching, so it’s
time to prepare for take-off, Lyris you’ve got the left seat, Asti co-pilot, and
I’ll be up when I’ve had more pancakes”
There was a lot of discussion among certain
members of the crew as to how exactly they would spend their holiday, but not
so much for others, as Bagg would spend it with Wisma and along with the two
engineers, Pulsat and Vanzyl, go to the peaceful agrarian settlement of
Montrose on Eirkos, where Bagg and Wisma could enjoy two perfect weeks with his
family, brother Trebreh, sister in law Xandra, her brother Ale and friends Duff
and Chani Tarver.
For the engineers the time would be a little
less peaceful but nonetheless enjoyable as they would be run ragged entertaining
the village children, or “small humans” as they called them, Pulsat running and chasing them in the meadows and Vanzyl swimming with them in the lake.
For the rest of the crew however, as much as
they loved Montrose and the people, had something a little more adventurous in
mind, they would obviously spend a day or two enjoying their warm hospitality,
but the bulk of their holiday would be spent elsewhere, the problem was where.
Merri, Malena and the Skeets wanted some
adrenalin fueled fun, and although Shiyne would also enjoy that, she and
Terrell also enjoyed cultural centers, where museums, art galleries, sculptures
and antiquities would keep them enthralled, an activity to be made all the more
enjoyable as they were doing it with each other.
Asti was looking for luxury and pampering,
while Parse Sacrod primarily wanted to play some sports, but they all wanted to
spend the vacation together.
So, they looked for common ground and in
addition to their first choices, they all liked to dance, they all liked to drink,
and they all loved to gamble, so in the end it was an easy choice, The
Clarissoss Resort City on Eikon Major.
With Luxury Hotels, casinos, bars, clubs, and
restaurants, sporting facilities to suit every taste, located close enough to
the wilderness for the adventurous types and only an hour’s shuttle ride away
from Eikon Major’s Capital City, Rendon
where those of a more cultural bent could indulge themselves to their hearts
content.
During their time in the Eikon Cluster, they had heard a lot about Clarissoss,
but they had never been, in fact the closest they had got to it was the
capital, Rendon.
