RETURN TO KARRIN

[Welsh Halfwit]

The nebula was still off-limits so the freighter Passera had needed to deviate its scheduled course to avoid getting a cruiser in the face but they could detect it following them on the five year old sensornet the Captain had installed two years ago. The Human sat with his feet on the console as the scanner showed the blip behind him. He had his reasons for hoping they didn’t cone closer and just treated him as a passerby, feelings shared by the crew, none of whom tended to get on with the military types. They worked for a lving, something Raitchian technician Carby was doing right now, manipulating the environment seals on the tertiary cargo bay and swearing as the panel hissed and spat electrical sparks at her. She pulled her goggled face away as her clawtips too the wiring by the sparks and clipped the section free before clipping wires into a shunt section and attaching that to complete the circuit. She pulled her head away from the wall and sealed the section behind a panel and shut it away. She tapped the wall comm. Partly because she needed to call the bridge and partly to work out if the patchworked panel was actually working. “Panel #14’s working again, skip,” she said. “The temperature control for bay three’s coming back down to nominal for the produce.”

<“Got it, Charlie,”> the Captain replied. <“What was the problem?”>

Carby considered her response, her face going through various contortions as she considered the best, most appropriate, words. She put a hand to the wall near the panel. It was cooler than it had been five minutes ago. “The wiring’s shite,” she told him. “It all needs replacing soon as we can get it done.”

“It’s not in the budget,” the Captain replied, not over the comm but over her shoulder as he arrived behind her. She turned and kissed her chosen mate on the lips. He kissed her back for a moment. “Although I could be persuaded,” he added.

She tapped his nose, missing the little bit of hair he kept beneath it that always tickled her nose when she smooched him. “You have to be sexually persuaded to carry out needed Health and Safety procedures? Why didn’t I know this before I married you?”

“You saw my profit margins,” he replied, holding her close, one hand on top of her tail base. “But we need to get this stuff to Talvary and the colonies and…”

<“Bridge to Captain,”> said a young voice from the bridge. <“Got an, uh, Mouse ship telling us to heave to and be boarded for an, um, inspection. What do I do, dad?”>

“He called you ‘dad’,” Charlie said quietly. “He’s scared.”

“It’s OK, Kelvan,” Captain Carby replied after tapping the link. “just reverse the engines by thirty percent. I’ll be there in a moment.” He turned the line off and looked at his wife. “Tell the gang that an inspection’s coming, yeah?”

“Right on.” She glanced at the wall panel. “Hope the wiring’s up to it.”


The Captain stepped back to the bridge and took over the controls from his twelve year old stepson. He’d been training the boy in piloting these last few months but he wasn’t exactly up to evading security patrols and combat and he took over the conn, sliding his pinkish skinned torso – covered in fabrics right now, of course – into the chair and programming the system to come to a complete halt as the youth watched on. “You’ll be doing this yourself in no time,” he told Kelvan.

“You say so, Frank,” he replied.

“What happened to ‘dad?”

The youth shrugged and did his best to look totally innocent and nonchalant. “Moment passed.” He saw the slightly deflated look on the Human’s face. “It’ll probably come again sooner or later,” he allowed.


The airlock opened and Captain Carby welcomed the customs Micans onto the Freighter. “Welcome to the Passera,” he stated, holding out a hand that the lead Mican accepted.

“Thank you, Captain… Carby,” he responded, looking the Human’s name up on his ledger and making sure the picture fitted. Pale pink skin, angular features, barely comprehensible nose and brown headfur that kept growing like Mican teeth so it occasionally needed to be cut by other humans and technical devices. Same for that weird bit of fur above his ludicrous mouth. Yeah, it seemed a match. “I’ll be going over the manifest with you. Jarrow here will examine the cargo bays. Just standard checks.”

“Of course,” he replied, looking to escort the lead to the bridge and Charlie took the other the other way, passing by a Mican twin set and a Lappinean in a cook’s apron who was pulling goods from the pantry for dinner.

“What we having,” Charlie asked in passing.

“Kavanos and Tellice,” he replied.

“Kelvan hates that,” Charlie told the Mican following her. She shrugged. “But the twins love it.”

“Sometimes you can’t get what you want,” Jarrow remarked as they reached bay one, towards the back of the lengthy ship. “This is listed as… ten thousand tonnes of Triticale wheat?”

“It is indeed,” Charlie replied, turning the console on so he could check the digital listing as to the weight. “Items may settle in transit.”


“Nice lad,” the senior said as Kelvan made his excuses and left the bridge for his room after the customs officer entered the bridge. “I will still have to search the rooms afterwards,” he advised lightly. “Type ten Freighter. Earth Model.” He thought for a moment. “He’s hiding it under the third panel from the door, isn’t he?”

Frank laughed. “You know your freighters.” He brought up the manifest for examination. “A boy’s gotta have his secret stash of magazines in a place like this. I ‘don’t know’ about it and his mother doesn’t know about it.”

The customs officer half laughed as he scoured the listings.


An hour passed before the inspection was done, the rooms searched and the inventory inspected by eye and record examination and the customs headed off. With the Mican twins watching over the bridge, the family managed to have dinner at the same time for once as they approached the Briar patch of space. “Kavanos and Tellice,” Kelvan groused, holding a piece of the cheap meat up on his fork. “Again?”

“Hayseed promises Hallanbarra tomorrow,” Charlie told him, lifting his spirits.

“Well, I suppose it’s good enough,” Kelvan fibbed, eating his food that was always underspiced to his palate.

His mother fished a small chit from her pocket. She pushed it across to Frank. “He passed on that information Henry wanted,” she advised.

“I’ll pass it on when we get to Talvary,” he replied, then grinned slightly. “Then I’ll trade repairs for co-operation with where we’re really going.”

“Hmm,” Kelvan asked, a piece of Tellice dangling from his mouth.

“I checked the reports,” he said, pushing the vegetable up so Kelvan could deal with it. “There’s no droughts anywhere in the patch. So, where’s all this freight going?”

[Harry Johnathan]

Horray, we’re back!

[Amazee Dayzee]

Looking very forward to seeing where this story will end up taking us! Can't wait to see what you got planned!

[Welsh Halfwit]

Being honest? Same here...

[Welsh Halfwit]

TWO


There wasn’t much they could see right now that wasn’t Talvary Communal station. It was right there in front of them as the freighter pushed gently towards them, the Captain supervising Kelvan as he did his first docking procedure. “a tap on the reverse thrusters,” he advised the youth, who, just a little scared out of his fur, complied to reduce the forward thrust, which had been at ten feet a second. The docking port was mere feet away now, the beep of station keeping remaining steady after the first, abortive, attempt. “And lock on… Now.”

Kelvan engaged the station lock and connected the forward docking port to the station’s port with a clang and rumble that indicated he hadn’t quite got it accurate and the station had compensated. He breathed out heavily. “I never want to do that again, Frank,” he told his lap, shaking his head as he said it.

His stepdad clapped his back up by the shoulder. “Everyone needs to learn how to dock manually, Kelvan,” he assured the boy happily. “We can’t always rely on the autodocking system.”

Kelvan supposed that was true and huffed a laugh. “Particularly with how many of our systems are failing,” he joked.

“Yeah, well,” Frank replied, failing to keep too much humour in his tone, “Leastways Henry’s promised us he’ll repair some of the systems whilst we’re waiting for our escort.” Now he rubbed the boy’s shoulder. “Perhaps he’ll get the teleport booth working again, eh?”

Kelvan sighed whimsically. “Oh, to visit planet surfaces again.”

“It’s only been two months! Honestly, it’s like you’ve forgotten what real gravity is.” Frank started for the passageway as Kelvan turned the drive systems off, leaving the ship reliant on the station gravity.

He headed after his step dad. “When I set foot on a planet and my ankles snap you’ll be sorry,” he said.


Frank handed his wife a chit with spending money on it and opened the airlock to see a Feline in the standard USC uniform waiting for him. He stepped forward as she bowed, flicked her left ear and put out a hand. “Captain Carby,” she stated elegantly, “I’m Lieutenant Ossar. I was asked to escort you to the sector Commanders office?”

“Of course, Lieutenant,” he replied, accepting the hand before turning to Charlie. “I have the list of things you wanted done, love. Go have some fun? I’ll join you later. And we’re booked in room 14 in the floatel.”

“Good luck,” she replied, giving him a good luck kiss on the cheek, avoiding that moustache thing.


Frank followed Ossar through the station, dodging by what seemed like an excessive number of individuals to him. He was too used to just having a half dozen around him in the ship. “How’s things here,” he asked as they walked past a wall mounted drink machine. “With the Poldwick thing, I mean?”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” she replied.

His face broke in a knowing expression. “Ah, IOC can’t arrest a senior USC official like that and keep it all under wraps, y’know?”

“I’m sure I wouldn’t know anything about that, sir,” she replied, the slight twist of her lip and glint in her eye exemplifying the fact she was totally lying. She stepped to the side of a door and opened it to reveal one of the stations conference rooms that was currently empty other than a table, about twelve chairs, a computer terminal and a drink replication machine. “In here, please.” She gestured to the room.

Frank stuck his head in, with his hands behind his back, and glanced around. “Seems acceptable,” he mooted. “I take it Henry will be able to see me in a few hours? He does like to keep people around.”

“If you could wait, sir.”


A half hour passed, with Frank watching local news stations and drinking a manufactured Latte which he’d added a joint sweetener/anti toxin powder to as he tended to do with most non public replication systems these days. The door opened and Henry entered, moving around to the head of the table and waiting until Frank relinquished the seat. “Sorry,” Frank said, not entirely meaning it, “force of habit.”

“Yeah, like I believe that,” Henry said, clearly meaning he didn’t. “Long time, no see, Frank.”

“About twenty years, isn’t it? Before you went to IOC.”

“Hmm. You should have had a better career in the USC,” Henry replied. “If you’d gotten on with my replacement.”

“Never shaped up to you. So I went in for myself. Occasionally doing favours for others. Reminds me.” He took the information stick from his pocket and slid it across to Henry. “Got that information you asked for.”

“And PAID for,” Henry added, putting his hand out to stop the stick and examine it. “Repairs aren’t usually free, even if you’re on a humanitarian mission.”

“Ye-es,” Frank mused, putting his fingers in a steeple below his chin. “Where exactly ARE we going that needs an escort? And where’s having a farming emergency that needs seeds and irrigation equipment? There’s been nothing in the news about that sort of thing out here.”

“Ah, well,” Henry confirmed, “that’s because they’re not ‘out there’ enough. How did you get the gig anyhow? There were others bidding.”

“Not a clue. I figured YOU had something to do with it after you mentioned your little ‘side mission’. Must have been someone liked me in Fawren Agricola Corporation.”

“Fawre…” Henry chuckled. “Of course. Jasta.”

Now Franks sat up straight. “Jasta,” he said nervously. “Not..?”

Henry nodded. “Selasteen Jasta. Your *ahem* partner back in those days. She’s a senior procurement officer for Fawren now.

“Never tell Charlie,” Frank pleaded.

“That your ex is why you’re here? Oh, I suppose that can be arranged…” The smile dropped. “As for where you’re going..?” He turned on the computer, shuffled it off the risqué show Frank had been watching to show a blue/green world – with a hint of brown – world that Frank didn’t recognise. Then again, he thought, there were dozens of colonies out here. “This isn’t a patch world,” Henry told him before pressing a button to tell whoever was outside that it was time for them to come in. What entered looked somewhat like a Brockian to the Human’s eyes, Black and mottled grey fur against the white bars that divided her face. She stood taller than a Brockian, with a longer tail. She definitely wasn’t wearing a uniform, just a plain blue shirt and soft trousers. Frank stood up as she introduced herself.

“Janna Palla,” she said, “Jestavanian envoy to the USC. You’re going to a forgotten colony world,” she said, shaking her head gently. “Because a lot of lives on Karrin depend on your cargo.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Here is hoping they can get there quickly. It sounds like that this is very important and will be the only way to save some lives.

[Welsh Halfwit]

THREE

Frank managed to catch up to his family at the main cafeteria on the concourse and slotted into a spare seat as Kelvan examined some of this strange ‘spaghetti’ thing that was dangling from his fork, with tomato and beef sauce on the middle part, which was atop to fork. The mess on his muzzle indicated this wasn’t the first attempt. Frank gently took control of the hand and lowered it back to the plate. “Put the fork spokes into the pasta,” he instructed and Kelvan complied, “then twist the fork around to get it wrapped in some pasta.”

“Oooh, right,” Kelvan said wryly. It was his first real attempt with Earth pasta and a hint that he was making bridges now. It had been a year, after all, and the hume wasn’t as bad as he’d figured. He wasn’t a father of course. No-one except dad was his father but he supposed that, after the squabbles, this guy was good enough for his mother. So he’d started giving him a break or two. But they’d not had any Human Pasta as it took up too much room. So he’d decided to try it here. He shrugged mentally as he tried not to bite through the fork. Stuff wasn’t bad. In his opinion.

“Don’t worry,” Frank told him. “Should have seen the mess I made the first time I used chopsticks.”

“I don’t even want to know,” Kelvan replied.

“So,” Charlie asked, drinking her Malthusian Chocana, leaving the tiniest line of the drink on her nose, “what’s the job then?”

Frank reached across with a paper napkin to wipe his wife’s nose. “You’ll need to wash your face after this,” he said in an aside to Kelvan, “a napkin’s not gonna cut it.” He turned his attention back to his wife and the people beyond. “Uh, yeah,” he said uncertainly, “It’s totally a dry run. Nothing to be worried about. We’re just waiting on a couple more freighters to book in,” He leaned further forward so he could whisper ‘I’ll tell you both more in private’ into her ear.


Henry looked at the information on the stick Captain Carby had slipped to him and it was making him sad and a little bit sick to see. It seemed the reports were correct. There was a major Mican build up going on and the list of things they could do with a build up of such a size was, reasonably, a list of one. “Any idea which planet they’re going to invade,” he asked Janna as the Jestavanian examined the reports alongside him.

The former officer of a race outside Council Space nodded to indicate she didn’t have a clue, then remembered the proper way of these peoples and shook her head. Her eyes hung heavy as she was forced to consider all the problems of the region of space she’d left. The Star Council had been rendered down the middle by civil war. Over years, some of which she’d spent starving on a disabled space station with a couple of others, worlds had been devastated, conquered, liberated and obliterated. Some of the outlying colonies – like Karrin – had been released as being of no interest, financially or strategically. It had been done to stop them being devastated but, cut free and isolated, the economies collapsed. No foods were being imported and there was no financial capability to maintain the systems and precious few materials either. The U.S.C. and the tech companies had been rebuilding the planet and the defence stations and communication satellites but they were, generally, keeping well out of the war. Ships from either side were welcome and the repair shops repaired non hostile systems as a neutral base. The Karrineans weren’t going to forget both sides had abandoned them. And Karrin wasn’t alone. “There’s three possibles,” she admitted, bringing up a sector map of the space between the Star Council region and the Unified Security Council’s . She pointed to worlds showing orbiting minor suns. “Darby,” she said, meaning the first, closest to Karrin, “Kiballa and Magrik.” She sat back. “From the military scale of this armuda… Is that the word?”

“Armada,” Henry corrected, “but close enough. Go on?”

“It’ll be Darby. It has – or had – the manufacturing capability to maintain a fleet and it’s a good place to establish a base if you’re not planning on attacking, just defending. It was too far out of the way for either of our sides but…”

“...if someone else wanted to establish a bridgehead they’d need to secure it with military strength before sending in the civilians.”

“Would the U.S.C. intervene?”

Henry shrugged. “We’d complain. We’d remind the Micans that they’d be bringing us – potentially – closer to war as they invade a planet we have no jurisdiction over. Other than that, without acknowledging them, there’s not much we can do to support them.”

“So acknowledge them,” Janna told him.

“I’ll go tell the higher ups to get ships underway,” the old Mican said, suddenly feeling his age. “I’ll make another call too. After.”


The hotel in the station wasn’t exactly the high class environment they’d seen but never stayed at on the last fifteen or so worlds but Charlie didn’t much care as she watched Frank remove his foot covering sock things and drape them over the shirt horse thingamy to rest and release their toxins. He sat in the chair and flexed his weird, pinkish, extremities as he often did following a day confining them to boots. She’d been surprised by them the first few times before reasoning they weren’t that different to hers really. They had tip coverings that grew like her teeth and, occasionally, had to be painlessly cut back to levels where they didn’t threaten to shred the sock things. They had sort of padded areas that didn’t stand out as they were just as pinky white as the rest of the skin. Mind you, hers were a bit threadbare on the underside these days. “So” she reminded him, “what’s the ‘mission’?”

“I’d better call Kelvan in,” he demurred. “Kelvan, want to come in for a minute,” he called, making sure he was heard in the main room.

Kelvan opened the door, stepped into his parents - and step-parent, he reminded himself quickly – and let the door close behind him. He sniffed the air and recoiled theatrically at the socks that were too near to his nose for comfort. “What’s up,” he asked,

“We’re going to be part of a convoy,” he told them. “Three freighters and two military capital ships as escort. Both battleships. The Pollock is coming in and the Rodomont will be here in a day or so.”

“Why would we need such an escort if we’re just delivering stuff,” Kelvan asked, picking a sock up between his clawtips and dropping them to the floor. “The colony worlds have militias, yeah?”

“Mmm,” Frank said lightly. “But Karrin doesn’t.”

At that, Kelvan’s face lit up. The existence of that world was no real secret, although very little was in the public knowledge. “You mean..?” The boy swallowed. “I’m going to meet real aliens??”

Frank spread his arms and ahem’ed.

“Oh, you’re not an Alien alien, Frank,” Kelvan dismissed, “you’re just Human. I’m talking ALIENS! I gotta prepare!” He hurried out of the room as Charlie sat up in the bed.

“You’ve made his week,” she told him.

“It’ll make up for when he works it out,” Frank replied, removing the rest of his clothes and slipping between the sheets with Charlie. “Capital ship,” he said, pulling her in tight with him and kissing her.

She grinned and turned out the light. “School,” she said in the darkness.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Got to love how some people in the universe here think that humans are some kind of alien because they aren't anthro. Looks like Kelvan figured out it wasn't true. Anyway nice chapter!

[Welsh Halfwit]

I will, of course, admit that Enzo Carvalho (Raitchian boy) will be involved.

[Welsh Halfwit]

FOUR

The next day dawned with Kelvan still grumbling that he was going to be kicking bottom in school after looking over the roster of Council brats in the class he was going to be studying in for the next month or so. He’d have them wanting him to stay, he reckoned. There was no problems. Being around people his own age. Fifteen of them. He didn’t think he’d met more than five people his own age in the last two years. There was no challenge, was there? He swallowed hard. It hadn’t kept him awake half the night, he was sure of that as he showered in his en suite and tried to remember how to dry himself from an actual water shower. It felt great and comfortable over the usual sonic vibration and his mother was waiting for him as he stepped out. He yelped and wrapped a towel around his midriff. “Mum,” he called. “C’mon!”

She laughed. “Like I’ve not seen it before, she told the dishevelled boy. She held up a brush. “Figured you’d have forgotten how to do this,” she said, beckoning him over to sit beside her one the bed. “Back first,” she told him so he turned away from her and she began brushing down his rear, from shoulders to midriff, making the still damp fur shine with glossy intent.

“Why bother,” he asked. “I mean, I’m going to put clothes on so it’ll be covered.”

“Yeah, but there’s nothing wrong with looking your best, sweetie. “ She pulled through a burr.

“Ow.”

“Sorry.” She started on his head fur. “You’ll do fine, bud. In school. You’re smart, kind, intelligent…”

“And not afraid of a few kids,” he protested, “I know a lot more than most of them…”

“I’m not talking about knowledge, love,” she said, turning his face towards her. “You’re going to be in a position to make friends.” She smiled wanly. “Even if you have to keep in communication by subspace.” She tapped his nose. “You don’t want to miss the chance,” she added, before making him giggle as she started work on his chest.

His ears flicked as he thought of something and put a slightly damp hand on his mother’s head. “How did you brush yourself,” he asked.

“I never forgot how.” She kissed his nose. “Get dressed and we’ll head to breakfast.”


Ten minutes later, Kelvan stepped up to Frank and the Human noted he was wearing his blue ‘#1 stepson tee-shirt and light canvas trousers as he looked out of the same window on the station’s main concourse. “Whatcha lookin’ at, Hume,” the boy said cheekily.

“The future,” Frank replied, before looking down at the boy. “And my future, eh?” He checked his watchcomm. “And, speaking of the future, something should be arriving… soon,” he said, realising what he was waiting for was late.

Then it wasn’t. A bulky shape slammed into existence some thirty thousand miles off in space and moved towards them smoothly, showing the burn of full reverse slowing it down as it moved towards the station. The boy thought it quite large, larger even than the ship he lived on, even with the size of the cargo bays taken into consideration. His eyes seemed to widen as he looked out at it. “That’s the Rodomont, isn’t it,” he said breathlessly. “A type 14 Janovar Battleship. Capable of velocity four for periods of up to three hours, cruising at Velocity three with a Invan 4 engine and back ups. Crew capacity…”

“Seven hundred and thirty two,” said a new voice behind them, making them start. They turned to see something Frank hadn’t figured he’d ever see. A Cervidian in a security uniform. He was struck by the kindly look in the officers eye as Kelvan’s attention was clearly taken by something else.

“Cyber antlers,” the boy said in a theatrically small voice as he almost danced with excitement, “he has cyber antlers!”

“I see them,” Frank said, stepping forward with a hand out. “You’ll be the reknowned Hadrian Jak, then? Captain Frank Carby of the freighter Passera. This is my wife’s boy, Kelvan.”

“Nice to meet you,” he replied, making his antlers flow into the Raitchian word for ‘hi’ to make Kelvan almost jig with delight. He shook the hand. “Seems I timed my return right.” He quirked an eyeridge. “If you were waiting for us, I presume there’s a reason?”

Seeing Kelvan was about to blurt something out loud, Frank gently put his hand around the boy’s muzzle to keep it closed. “Well, we’ll be travelling together for a while.”

Hadrian rolled his eyes. “Escort duty,” he said with a sigh. “Always important but always drawn out.”

“We’ll try not to hold you up too much,” Frank replied, wondering where Charlie was going with all those cables wrapped around her. “That doesn’t look like breakfast,” he said, watching her go. “What do you think she’s up to,” he asked Kelvan.

The boy shrugged. “Stocking up? I’ll go find out.” He nipped off.

“So much for breakfast,” Frank said, watching them go. “Is it always like this here,” he asked Hadrian.

“Hmm, every now and again.” The Cervidian looked out of the window. “She really is an ugly old thing, isn’t she?”

Frank laughed. “I couldn’t possibly say,” he remarked. “Only the people on the ship are allowed to insult her.”

“Too right,” Hadrian remarked. “What time are the others getting here? Escort duty is never one to one.”

“The two freighters are due in later today. Not sure on the other protection ship.”

Now Hadrian narrowed his eyes. “Two escorts,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” Frank agreed, “that’s never a good thing.”


After leaving the Human to his own devices, Hadrian wandered back down to the cells, where his ‘travelling companion’ was waiting for him. Or indeed, anyone as he was sat on a bunk in a cell. Hadrian threw a breakfast sandwich into the cell for the hybrid to snatch at and devour, his curious teeth slicing and rendering the meats and cheeses and egglike thing hungrily, as though he hadn’t eaten in hours. Hadrian leaned against the wall. “Got good news for you,” he told Greedan, “your new bosstard has arrived.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Guess that Hadrian is not a big fan of whoever the new boss is. He called him either a boss that was ******* or a boss that was a *******. Nice chapter once again!

[Welsh Halfwit]

Guess that Hadrian is not a big fan of whoever the new boss is. He called him either a boss that was ******* or a boss that was a *******. Nice chapter once again!

He's warning his charge about Postain...

[CunningFox]

Great opening chapters, Welsh.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Just because he is warning him about Postain doesn't mean that what I said before doesn't apply. I can easily see Postain being the latter that I said before. Obviously he is too smart to be the former...

[Welsh Halfwit]

FIVE

“Seems like we’re home again,” Doctor Kelly Cobalt told her companion as they heard the message from the Command deck on all channels. “A one day layover. What are you going to do?”

Doctor Flakk looked at her with his usual snark. She’d gotten used to it over the last few years so it didn’t much affect her these days. “Work,” he said simply, before deciding to elucidate. “I’ve never thought of that wheel in space as a home, base or otherwise. We’ve been told we need to load up with medical supplies for Karrin and we’re taking a load of cargo haulers there tomorrow so someone needs to oversee the loading. Your mate wants to spend time with his friend and you need time with him off ship. Jul’s booked time with his wife and her kid so that leaves Muggins here. At least I don’t have a mate,” he grumped, moving boxes to a higher shelf as he talked.

Kelly trotted over to his side and, before he could react, kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll bring you back a doughnut,” she said happily, evading his playful attempt at a swipe.

“That could count as assaulting a senior officer,” he grouched as she headed for the door. “Apple filled,” he called, before going back to checking his stocks. He sat back and thought on mates. He’d had one or two in his day, of course, but it seemed that half of the crew were doing their best to do it with each other these days. The amount of cross species mating that was going on… Senny the Pirate and Appleby, Darren Levan and Kerri, The Captain and the President… well, in the planning anyhow. Nothing official until her term was over. He reached out for the comm to contact one of the people he’d just been thinking about.


It was morning as far as Kerri Levan was concerned, partly because she and Darren had finally managed to get the whole night off together for the first time in weeks so the pair had spent most of the night doing their best to bring about a Chipmunk/Celican (with a bit of Human) crossbreed. It wasn’t going to be easy, they knew, but, with the medications Flakk had been sorting for them, it was a possibility. She pulled herself up his fine figure to get face to face with him and kissed him as he held the small of her back. “Morning, love,” she told him, making sure she didn’t gabble this time.

Darren looked over at his clock. “Afternoon, isn’t it,” he asked, his thumb stroking her hip.

“It’smorninginthisbed,” She grinned, kissing him again. “Andonthe station.” She twisted around until she was sitting upright on his chest and slid out of the marital bed to get dressed, baffing his face with her overly furred tail as she went. “Which we’vearrived at, by theway.”

Darren, suddenly feeling the cold as she took the duvet with her, started as he took in the implications of what she’d just said. “I need to get showered,” he said, zipping into the sonic shower ahead of her. She laughed and was about to join him when the wall comm beeped. She answered it.

<“Next time, audio only, Levan,”> Flakk complained. <“I could have been the Captain and you're hiding nothing. The next treatment’s ready. The signs from the last one are good, by the way. Your chances are going up steadily.”>

“Heard that,” Darren called from the bathroom. “Superior Celican genes win through again!” He closed the door.

<“Actually it’s your genes doing the hard work,”> Flakk confided.

“Don’t thinkI’ll tellhimthat!” she chirruped. “See ya in a bit,” she finished, tapping the ‘off’ switch and waiting her time in the booth.


Engineer Kohlich sat in the shuttle as it docked, Kelly holding his hand for support as she felt his pulse race at the thought of his old friend being there to greet him. She’d been off on a conference meeting the last time he’d been back but… He lost his thoughts as the shuttle pilot connected the small ship to the space station and the preparations for departure began. He looked sideways at a cargo ship he’d never seen the style of before docked in the next slot and wondered if he’d be able to have a look around it. Had the fame of the Jestavanians loosened any doors around the station? He kept Kelly’s hand in his as they undid the belts and stood to walk to the door first, ahead of the Jul family.


The door opened and there she was, standing there, hands behind her back, with a welcoming smile on her face. Kohlich took his hand from Kelly and put it behind his back so he could lean forward and rub heads with his long time friend. “It brings joy to see you again, Janna, Someone who can remind me of our culture.”

She nuzzled heads back. “And I you, Tarva. You who kept us fighting all that time.” She took his right hand and kissed it as he did hers, something that would have made Kelly a little jealous if he’d not told her it was a greeting between friends who were considered family.

They released and he looked her over, in the pale green shirt and blue trousers. “Is that what passes for diplomatic wear here,” he asked. “This lot keep telling me it needs something called a dress jacket and different trousers?”

She nodded to mean ‘no’. “It’s just comfortable,” she said. “I’m not official. Unlike you,” she added, fingering his jacket collar. “Deputy Chief Engineer? I remember when Harra wouldn’t let you touch the controls.”

“I do night shift,” he explained, down playing his rise, “and Kerri Levan…” He paused as he saw the confused look on his friend’s face. “Kerri Kerrison as was. She got mated to the Celican boy. She’s the ACTUAL Senior deputy.”

“Ah, yes. That ‘change of name’ thing some do. And heya, Doctor Cobalt,” she said, leaning around to see the Raitchian who came over and, remembering what Tarva had said, did the head rub with Palla but not the hand kiss. “You keeping him up at night,” she said with her casual frankness. Kelly almost coughed herself hoarse as Tarva laughed.

“At last,” Martin Jul said as Kelly got out of the way so he could take his family to the park in the holorooms. It was supposed to be a place of intense humour and fun, a new program that hadn’t reached the ships yet. The trio watched them go.

“He’s still a bit impatient,” Kelly remarked lightly.

“Strange I should be reminded of an impatient Mican right now,” Palla said heavily, making sure the others had gone, “considering it seems Mica is sending an invasion fleet to the lost colonies. The war might soon expand, Tarva...”

[Amazee Dayzee]

If the war does expand hope that they are ready for it. Then again somehow the good guys always win out in the end no matter what.

[Welsh Halfwit]

SIX

Marius Postain was fuming. He wasn’t a fan of hanging around at the best of time but this was tortuous. Henry had just told him about the Micans and Xarra had expressed the opinion that they were being stupid and endangering and otherwise protested her innocence with a ferocity she didn’t really need to employ as he was totally sure of his First Officer. But it meant that, even though he knew his mission was important, it put him and the other ships as first back up for the other planets in the area if the Micans chose to take them on. And here he was, sat on his hands as the cargo haulers arrived.


He’d noted the first of them as he’d arrived, of course, getting free upgrades to their sensors and free repairs to their ship. Postain only hoped they’d take it out of the pay they were giving them, not the station operations budget. A Raitchian boy had been straining to carry a piece of hull plating and he’d taken a little pity and helped him with some of the weight before asking why he’d not used the lifter to help him as they shuffled through the ship. The boy had told him, somewhat chippily, that he wasn’t trained on it and was just helping out his mother as she did the work so they didn’t have to bother the station lot. Postain had to admit he rather approved of the work ethic but he wasn’t sure that it had been paid for. The odd plate did tend to be ‘mislaid’ from time to time. He decided it didn’t much matter this time. The less he had to replace on their ships at a time of crisis the better. So, after he’d dropped off the plate and headed out of the strange smelling ship, he ordered one of the maintenance workers to volunteer to run the lifter if the boy needed help.


Kelvan felt his heart slow down as he reached his mother with the plate and placed it close to where she was standing with their one operational power rig. She picked the plate up with the enhanced strength arms and lifted it up to the hull, where she’d detected micro fractures over the last few trips. They kept having them repaired but it seemed there was some sort of defect in the hull at this point that was applying irregular bursts of irregular strain on the hull and, without a complete overhaul, that wasn’t going away. So she’d decided to affix a plate to increase the strength. She placed it above the affected area, extended the arms to reach the roof and engaged the welding beam. “Did you see who that was,” Kelvan asked excitedly, almost hopping in excitement.

“No,” Charlie asked, busy with her work. “Smells like a Rottian though.”

“That was Captain Postain,” he gabbled, “The...the...the Captain of the Rodomont!”

Charlie paused as she finished up the repair, keeping the arms against the panel. “You just had the most senior member of the military in the entire sector acting as a pack horse for you?”

Kelvan just giggled.

“Good to know we had a deal on these panels,” she remarked. “Do you need the toilet?”

He didn’t answer in words but did in dash, zipping past the twins and some of the station personnel. “Got the wiring inlaid,” she asked the twins, Cassius in particular.

“Yeah, Charlie,” he replied, “Bay two’s operating at ninety-five percent again.”

“Should be at maximum capacity.”

“Not without a properly working gravitic compensator,” Raspberry retorted. “The one we’ve got set up in there’s barely functioning.”

“It’s got another six months on the warranty,” Charlie told them, finally remembering to retract the arms so she could walk towards them. It wasn’t entirely unthreatening, she reckoned. But it did exemplify her point. Kelvan ran past. “Fetch another plate, would you,” she called. “Take it to C-14.”

Kelvan sagged. Right to the far end of the ship.

He smiled as he got to the station. Just by chance, there was a station operative there with a lifter…


Frank introduced himself to the military official who’d just arrived on the station, figuring she was someone important on the Rodomont due to the command pips on her collar. “Quite some mission we have coming up, don’t you think,” he asked honestly.

“It’s going to take some time, yes,” Xarra replied. “But we should be able to get it done without many problems.”

Frank looked at her askance. “Your face doesn’t seem to agree with your words,” he advised, taking a seat at the same table . “I tend to notice things like that,” he added before she could call him a liar or deny there was anything wrong. “I used to work security and you never quite lose the instinct.” He sighed. “I take it it’s nothing you can talk about?”

“If anything was going on then, no, I couldn’t tell you about it, Captain.” Xarra told him. “But there’s nothing affecting us directly so there’s no worries, yes?”

“You need to train your eyes,” Frank told her. “Best way to sell it is to think of a joke just before saying it. So, what can you say that doesn’t breach the regs?” He shrugged a shoulder. “It might help to talk about it.”

“It wouldn’t,” Xarra retorted, standing up. She was about to walk away but stopped herself. “Let’s just say some of my people may be about to make an almighty mistake and I can’t stop them.”

“The lament of the good guy through history,” Frank told her. “Every species, every planet, every universe. You’re not going to stop everyone making mistakes, Commander. But you’re not responsible for their mistakes either.” He gave a weak smile as old mistakes wandered into his mind. “Just your own, eh?”

Despite her dark feelings, Xarra felt the fleeting joy of a smirk at the words. “There’s enough of those,” she replied.

“Ah, can’t be many serious ones,” Frank replied, “you made it to Commander rank, haven’t you? From what I remember, you can’t get to that rank without making nearly all good decisions. Reason I came over? People might look to the Captain for confidence but you know who they turn to for it?” He offered a hand. “The Commanders. Captains stay on the bridge or in their office unless needed somewhere. It’s you lot have the hard job, dealing with the crew. It’s you that the other Captains and I will mostly be dealing with. So we need you confident, eh?”

Xarra took the hand and put some strength of confidence into the shaking. “I’ll have to work on it,” she said, feeling a little humour returning to her chest before moving off to corral Senny and Appleby as they headed for the shops.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Glad that Xarra is getting her composure back at the end! She is definitely one that will hold everything together! Great chapter!

[Welsh Halfwit]

SEVEN

The park was full today, people of all species running around, pulling balloons and waving foam fingers in the air, darting around hot dog sales operatives and vendors of other assorted hand held foods as Enzo sought out the fastest ride in the park. He’d been on the cups with Martin and mom and had started sneaking up the speed of the rides they were going on from the flume to the Astral Mountain – which was a bit boring for one who lived in space – to the deft drop tower. Now he was looking for the… ah, the ‘Turbo’. He pointed it out and…

“I’m not going on that,” Martin protested, looking up and up at the structure. “I get vertigo.”

Standing next to him, Bridgit looked up as well. “You live on a spaceship,” she reminded her husband.

“And I can’t see the ground,” he reminded her, standing on tiptoes to kiss her mouth.

“Yuck,” Enzo emoted, closing his eyes and putting a finger into his mouth.

“Oh,” Martin commented, releasing his bride, “like you haven’t been doing that with Ella on occasion?”

“I…” Enzo stammered. “That’s… Shut up!” He stalked away through the crowd to get towards the head of the queue as Martin called out they’d wait at the base of the attraction. They had to, he supposed. The room on the station was substantially bigger than the one on the Rodomont but it still had its limits. But, generally, the AI’s in the park could object to things but had no real will of their own so he easily pushed his way through to the front.

He found himself standing to another Raitchian hologram at the front and wondered why the computer had made a child with muscles and glossed fur with a smell that reminded him of Perranseed and Vacram. A not entirely pleasant smell that made him wonder why the system had programmed it in. He’d not noticed any of the others having any real scent since they’d booked in an hour or so back. As the car arrived, Enzo pushed forward, only to be surprised as the other Raitchian pushed back. It wasn’t exactly hard but it was enough to make him call out and protest as the other got into the car and wrapped his tail around himself as Enzo began to twig. He sat next to the boy. “You’re not a hologram, are you,” he asked conversationally.

“Nope,” the boy replied. “Mum let me have the afternoon off and I found this running in the holoroom. Came in and this was close by.”

“It’s supposed to be a private program,” Enzo protested, before grinning. “But I don’t mind sharing.” As the bar came down, Enzo offered a hand to the newcomer. “Enzo Carvalho,” he said. “Mom’s down there somewhere,” he added, flicking his head to indicate the area behind the queue, “with Martin. My stepdad.”

At that last, Kelvan’s eyes lit up. “Kelvan Jarrop,” he said, taking the hand and pumping it as the car began moving. “My step’s a freighter Captain. Good to meet you.” He let Enzo have his hand back and Enzo waved it comically. “I’m not that strong,” Kelvan told him as they reached the top of the first drop. “Look, I won’t even bend this bar by grabbing it.” He gripped the bar as the ride really began.


With the arrival of freighters two and three, Postain had decided now was the time to do a full briefing for the mission ahead and had, thus, pulled the three of them into a meeting room where he and Postlethwaite out laid fully what the mission was about. They’d spent a full half an hour laying things out. What the ships were taking. What they were bringing back. It was all very nice. Very clear and concise. Covering it all… Except, of course, the one little thing. As the briefing broke up, Frank found himself close to Postain and Postlethwaite. “I can’t help feeling there’s something you’re not telling us,” he mooted to the pair, after the other two freight Captains, Possa of the Yartinka and Aslina of the Zenger, had left the room. “Bringing in another battleship for a simple escort to an area that’s not been attacked recently,” he mused, “isn’t the usual thing, is it?”

“You’ve been told all you need to know,” Postain told him. “You’re safe with us, don’t worry.”

“It’s not action makes me worry,” Frank countered, “it’s the people I work with keeping things from me ‘for my own good’. Oh,” he added, “a bit of information you should know. The lanes through Mican space are opening up again.”

Henry regarded him casually. “Pardon,” he asked lightly.

“Apparently they’re opening the nebula to through traffic again. In two days.” He indicated his comm. “Just got the word from Jasta before we came in.” He reasoned that, if it were important, it would provoke a reaction and it did.

Postain and Postlethwaite looked at each other in alarm. “They’re moving,” was all Postain said. Postlethwaite hurried out of the room as best he could, due to age.

“You may need to double time your repairs,” was all Postain gave as warning.


There were things Martin Jul expected as Enzo whizzed around on the ride. He expected cuddles with Bridget – and he was getting them. He expected gentle conversation with his love about life, work and general stuff and he was getting it. He expected Doctor Flakk to call and break into his free time and he wasn’t getting it. But he wasn’t expecting Enzo to return from the ride with another Raitchian in tow and he nodded as the unsure little muscle was introduced as Kelvan. “Well,” he said at length, “if you want to come with us, I have no objection.” He looked to Bridget. “Do you?”

“Nope,” she allowed. “Enzo’s made a friend. It’s a good thing.”

“I can get him into trouble,” Enzo said with a grin.

“No,” Martin replied quickly, “I think we have to avoid that.”

Kelvan leaned over to ‘whisper’ an aside into Enzo’s ear. “Just like my stepdad,” he said, which got Enzo chuckling.

“I have the feeling I’m being the enemy,” Martin ‘whispered’ in his own aside to Bridget.

“You wear it so well,” she told him as they made their way across to the next ride.


<“The Decarta is headed for Darby,”> The Celican council member told Henry via the holographic command system, appearing in front of Henry’s desk with barely a flicker. <“The Wuy is on her way to Kiballa and the Busker’s going to Magrik. But we’re going to be pushed to get them there before the Micans. It may well be that only the Rodomont and the Pollack may well be the only ships in the area if the Micans try anything.”> The Celican looked stern. <“Your ships may have to stand against them, Henry.”>

“Two ships against an Armada?”

<“If they don’t, the Star Council – or whoever’s in charge there – could think we’re approving of the invasion. They may even decide to attack back. If it has to be, the Rodomont and the Pollack may need to be sacrificed...”>

[Amazee Dayzee]

Sacrificing ships is never a good thing an is even more ominous than it sounds. Hope they don't have to go that route.

[Welsh Halfwit]

EIGHT

“So, where’s Kelvan,” Frank asked, helping the twins hoist tubing into one of the ceiling sections to ensure the toilet facilities to their room worked properly again. It wasn’t exactly a priority repair so station personnel weren’t carrying it out but Raspberry was getting rather fed up of the lingering scents after Cassius had been in there following Hayseed’s flans, which he had the habit of making every third day. This would replace the cracked piping to the main refuse unit.

A little further down the way Charlie had her head in a wall panel, checking the chips and diodes. She pulled her face out and glanced over as Cassius welded the new pipe into place. “I told you,” she said, “he’s actually gone and made a friend today. A boy from the Rodomont whose Step-father…” She accentuated the last word there before continuing, “...is an important officer so Kelvan’s getting the ten credit tour of the ship.”

“I’ll not be happy… ow! Watch it with that welder, Cassius! That was a bit close!”

“Sorry, Frank,” the male twin said, chagrined and deciding to concentrate more on what he was doing, keeping the welding beam further away from the Humans’ hand.

“I’ll not be happy if he demands a transfer,” Frank finished. “I’d need to train Raspberry up as the replacement pilot.”

“You said it was my turn next, Frank.”

“Not if you keep getting too close with that welder, Cassius.”

“Which way is port again,” Raspberry asked, making sure the double ladder didn’t topple over.

“We’ll fly into an asteroid,” Charlie put in.

A new voice surprised them all, almost bonking Frank’s head on the ceiling and making him thankful Cassius had just turned the welder off. “That’s a type 27 Haysen comparator drive,” Lieutenant Ossar stated, hands behind her back and blinking at a device Charlie had next to her.

“Lieutenant… Ossar, isn’t it,” Charlie said as Raspberry reflexly moved for the closest weapon.

“Yeah,” the Engineer said, closing up the panel. “You recognise it, then?”

“Grew up around them,” the Dusk coloured feline told her. “Dad worked the ships. They compare power flows from system to system and…”

“I know what they do,” Charlie put in before grinning slightly. “Bit surprised you do. Engineer on the quiet, eh?”

“When growing up. I worked on a fair few power systems Oh!” Her ears flicked up as she suddenly remembered what she was there for. “I almost forgot! You’re moving out in three hours! Chief Postlethwaite had to move things up for some reason.”

Franks swore and started down the ladder, telling Raspberry to relax her hand away from her holstered weapon. He stomped away, up the ship.

Ossar gestured after him. “Oh! Wait! I should…”

“I wouldn’t if I were you, sweetie,” Charlie told her. “He’s just going to protest the change. If you really want to help? Now we’ve got to speed things up?” She pointed to a junction a little way down. “Check the power couplings there, eh?”


Hadrian Jak enjoyed coming home with gifts from the home systems. It was partly being surrounded by the familiar, partly the insane idea that here was the safest place in the universe and partly the fact he’d been able to hand Greedan over to Appleby. But it was mostly the fact that, after three weeks, Simone Jak was feeling incredibly amorous and energetic in bed and Hadrian was sure that, if it hadn’t been set into the floor, they would have broken the thing these last few hours. Now she rested against him, running her bone tipped fingers over his powerful chest. “So,” she asked, “what did you think of Raicarra station?”

He moved his free arm to her side. “They’re doing good work on botany,” he said, knowing exactly what she’d been meaning. “They’re working on new species able to retain water in some cases and reduce the amount food crops need.” He pushed Simone down so he was atop her. “And their work on seeding makes me kind of envious,” he said, before kissing the giggling lady.


Harmony Appleby knelt down where Greedan was sitting and attached the explosive tag to the hybrid’s ankle as Senny watched on, waiting her turn. “If you behave, you’ll get time taken off your sentence and treated well,” the Erminian telepath told him. Being able to look into his mind, she’d been briefed on the truth about this person but was carrying on the pretence for those around them, not including Senny as she knew from the simple fact that Harmony talked in her sleep. “If you don’t,” she continued, looking over at Senny, who imitated an explosion.

Greedan grimaced. “Don’t want to do THAT again,” he complained. Appleby looked at him and he felt her mind pushing its way into his in a way that was entirely inadmissible in court and he let her see the memories of his foot being blown off and regrowing. He wondered if he still looked Mican in his memories? Not, of course, that there was anything wrong with how he looked now, was there? His new tail swished happily as he thought about the lady giving him the intense glare.

She stopped and smirked. “Sorry,” she said, “married.” She activated the tag and moved over to Senny, standing up.

“The best ones usually are,” Greedan complained.

“Thanks for saying so,” Senny told him before kissing her wife. Harmony embraced the Castoran for a moment before releasing her and crouching to remove the tag from the former Pirate’s leg. “I feel free,” she added with humour.

“Free to start piloting fighters again and everything, Pilot Chief Appleby,” Harmony told her, handing her the defunct tab.

“I’ll take one out immediately,” Senny replied, not exactly sure of the brevet rank that she’d have to be sated with until she’d gotten herself up to speed on the fighters. “Well,” she added softly, “nearly immediately?”

“I’d say ‘get a room’,” Greedan complained, “but…”

“We have one,” Harmony said, completing his sentence deliberately. “We’ll take you to yours first,” she added. “You’ll be locked in until your senior officer comes to get you.”

Greedan rotated his neck to see if anything cracked, levered himself off the bed, staggered as he still wasn’t used to being taller than he’d been all his life and followed the couple to his domicile.


“Good news, bad news and…” Frank stopped as he saw Ossar, with her jacket off, lying on her back and half out of one of the connection tubes, checking the systems in there under Charlie’s direction. “OK. That’s unexpected.”

“She’s not bad,” Charlie commented. “Better than the others.”

“Well, that’s kind of good news then,” Frank replied. “The GOOD news is everyone’s ready to go in two hours and the Pollack’s inbound. The BAD news is it is two hours and we’re off so I had to ask Kelvan’s sent back. The other news,” he added as Ossar pulled herself out, “depends on you.”

“Oh,” the feline asked, a bit confused.

“I asked for an engineer to help Charlie – you said we needed one, Charlie,” he put in quickly as she looked ready to protest. He was right, she’d complained of needing help on occasion. “He said they’re needed for all the work that’s going on with Militia ships. But he suggested you might join us for the mission, rather than acting as a – his words – glorified Receptionist? We’re not glamorous but you’ll not be bored, Lieutenant. What do you think?”


She thought a confusing range of emotions.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Well if boredom is what she wants to avoid she can't go wrong with joining up with them. This was an awesome chapter!

[Welsh Halfwit]

NINE

Kelvan, still a little unhappy about having his tour of the battleship interrupted before Mr Jul could show him anything really interested and classified, entered the bridge of his home and put his arms on the back of the helm seat, occupied by his stepdad. Frank was doing the final checks on departure, communicating with the command and control people on the station as they prepared to launch. He readied for the final details. “Sorry to cut your trip short, Kelvan,” Frank said whilst waiting for the latest instruction from Talvary C’n’C.

“It’s fine,” Kelvan said reluctantly, clearly only just about accepting it. “Why’ve they moved things up?”

“Dunno,” Frank admitted. “It’s their prerogative; they’re paying.”

“Suppose so,” Kelvan shrugged, making the chair move slightly. “Who’s in the guest room?”

“Guest room? Oh,” Frank reasoned, working out Kelvan was meaning the room they sometimes rented out to paying passengers. They tended to eat with the crew as there was a pretty bare bones structure to ther guest room. No kitchen or replication systems for one thing. “That’s Talitha Ossar. Chief Postlethwaite has loaned her to us for the mission. She’s a competent engineer, according to your mother.”

Kelvan laughed a tight, strained, laugh. “Bet she didn’t think much of that. U.S.C. officers get everything.”

Frank wheeled the chair around. “Well, hardly everything, Kelvan. You’re always under someone else’s order, never making your own path in things. And having the best of things just means you don’t know how to cope without having any of it. Plus you’re getting an education in schooling and physical experience.”

Kelvan shrugged. “Suppose that Feline in Enzo’s lot did want to check my muscles.” A sigh now. “Not sure I scored many points with her with my conversation. Not that my tongue knew how to work with her.”

“You’ll get better at it,” Frank advised. “You talk to Raspberry and she’s a girl.”

“She’s like a sister!”

“Still a girl. So, what’s this one’s name?”

Kelvan thought on it and eventually put on a hopeless face. “Did I say I didn’t get any of the conversation right,” he asked.


Greedan looked around the room he was temporarily sealed into. It didn’t seem that bad. It had a small living room with a replication machine in the wall. There was a bedroom just over there, behind the frosted door. There was a shower room in there as an en suite and… Oh, lord, he thought as he opened the one door with a handle. A KITCHEN! Nothing to shout about and small but there was a little fridge and cooker which indicated there was some sort of place to buy goods on this ship and… Someone was at the door. The real door. Leaving the kitchen open he called that the person outside could enter. It surprised him how polite this person was being as the door was locked from the outside. The door unlocked and he saw a gentle looking Celican standing there, in a scientists’ uniform, hands behind his back, peeking in. “You found the kitchen, I see,” Darren said, stepping across the threshold. “It always surprises people, that.”

“I can…” He paused for a second. “Do I get paid?”

Darren let the door close behind him. “We’ll shout you the first filling of the fridge. Your pay, as limited as it is, begins today. I understand you’re a biochemist?”

“Feels like selling it short,” Greedan told him. “But I take it I’m not starting in that field?”

“Well, you sort of are,” Darren told him happily. “You’ll be tallying the results of others tests for now. Working your way up and all that. Science Chief Pilk will be watching.”

“Is that you?”

“Nah. I’m your current senior but I’m a Lieutenant. Darren Levan.” He offered a hand.

Greedan looked at the hand of a predator and half of him worried about taking it. The other half was confident and took action, propelling his hand into the slight Celicans. “Greedan Brodick,”

Darren decided he’d not mention that he knew that as it was on his forms he was holding and simply indicated Greedan should follow him. Greedan, sensing that the door would be locked again if he didn’t, fell in behind him and tried to work out why he seemed different to most Celicans.


He hadn’t worked it out when they got to the first stop, Doctor Flakk. He flinched back at the intense glare of near hatred from the Wolf medic and he heard Levan laugh behind his hand. “Is something funny, Levan,” the medic demanded, stressing the ‘f’ word almost to breaking point.

“Nothing, Doctor Flakk,” he replied.

“Good. Now sod off so I can give ‘Greedan’ here his examination.” He noted Darren looked a little unsure about leaving the two together. “I promise not to kill him. Unless he’s stupid enough to attack me.”

“I’ll be outside,” Darren said, leaving the room so Flakk could speak freely.

“I know who you really were,” the medic intoned. “They had to tell me for obvious reasons. You all should have died for what you tried to pull.”

“We were trying to save people…”

Flakk whirled around. “Only the terminally stupid create something like THAT without the knowledge that someone, somewhere, will try to use the thing as a weapon!” He leaned in closer, making the hybrid cringe on the bed. “And you lot tried selling it as weapons, didn’t you? How many barrels of the stuff are out there, Brodick? Do you know? Does anyone?”

Greedan shook his head impulsively. He really didn’t know. “I...I wasn’t involved in… in that area,” he stammered.

Flakk stepped back, turning away, and Greedan realised the medic had been holding his wrist, with the thumb against the main vein. “You were involved in the other side of it though, weren’t you?” The Doctor looked back at him with a sneer. “Although you didn’t have a clue how to use them, it’s clear. Were a Mican. Now part Celican. And all guinea-pig, as the Humans might say. Your pulse is on track for your new norm. The biomonitor is next.” He held up the small gun used to insert the device. He grinned. “I really like this part,” he said.


Five minutes passed before he rejoined Darren, rubbing the red stained spot where Flakk had injected the device. “Can we buy some cheese or something now,” he asked.


Outside, the Passera freed itself from the Communal station and started its turn to fall in with the others.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Who would't enjoy using a gun to inject something into a person? Probably would be the highlight of their day. X3 Nice chapter!

[Welsh Halfwit]

TEN

The first day passed and Ossar got to know her new surroundings. Her room was very small compared to what she’d been used to, being pretty much a studio apartment with a curtained off area containing a toilet. She wondered about why the curtain until she pressed the button next to it and the toilet area twisted down and into the floor to reveal a shower area that probably used sonic energy to vibrate the fur clean. She was never exactly happy with the effect these things had on her teeth. Could be worse, though. They could be using recycle tech and, on a ship like this, that wasn’t exactly the greatest…


She put away the bag of clothes and tech she’d managed to grab from her room. She almost couldn’t believe Postlethwaite had done this to her. Hadn’t she proven herself over the months she’d been there? Hadn’t she done everything he’d asked and done her duties? But she supposed that he had a point. She was the lowest rank in Command, given the lowest duties. She wasn’t needed by the engineering crews on station either so perhaps this was something she had to do. To consider her options and test herself. And it was going to be a test. She examined the bare bones replication system and noted it was still fully operational. Everything in this room was. She supposed that, as this was the room they gave to paying guests, they did their best to keep everything active and running in here. She’d have to check out the other quarters at some point. She lifted herself off the wall couch and tested the button that turned it into the bed and pressed it again. Still worked. She checked her comm and cursed herself. She’d left it on station time, not ship time. And she might have missed lunch.


“Ah,” the Lappinean said, dishing out the remainder of the flan he’d given the others for lunch as Ossar entered the room, “Frank thought you’d set your comm wrong. It’s 1421 ship time,” he told her, pointing to a clock on the wall. “Twenty four hour time frame. Not allergic to any particular foods are you?”

“Um, only Peccarus,” she put in, glancing up from the work of changing the clock on her comm. Hayseed checked the ingredients and declared it clear of any Peccarus herb before pushing the plate over for her. She sniffed it. “No meat,” she asked. “Does that mean..?”

“Nah,” the cook replied, leaning on the counter. “Meat’s too expensive to use everyday. I can chop it up. There’s canine in my lineage. I often tell myself it’s from an ancestor visiting the Peace talks on Cana at the end of the wars.”

She allowed him a small grin. “If you’re going to have delusions,” she told him, “it’s better to have the really satisfying ones?”

“Something like that, Hayseed told her as she chanced the flan.

It didn’t taste too bad. Perfectly edible. “Any drink,” she asked and he plonked a coffee on the table.

“Saved from the carafe,” Hayseed told her.

“Is real coffee that expensive,” she asked.

“No. But the water purification tablets are,” he remarked.


Fed and watered, Osser continued her ersatz tour of the ship and found herself in the medical room after doing some work on the engines. She wasn’t hurt but wanted to turn her nose to working out people’s positions on the ship. She knew everyone would be trained in basic maintenance and would concentrate on that for the most part but they had to have people who concentrated on medical studies and direct oversight of the cargo bays and she needed to know which of the twins did what. She could ask but there was no way to know if they were telling the truth. The nose knew. And, with a sniff in the cupboard, she was coming up with the direct idea that it was Raspberry, the female, who applied the bandages most often, although Charlie’s scent also lingered. “We don’t take records,” the light Mican voice said, making Ossar jump.

“I didn’t hear you,” she said, clearly surprised.

Raspberry almost seemed embarrassed by the fact the admission made her smile. She put away a towel she’d been wiping her hands with, stuffing it into a pocket. “I hear that all the time,” she confessed. “Sometimes use it, too. Yeah, I’m the medic come dogsbody. Despite being an attractive Mican. Well,” she added, letting Osser get a glimpse of the scar across her stomach, “mostly attractive. Couldn’t work on myself, did I? Had to rely on Frank for the meatball stuff.” She shrugged. “I lived. Cassius and I came aboard because the Captain pays decently and families form, y’know? No-one here flinches any more at the scar so I can go shirtless when I like. I’m answering all your questions before you ask them because everyone asks them. And, yes, I HAVE dated when we’ve been on stopovers. Might pick up a Karrinean when we doing work there.”

Osser wondered if she was supposed to ask something here, now that the Mican had paused for breath. There was only one she could think of and wasn’t sure how it would go over but…

“Either,” Raspberry said, having guessed the question. “Why be choosy? No,” she added, sitting in the room’s medic’s chair and spinning around, “I’m not a telepath. I just funnelled you towards that question. You going to tell me about your Peccarus allergy,” she asked.

“How did..? Hayseed?”

Raspberry pointed at her. “You got it, Prettypaws! What’s the first name for the files anyhow?”

Osser preened. “You mean you don’t know,” she asked, looking at her paws and wondering what made them ‘pretty’. “Uh, it’s Talitha. For the record.” She patted the Mican on the shoulder. “Oh and, so’s you know?” She took her jacket off and rolled her left sleeve up to reveal a scar on her upper arm that bisected two colour sections with a section of puckered skin visible when the fur was parted. “Patched up on Cestis III by a botanist. We’d had an accident and he was the only science type we had left.” She rolled the sleeve down. “So, if I stare at it, it’s not disgust, just something I’ve not seen.”

Raspberry nodded. “Thanks for that.” Her ear twitched. “Frank wants you,” she said, a few seconds before Frank called Osser.

“How did..?” Osser figured she’d not get an answer and hurried out.


“Ah,” the Human said, seeing her pull her jacket back on, “been settling in?”

She nodded. “Yes, Captain.”

“Only call me Captain when we’re dealing with other ships. Other than that, it’s Frank, yeah? And you’re Talitha.” A slight smile twitched the lip fur. “If you want to be or not,” he added. “Wanted you to know, we’re going to our best cruising speed. Velocity 2.5. Things might start shaking soon so you need to be ready to assist Charlie.”

“Right,” Talitha said thoughtfully, “playtime’s over. Who’s flying the ship if you’re here,” she added.

“Kelvan,” Frank replied, making Talitha cringe...

[Welsh Halfwit]

ELEVEN

Harras coughed twice as he crossed the engineering bay to check on the intake manifold readings for the battleship. He had people checking on the power flow and the engine efficiency but the Equinna had a personal affinity for the manifolds, making sure they were absorbing as much usable power from the unfiltered star radiation and routing it to the power systems whilst keeping the same free of stellar dust and debris via the regular purges. It was busy work but it kept him entertained for a few minutes or so. He delegated Ortranta to make the repairs to the Science Lab lights on deck twenty and Mayle to check the fridge systems in the general shop as they were currently stuck at a degree above freezing, which wasn’t good for the fresh products that kept the pressure off the replication systems and he looked down and coughed again as his deputy, Kerri Kerris… scratch that, Kerri Levan looked up at him. “I’ve,er,got the walkwayschecked,” she gabbled, using her usual Chipmunk patter, “Diviina,QuetandKista havefinishedpurging the recyclebuffers, Yarral’sfinishedcleaning outthe holoroomfiltersand REALLYwantsa transfer…”

“OK,” Harras remarked, looking to get a word in edgeways with his deputy, “put her on the replication machine checks, ask Ianta to make sure the hydroponics bay it at full capacity and we’ll get Kanni to check the core soon as she’s back from lunch.” He watched, fascinated, as she entered the instructions on her padd at speed. He coughed again.

“Whyarewe preparingforbattle,” Kerri asked, almost surprising him.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he bluffed.

Kerri looked at him with frustration. “Allthesechecks on the powerand weaponssystems,” she told him, shrugging in exasperation, “andall thetestswe were planningtorun on the powersystems to increaseefficiency cancelled forthenext month?” She pointed a finger at him. “We’repreparingfor aconfrontation,aren’t we?”

“I, er…” He coughed again. Several times, in fact. He put a hand onto the console to steady himself. He was pretty sure she was right. At least partly, anyway.

Kerri frowned. “Youneedtogetthatchecked out,” she told him with concern.

“I will later,” Harras said, about three seconds before feeling his vision swim and his knees buckle.

Kerri tapped her comm. “Medicalemergency,Engineering bay!”

<“Please restate message,”> the automated system replied.

Kerri rolled her eyes and concentrated. “Medical emergency, Engineering bay,” she said, kneeling to put the Chief into recovery position.

<“On way,”> Flakk said, after the computer relayed the message as the others milled around.

“Youneverseenanillequinnabefore,” Kerri shouted, talking even faster than normal in her worry. “GETBACKTOYOURSTATIONS!” The last was just as fast but carried enough volume that the general message got through as Flakk arrived in the room with his sensor devices. The Wolf pushed her aside and started scanning as the Feline assistant finally arrived.

“What symptoms did you see,” Flakk asked Kerri urgently.

“Hewascoughing a lot, Doctor,” she told him, “then hegotall dizzy and went down. Itwasquick. Abouttwominutes from coughtocollapse.”

The Doctor, quite used to Kerri’s gabble speed of talking, nodded as he closed his scanner and put it in his pocket. “Rake’s contagion.” He tapped his comm. “Flakk to teleport control. Two of teleport to the isolation bay in ten seconds.” He closed the link as they responded and looked to Kerri. “It’s infectious but only to Equinna. I’ll see you for decontamination later. Same for anyone he met…” He fizzled out, along with Harras. Knowing what was to come, Kerri and the nurse stayed put until Kerri’s comm chirped. She answered it. <“...in the last half hour,”> Flakk concluded.

The nurse shrugged before Kerri could speak. “Glad I wasn’t needing to carry him,” she said, by way of a breaking the ice lame joke. “So,” she continued, “who’s he been close to in the last half hour? Short infection time but it can stay on anyone’s fur for hours.” She looked around.

“Reyna,” Kerri called, stepping up to the role of acting chief, “getthe disinfectantkitand clean everywhereyou saw theChief in the lasthour!”

“Right, Chief,” the Canine repeated, nodding as his brain separated the words.


“Well, that’s inconvenient,” Xarra asked, swicking her tail as she stood in front of Postains’ desk in his ready room after he’d told her of Harras’s collapse.

“Inconvenient doesn’t begin to cover it,” Postain complained, “we’re one day into an important mission and our Chief Engineer goes down with a long term illness. Flakk’s got him in the isolation ward.”

“Promote Levan to acting Chief?”

Postain looked confused. “What does he have to do with..? Oh,” he continued, his mind clearing, “Kerri Levan?” He looked up her record and came to a decision. “Fair enough. Put her in acting command but we need a tall type as her deputy. Advise her of the fact.”

Xarra nodded and thought she’d need to do such tactfully. “And is there any information on the Mican fleet,” she asked.

“None as of yet,” Postain advised, before noting that his first looked rather… unsettled. “What is it, Xarra?”

“Well, I, er,” she said nervously, “was hoping you didn’t, er, think I had split loyalties being as…”

“If I had doubts about you, Xarra, you wouldn’t be on this mission. Although you’re Mican and so are they, you chose us over them. We’ll need restrictions on outgoing messages of course.”

She bounced up on her toes once. “Of course, sir.”

Postain concentrated on his computer screen. “See to it, would you?”

“Sir.”

“Dismissed.” She headed out of the room, light of spirit. He made sure the door was closed before he made a computer note to check on the restrictions she imposed later.


And the convoy exited USC space.

[Welsh Halfwit]

TWELVE

Kohlich had his arms around Kelly Cobalt as they looked out of their cabin’s porthole into space after they’d woken up. After doing velocity 2.5 for three days, the ship had been travelling for the past half hour at 0.7 velocity to bypass what was being listed as a ‘navigational anomaly’. He gulped and knew Kelly could feel it travelling down the back of her head as she angled her head upwards. “This must be hard for you,” she said as the former military station walked past the window .

Kohlich tried not to think too much on the year and a half he’d spent on board there but visual memory often overloaded the senses and he couldn’t help but think of the things the three of them had gone through back then. The deprivation and desperation they’d had. No way to escape. No way to signal anyone. Precious little food or oxygen. Tears dripped down his grey and white fur as his embrace tightened slightly around the brightest spot in his local space. “I…” He choked. “I remember them all,” he practically coughed. “The Cadan sealed us in to save our lives.” He screwed his eyes shut. “You know how many times I wish he hadn’t?”

Kelly turned in his grip so they were chest to chest. “Know how many times I’m thankful he did,” she asked.

He smiled genuinely for a moment and kissed her chastely on the lips. “You’re the brightest light in my universe now, Kelly,” he told her. “But times were so hard over there.”

“I can guess,” she told him, hugging him in a tight embrace. “I’ve heard you at night sometimes, talking about those things.”

“You should wake me,” he told her gently. “I never want you to hear distressing things…”

“And I never want to hurt you,” Kelly responded.

“The Cadan would say we needed to embrace life,” Kohlich sighed, picking Kelly up so her legs wrapped around his thighs. Now she was face to face with him, he kissed her with more intent now, a feeling she reciprocated as he took her back over to the bed. He laid her down. “And I’ve always done as ordered.”


On the bridge, Maldak sat at her communications console and scanned for signals in the longe range section . The satellite hadn’t transmitted since they’d been here last time but there were hints of things that weren’t the standard signal relay from Karrin. That operated on a powered up, narrow band, system to the communications relays around Calbrea and on, into the patch. There was something, though, just on the edge of the sensors, that hinted at being important. Just fragments coming through without relay stations. There was someone out there, wasn’t there? The Quokkan turned to tell Postain. “Sir,” she said, “I’m picking up fragments of transmissions at extreme range.”

“Who’s making them,” Postain asked curiously.

“I can’t tell at this range, sir. I have the general direction they’re coming from…”

Postain, resting his elbow on his arm rest, spoke before she could finish. “We’re on a mission, Maldak. We’re not diverting for a possible transmission that could be completely unimportant. The Karrineans need the seeds and equipment our cargo friends are carrying and our expertise in applying them. You get anything clearer, tell me.”

“Aye.”


Kelvan appeared in teleport bay three, the closest one to the school, and stepped down whilst checking everything was still in the right place. He had a small pack on his back, containing school padds and Sandwiches made by Hayseed at his mother’s urging. His stomach wasn’t used to to sorts of foods available through the Rodomont systems – the hotel bathroom had reminded her of that – so, although she had no trouble with him getting used to it, she didn’t want him entirely dependent on it just yet. So sandwiches and a drink had been included. He thanked the person operating the device again. “No trouble, Kelvan,” the operator said, remembering the boys name from the last two days. “Have a good day,” he added as the door opened to show Enzo waiting outside.

“It’s school,” Kelvan replied, “it’s rarely supposed to be a good day, Gale.”

The door shut and Enzo handed over a candy bar from one of the machines. “How is it,” Enzo asked, walking with his friend to the chamber of tortures they called a schoolroom, “that you can talk to Lieutenant Chulders like that but you can’t string a line together with Wella?”

Kelvan mused on that whilst he ate the candy that his mother didn’t know he was having. “Jutht,” he said, not bothering to finish eating before talking, “that the’s an adult and Wella’th cute and…”

“Interested in you,” Enzo grinned.

Kelvan sagged slightly as he finished the piece of candy he had in his mouth. “But I’m only here a month,” he said simply, “what’s the point?”

“To make that month more fun.” Enzo rested against a wall. “How’d your mom and stepdad meet?”

Kelvan stopped. “A couple years after dad passed we went to Yuran III for work. She ended up working on cargo freighters. Been there a year and this Human comes by, needing his ship fixed. Mum got assigned. They chatted, dated, fell into bed and into love.” He took another bite and swallowed. “Mum asked if I was OK with it. Figured I was more for than against so…”

“It started with them just knowing each other for a month,” Enzo told him, as though he were an expert on such things since he’d begun dating Ella. Point made, he started into the school area, passing by the first years schoolrooms and entering their own, where paper air-planes soared overhead as though paper was a normal thing and the two friends found their way to their desks, Enzo in front of Kelvan and Kelvan just across from the tortoiseshell feline Wella, who looked over at him.

“Hi, Kelvan,” she said sweetly, “you’re looking nice today?”

“Er, um,” Kelvan stammered mentally, trying to recall what Raspberry had been training him to say. “So, um, so do you, We...Wella,” He cringed internally. It had sounded a disaster to his own ears. He was almost happy when Mr Jalda, the Collian Male teacher, stepped in and used the commanding tone of his to control the room.


“Sir,” Maldak mentioned, having spent another few hours listening to nothing. Now she had something. It was DEFINITELY something. “I’m picking up a distress call from the U.S.C. Calbrae. She’s a light transport vessel that runs from Karrin to…”

“I KNOW what the Calbrae is, Maldak,” Postain snapped. “What’s the situation?”

“She says she’s under attack from a Jestavanian ship, sir.”

“Notify the others. Bartleby, set a course.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Just managed to catch up on all of the chapters that I missed while away! Really some great stuff you wrote and a nice way to end to my vacation! Keep up the good work!

[Welsh Halfwit]

THIRTEEN

In front of him, Mr Jalda was talking about the Cultural movements on Celica during the fifth Kalvinian dynasty and how they’d impacted the progress of the industrial and expansionist movements on that world to an extent that they started to explore the galaxy as one of the first great explorer races some half a century before the Micans and Felines started reaching out but Kelvan wasn’t listening completely. It was as he’d feared. School was boring without the ability to go look at his magazine pads every twenty or so minutes. He’d considered imagining his classmates in some of the poses but the idea had repulsed him so he’d dropped it almost as quickly as he’d thought of it. Kelvan supposed the teacher was somewhat better than the autoteach interactive personality he was used to from the remote teach facility and the others around him were more interactive than the other kids he’d seen on screens and… Was that Willa’s tail touching his? He jerked it back impulsively, swacking the ankles of the boy behind him, who softly ‘ow’ed as Willa turned her head away and snickered. Kelvan wondered if the other boy from the cargo freighters was having a better time of it in the second year class? But he wasn’t going to be defeated, he decided, as he felt the ship pull forward, then relax as the dampening field cut in. He looked at his time display unit and frowned. “Enzo,” he whispered.

The boy ignored him. Or tried to.

Kelvan tapped him on the back. “Enzo…”

“No talking in class,” Mr Jalda said. “If you want to ask something, Kelvan, raise your hand, OK?”

He wondered, for a moment, where the button was to do that. Then he remembered he was physically here so he had to do it physically. He did so.

“Yes, Kelvan,” Mr Jalda asked.

“I was, er, just wondering why we’ve gone to velocity speeds ahead of schedule, uh, sir? I… I programmed the navigation computer before I came over this morning. We’re, uh, not supposed to be at speeds until 1150, sir. But I just felt the ship…”

“Don’t worry,” Mr Jalda assured him, “it’s probably just a picked up signal or something. First rule of being on the Rodomont,” he continued, “plans change. The Command crew will tell us if we need to do anything. Now, the sixth Kalvinian dynasty, led by Emperor Hobbez…”


Frank had to tell his crew about the slight change in plans quite quickly as he wasn’t planning to lose his escort this soon into the mission. “Ossar to the bridge,” he called.

The feline joined him in short order, making sure her shirt was tidy as she arrived. “Normally people use the comm,” she told him. “You have a loud voice.”

“I have a loud voice…” he prompted.

“Sir?”

“Frank. I knew you were close by. Cargo freighter rules. When travelling at velocity, there needs to be two on the bridge. My wife’s busy, so are Raspberry and her brother. Hayseed couldn’t pilot a pogo stick so that leaves you. Want the helm or the chair?”

“Uh…” She looked at the seat he was currently in and the chair behind it. She kept glancing between the two. “I, er… I want the Command chair but…”

Frank swung himself out of the pilot’s seat. “I get it. You want that seat but would feel safer at the helm, Talitha?” She slotted into the vacated seat and familiarised herself with the controls as the Human put a hand on her shoulder. “When you’re ready for the Command seat,” he said, “I think you’ll take it without a problem. And, y’know what?”

“What,” she asked, sensing the prompt.

“The first command? If it’s a freighter, a Clipper or whatever, nothing you do after will feel quite the same. You might end up Captaining the flagship but you’ll dream of that Clipper from time to time.” He patted her shoulder and took up the command seat to watch space streak by.


Cassius checked on the systems around cargo module number three to check the stress readings on the newly repaired systems and make sure they stayed within specifications as Hayseed came out from the stockroom. “New Kavanos stocks in the freezer,” the Lappinean told him. “Even got some Cheel this time.”

“Met someone called Cheel the once,” Cassius said absently, tapping a code into the panel to adjust the temperature down a degree or two to better preserve the contents. “It was a family name, apparently. They were butchers specialising in that meat. In fact they got it named after their family when they started exporting to Raitche. So he said.”

“You do talk a lot of drivel,” Hayseed commented, leaning on the wall to keep himself upright. “What do you think of the new girl?”

Cassius sniffed. “Seems a decent sort,” he admitted. “For a Feline. Nice shape. Good brain. Pleasant voice. Knows how to take an order.”

“Going to try to chat her up,” The Lappinean grinned.

Cassius considered and snorted slightly. “Maybe. If we get a quiet day.”


Postain looked out of the viewscreen and mused. He was going in at Velocity three, with the Pollack hanging back to protect the cargo freighters in case it was a trap. They were coming in some ten minutes behind. He’d have rathered they not come at all but this emergency was on the way. “Time on target,” he asked Bartleby.

“Two minutes, sir,” she replied, glancing up at the screen, showing a USC transport ship under fire from an armed attacker.

“OK,” he replied. “Xarra, sound battle stations. Maldak, get the fighters to launch stations.”


“OK, children,” Mr Jalda said as the alert siren sounded, “put your padds away and line up. We’ll head for the local safe room now.” He looked at Kelvan, noting there was a hint of alarm in the boys face. “Don’t panic, Kelvan.”

The boy wasn’t quite panicking about that, though.

Willa had taken his hand to give him strength.

[Amazee Dayzee]

This was a really nice chapter and I am digging where this is going! Keep up the good work!

[Welsh Halfwit]

FOURTEEN

Kelvan was confused. Where were they going? Why was no one seeming scared? What was going on? He wanted to ask Willa but couldn’t get his tongue in order and it seemed to be something important so he didn’t want to waste time asking now and was that the Cervidian running past with a handful of other guards and yes, it was. Mister Jalda took them into a large interior room and Kelvan worked out this must be a secure zone. A guard stayed in the corner as half the school came in. He noted the Celican child from the other freighter looking confused and that centred him somewhat as he released Willa’s hand and crouched by the boy. “Hey, it’s Talzar, right? From the Hunter?” The sniffing boy nodded. “I’m Kelvan. From the Passera? This place,” he said, looking around and seeing Enzo and Willa both looking at the two of them. He looked back at the cub. “You know when your folks think there’s going to be trouble and tell you to stay in the most secure part of the ship?”

Talzar thought on the occasions and nodded hesitantly. He was only just learning the hunt skills.

“This is just like those places,” Kelvan said, faking a positivity of tone. “Safest place in the ship.” He offered a generous smile. “You been making friends, Talzar?”

“Y...yeah,” he said, indicating a Celican, a Canine and a Mican about his age.

“You stick with them, OK? You can help them be brave?”

“Like… Like yours?”

At this, Enzo leaned over Kelvan’s shoulder. “Absolutely, Talzar. I’m Enzo and this is Willa. Kelvan’s friends. Yours too if you want?”


“I want that Cadan on screen now,” Postain snarled as they closed in on the ongoing battle. “Maldak, make it happen. Put me on general.” He waited on the Quokkan until she said they were on. “This is Captain Postain of the U.S.C. Rodomont to hostile vessel. You will cease your attack on our ship immediately we will fire upon you.”

“They’re putting out a request for assistance,” Maldak warned. “Doing my best to block it.”

“Do what you can.”

“They’re calling. Audio only.”

“Put ‘em on.”


The voice crackled through the speakers. <“This is our space, outsiders,”> it hissed. <“We are reclaiming it. Your presence is not allowed.”>

“You abrogated your rights to this space when you abandoned these colonies. This was agreed the last time I was here. The other thing we guaranteed is that we would support and assist Karrin. Which is what we’re doing. One thing you should understand. It’s not that you don’t want us as an enemy. It’s that you don’t want ME as an enemy.” He growled. “If you stand down we can talk about this. You have until I’m in weapons range. Then I’ll negotiate with your next of kin.” He signalled for Maldak to cut the link as Bartleby told him there was twenty seconds to weapons range.


Senny wasn’t quite ready, Xarra had told her three days ago. The Castoran had to admit she was right. Training flights had been organised for whilst they were over Karrin but that wasn’t yet so she was into the hologram projection room for what she hoped was the last time as her fighters launched without her. The system allowed ‘space’ to flow around her as it linked her into the pilots/ “Alright, Tanget,” she told her deputy, “you’re leading today. Enjoy it. I’ll be in that seat next week. These guys used to have a shielding weakness in the lower aft port area. You might try targeting there. Don’t need to tell you lot to keep out of the two ship’s firing solutions, do I?”

<“Didn’t you,”> Tanget snipped as the Rodomont reached weapons range and opened fire.

“Yeah. Flight three through seven, escort that ship to a place of safety. Everyone else? I’ll be on advice but Tanget’s lead. Follow his instructions.”


“Glad you’re back,” Chief Yarkin asided to Jak as she checked his position close to the school. He had Parrell, Wayik and Qzirra as back up, secured in the Wool merchant’s supply store, with a commanding view down the main passage and immediate redeployment capability if needed in sciences or the main concourse.

“They had firefights on the Savval too, boss,” Hadrian protested.

“Not according to the official record,” Yarkin replied wryly. “Not telling me the official record has been edited, are you?”

“Never would, on the record,” Jak told her as the ship shooting began.


Bartleby took the ship in on course ‘Postain seven’ as they swept between the Star Council ship and the unarmed U.S.C. ship, deliberately taking the fire meant for the transport vessel across her front shields. The weapons officers took their shots back at the cruiser as they stood, face to face in the void. “Her shields are at sixty percent,” Xarra called from the science station.

“Gunners,” Postain said aloud. “I want them at zero. Within the minute if you can.” He held on as energy fire lashed across the viewer, impacting the shields outside as the Castoran’s fighters picked at the enemy’s shielding in the lower aft area. Postain wondered if the Castoran had seen the latest reports showing they’d fixed that particular defect. He supposed it didn’t matter. The shields were being drained anyhow. He heard a small explosion somewhere down the ship.


Doctor Flakk strapped the ill chief down to the bed and exited the quarantine area, stepping through the decontamination shower to be with Cobalt before the inevitable influx of patients came to them with minor injuries from being thrown about like twigs in a storm. “We’re coming to help these people,” Kelly reminded him. “Why are they shooting at us?”

“Hunter couldn’t care less if you’re helping,” he told her, “You’re one of them or you’re the enemy. We’re stealing their territory. Perhaps they object. Get the medical packs ready.”

“On it,” she replied brightly as Kohlich turned into the room. “What’re you doing here,” she asked.

“Acting Chief Levan told me to be on station here,” he said, stepping over to help her with the packs for distribution to the orderlies who took packs and reported to their stations. “Figure she wanted me where nobody was going to shoot at me by accident,” he continued with a wry grin.

“Sound tactic,” Flakk grunted. “Keep the power running. Gain brownie points.”


“You did well with Talzar,” Enzo told Kelvan as the ship shook whilst the two played a vid game. Enzo was used to playing with vocal distractions so he found it easier to talk whilst concentrating. Kelvan didn’t reply until his rock-like Celican had stomped on Enzo’s Raitchian Sword wielder.

“Well, got things in common with him, don’t I? We don’t have these rooms on our ships.” He looked over to where the Celican and his friends were playing catch and chase with Willa. “We just stay as out of sight as we can. Da… Frank’s teaching me to fight.” He looked embarrassed. “He’s not my dad.”

“I do the same with Martin,” Enzo said. “Does it matter? The good’uns treat us like we’re their sons. Means we can treat ‘em like our dads, yeah?” He nodded over to one of the senior children in the room. “Marrik didn’t get one of the good ones. Captain had him sent to Pandera Pen for three years. He never calls that one ‘dad.”

Kelvan started the next round.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Always a pleasure to read the next chapter! Lovely story!

[Welsh Halfwit]

FIFTEEN

On the screen, the other ship was trying to turn away, furthering the gap between herself and the Rodomont as the battleship blasted the shields. They’d been improved, Postain noted, but still weren’t quite comparable to the U.S.C. vessel. But then, she was a battleship. Stronger shields and heavier armour. Not as much firepower as a destroyer but there weren’t that many of those about in U.S.C. space these days. Something about the name didn’t inspire confidence in the peace-making intentions of the fleet. He heard Xarra call out that they were making to escape and grunted in response. “We’re not going to let them. We’re looking to send a message here and it’s not ‘shoot at us and we’ll let you run’. Take their engines offline. Maldak, relay that to the pirate.”

He thought he’d have to reconsider that nickname soon. She wasn’t, technically, a pirate any more. But it suited her so well. He watched her well trained fighters adjusted their attack vector . “Xarra,” he added thoughtfully, “scan the Calbrae. Let’s find out who and what they have on board.”

“Of course,” she replied, hoping Lieutenant Kridd got over the Talvarian mumps quickly so he could be let out of his room and return to bridge science duties quickly. It wasn’t so much that he was a great officer as he wasn’t but the science department used different terminals to the bridge and Kridd was one the only one trained on the bridge systems that Science department head Tavin didn’t consider essential. “Anything I’m looking for?”

“Reasons the Jestavanians might want this liner dead. Beyond the crud they just tried to sell us.”

“Right.”


On the screen, Postain saw the fighters pull back a few seconds before a build up of pressure inside the hull of the Jestavanian ship made a section of the rear hull blister and explode, pushing the ship in the opposite direction and making it rotate helplessly in space. “Ready magnetic beams,” Postain ordered, knowing they couldn’t move out of the way due to having the Calbrae right behind her so it was either the magnetic beams or take a space ship in the face.

“We’ll have to drop shields to do that,” Xarra advised him. “We don’t know if their weapons are still operational although their engines are failing.”

“Understood, Xarra,” he replied. “Do it anyhow.”

Xarra checked over the sticky notes Kridd had left behind as it wasn’t a button she usually pressed and pressed it.


Invisibly, a beam struck out and lanced onto the hull of the other vessel, stopping its tumbling movement and probably sending half the crew flying sideways inside as the fight stuttered to an end, the hull leaking globules of fluid, chunks of metal and chunks of biological remains into space through the hole. “Link in with the teleport systems,” Postain told Xarra, “Scan what’s ejected for life signs and teleport anything living on board.”


“Uh, aye.” Xarra linked in to the teleport system. She knew how to do that verbatim. It was the second thing she’d ensured she learned, after ship scans. She took remote control from the teleport chief and teleported two life signs to the teleport bay, slightly surprising the chief, who’d not expected to have two half frozen and near asphyxiated Jestavanians land in a pile on the floor that was so cold it was giving off whisps of steam in the warmth of the cool room.

He grasped his side arm and hit his comm, making it reflex towards the floor rather than point at the intruders. “Security to teleport bay one,” he said quickly. “Cold survivors present.”

<“We hear you, Telly,”> Yarkin replied. <“On our way.”>

“N...now you two d...don’t move,” he told the thawing blocks nervously, almost pointing the weapon at the door as it opened and Martin Jul hurried in, the Mican almost stepping back at the sight of the firearm.

“You shoot at your mother with that thing,” Martin mused, before frowning. “That didn’t make sense. I never make sense when I’m scared, do I? These the frozen you’re worried about? That didn’t make sense either. I’ll shut up now.” He headed over to the pair on the floor and pulled a thin, thermal, blanket from his medical pack, draping it over them and turning it on. “Too cold to hold,” he told the chief as he began scanning them. “Yup. Minus 180. Would have been dead in a minute or so out there.” He readied an injector. “Good job we’ve been able to adapt these things for Jestavanians,” he stated, applying the injector to the female’s neck and pressing the plunger. He removed the frost tinged end and applied a new one before injecting the male. “It’ll stop their blood freezing,” he told the chief as Yarkin hurried in with two of her troops. “Afternoon, chief,” Jul said in greeting. “Trying a tabby look today, yeah?”

She looked down at her grey shaded dye. “I updated my file photo and the Captain,” she said defensively.

“Never said you hadn’t, Chief. You’ll be able to take them to cells in three minutes. Wear thermal gloves.” He used an extendible rod to extract the firearms from their belts and skittered them across the floor.


“Were we glad to see you,” the freighter Captain told Postain as Xarra reported the other ships were arriving. “They had us cold.”

Postain examined the Brockian passively as he turned Xarra off to concentrate fully on the being in his ready room. “WHY did they have you cold?”

The Brockian hesitated. “I… don’t understand..?”

“Your crew and passenger compliment includes fifteen Raitchians, six Celicans, Five Micans, Eight Felines, two Brockians and six Jestavanians in the passenger section. Strangely, those last six aren’t supposed to be there. Who are they?”

The Brockian looked uncomfortable as he twitched in Postain’s view. “They’re… Uh…. Envoys,” he said uncertainly. “From… some of the other colony worlds…” He smiled for a second but it didn’t reach his eyes. “The, uh, ambassador from Raitche…”

Postain breathed out in exasperation. “...invited them to go to the patch with a view to opening up recognition and diplomatic status for their worlds?”

The Brockian twitched.

“Our engineers will have your ship up and running in an hour. Then you get back underway. Dismissed.”

As the Brockian left, Postain put his head in his hands. The Jestavanians might be readying to repel an invasion from U.S.C. space. And their reasoning was accurate. In a way. Diplomatically? Some worlds were inviting them in.


And then there was the Micans.

[CunningFox]

Excellent chapters, Welsh.

[Amazee Dayzee]

You did do a really great job on this chapter! You keep impressing me with everything you do when you write! Awesome work!

[Welsh Halfwit]

SIXTEEN

Postain had something of an idea as he watched the Jestavanian ship on the screen. Yarkin’s team had swept the ship free of opposition, who’d been moved to cramp up her security teams and now he had to plan the next move. And he had an idea as to what it should be. Which was why he’d called Mrs Levan and Kohlich up to the bridge, away from the other repairs they’d been doing. The pair of them arrived on the bridge now and Kohlich almost smiled as he saw the hulk on the screen. “A Crisaka class cruiser. Done some damage to the engine area, I see.”

Postain turned to silence him so he could speak. “So you know the class of ship? Tell me about it.”

Kohlich mused on the situation. “As I recall, they have two engines. One primary and one back up. It looks like you’ve blown out the primary but it might be possible to repair the secondary. The absolute minimum for operations is twelve. I presume that’s what you’re most interested in?”

“It is indeed,” Postain snapped as Xarra put her face in her hands at Kohlich’s error. “NEVER presume what I’m planning,” Postain thundered. “But get teams over there and do everything you can do to get that thing operational within three hours!”

Behind them, Maldak tried to attract his attention. “Sir? The Calbrae is hailing us. They’re saying they’d like to get underway again.”

“Tell them to get lost,” Postain grumped. His ears twitched. “But use more diplomatic terms. Then send a narrowband transmission to Postlethwaite. Tell him who those idiots are bringing with them. They can be HIS problem!” He looked back to the engineers. “Are you two still here?”

They took the hint but Kerri turned back. “Permissionto usesomeengineers fromtheother ships,” she gabbled. “lessens our timesforrepairs and wesee whattheycan do!”

Postain thought on it for a second. “Volunteers from the cargo ships and they work with ours or the Pollock. NEVER alone!”


Charlie readied herself for teleport as Frank prepared to operate the machinery. “You didn’t have to volunteer, you know,” he told her, a little concerned despite – or because of – the bouncy enthusiasm his wife was showing at the idea of going over to an alien ship.

“How could I not, Frank,” she asked in reply. “It’s not like I’m expressly needed over here right now.”

“Osser is NOT a replacement…”

“I know, but there’s nothing collapsing following the repairs so I can leave the furnace to a less competent stoker for a few hours and know it’s in good hands,” she added as Osser walked into the room.

“Heard the first part, Charlie,” Talitha remarked. “Still choosing to take it as a compliment. I’ll keep the home fires burning. Your home fires, of course.”

“Of course. Beam up me, Frank.”

The Human rolled his eyes. “That’s ‘beam me up’…” He operated the device…


...and Charlie reappeared in a cold room with an engineer from one of the cargo ships and a squad of uniforms. The Chipmunk who wore the pips that indicated she was in charge divvied them up into teams and assigned Charlie to work with a fresh faced Feline from the Pollock and the Jestavanian… at least Charlie presumed it was a Jestavanian… that lived on the Rodomont. This’d be a tale for Kelvan, she thought, grinning slightly at the thought of her boy being a bit jealous of her. She joined the Feline – called Festa, apparently – in following the tall not-a-Brockian out towards the engineering deck as the Chipmunk led a team of little ones towards the bridge.

“Is this your first time on an alien vessel,” the Feline asked her excitedly.

“I live on a Human ship,” she replied cheekily. “But Non council? Sure.”

“This ship belongs to a council too,” the Jestavanian put in, not turning around to indicate he’ heard them. “The Star Council.” He sounded tense. “Whichever side it’s on.”

“That’s gonna get confusing,” Charlie told the pair, making the Feline giggle.

“You’re a wiring specialist,” the Jestavanian practically told Charlie.

“Yeah, and the name’s Charlie.”

“Kohlich. Good. You’ll mostly be checking those.” He pointed to the Feline. “You specialise in circuitry and consoles?”

“I have my mini replication system and tablets,” she said. “And I’m Harla.”

Charlie’s ears pricked up. “You have a mini replication system? Can it do wires?”

Harla sighed. “Yeah. It was an eighteenth birthday present. I’m not rich. The parents are still paying it off…”

“Wasn’t going to ask,” Charlie told her honestly as she put on her protective gloves. “But, can it do wires? I can only carry so much..?”

Harla grinned, thinking Charlie wasn’t going to admit to lying. “Little bit of programming,” she admitted. “Just tell me what you need when you need it. Got stuff I can use as material?”

“Look at her jacket buttons,” Kohlich said, opening the door to an engineering substation. The lights flickered on and Charlie checked the wiring to the lights after Kohlich exposed the panel. Harla practically put her nose on Charlie’s chest because of the angle as she looked at the buttons.

“Are those Parridium,” she asked.

“Nose out of my stomach, please? And yep. Never know when you’re going to need things like that.” She took some wiring from her pouch and clipped it into place to let the full energy flow through and light up the room.

Kohlich looked up and around. “Hmm, you are as good as your CV states.” He was working on rerouting the power and directed Harla to the second console to check the systems.


Kerri, up on the bridge, set herself to make sure which consoles were working, concentrating on the helm more than weapons because they had to get this thing underway first and things like weapons could come into play later, couldn’t they? She had some experience with Jestavanian systems thanks to Kohlich and the hologram room so she was pretty sure she was progressing well and was pretty sure they would be able of 0.75 velocity in a few minutes if Kohlich could call her and. She answered the comm and it was him on the line. “Yeah, Kohlich?”

<“Got the secondary engines online,”> the Jestavanian advised.

“Gotit.” She tapped the link closed and pulled her head out from under the console before tapping the ‘general’ setting. “Levantoall,” she stated, before concentrating to slow herself. “Levan to all. We’re poweringup the engines. Monitorthe powerflow.” Another tap, followed by another, “Levanto Rodomont, we’re poweringupthe engines. Hopewe don’texplode.”


They didn’t explode and the ship joined the convoy, limping towards Karrin.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Good that the ship didn't explode because that would definitely be an inconvenience if it did. But I don't think the ship will last too long once they get there.

[Welsh Halfwit]

SEVENTEEN

“So, what was it like over there,” Darren Levan asked his wife as she sat on the console in front of him, demanding his attention. Behind them, Greedan gave them passing thought, wondering why the Celican was passing time with the little one but deciding not to pass comment. They had some strange relations on this ship. She might be his child or something.

“Oh,itwas quitesomething,” Kerri enthused, gesticulating wildly with her hands. “thesimulationsdon’t beginto doit credit! Such technologyas we’ve… thought ofbut went indifferent ways. Icouldhave spent all dayoverthere but the Captainwanted toget back underway…” To quiet her down, Darren kissed her and she took a moment to put her hands to either side of his head as she returned the gesture, making Greedan pull a face and look away until the lovers released each other and Kerri slid off the console and made her way out. “Seeyouat dinner,love,” she caleed cheerfully.

Darren’s muzzle twisted slightly as he heard a cough behind him. “Of course, Mrs Levan,” he called back, before twisting in the chair to face Greedan. “You’re not exactly dressed to be one of the long time genetic purists, y’know?”

Greedan looked down at himself and felt he had to agree. He laughed simply. “It’s something I still have to get used to,” he said. “I, er, got surrounded by a lot of same species matings,” he bluffed desperately. He couldn’t remember being so prideful in his species until the ooze had blended him. The Celican must have been insanely prideful. He swallowed down his revulsion. “I’ll, er, have to get used to it, I suppose.”

“You better had,” Darren told him straight. “There’s a lot of mixed relationships here. Now, let’s have a look at those reports, shall we?” He held out a hand to take the padd, which Greedan slapped into his hand. They’d been running scans of an asteroid at the extent of sensor range whilst the battleship was engaged in the firefight as Greedan had noted several chemical anomalies and minerals that seemed out of place. Darren, appreciating the newbies attention to duty whilst under fire, hadforced him to the local safe zone and had brought him back immediately after the fight so he could investigate.

Greedan, for his part, liked the fact that he had a superior officer who seemed to appreciate his intellect and curiosity. Not to mention the guy was friendlier than most Celicans he’d ever met. Slightly gentler too. Was that the Chipmunk’s influence? Perhaps. Or the guy was just a nice guy. Either way, Greedan couldn’t see any reason to hate him. He wondered when he’d started thinking of himself as ‘Greedan’. It wasn’t his actual name but it was there now, replacing… whatever it was. He read the report over the bigger Celicans’ shoulder. “Elements of… is that Neuridium?” He looked Darren directly in the eye, probably from too close. “Isn’t that rare?”

Darren grunted. “Only to be found on a few worlds in the Canine areas of space,” he agreed. A sigh. “We’d better tell Xarra.”


The Commander made her way down from the bridge to the science decks, passing Doctor Cobalt as she hurried through, heading for somewhere in the habitat area and stopping for no Mican so Xarra stepped back to avoid the collision. She passed by the two studio cinema (really a pair of empty holorooms that could generate sets and a screen) and headed down into the science decks. Great, she thought as she swept into Levan’s office, the convict was here. “What did you find,” Darren,” she asked, ignoring Greedan almost entirely.

Darren indicated the Hybrid casually. “Greedan found it,” he admitted, giving Greedan more reason to be loyal to the Celican. “A meteor just in scanning range,” he continued as Xarra side-eyed Greedan. “It’s stuffed with minerals and goodies. Some of them incredibly rare, including Neuridium.”

Xarra looked on expectantly before figuring out that the two scientists didn’t know they were talking a totally gibberishic language to her. “Like I know what that means,” she said eventually.

“It’s a very rare element,” Greedan advised. “Very useful too. A shuttle lined with Neuridium can not only survive several minutes in close communion with a sun but the pilot will walk out alive and unhurt too.”

“It bleeds off most radiation somehow,” Darren continued, tapping in a simulation that showed a cartoon of the mineral bouncing lines of radiation. “It could be worth…”

“It probably won’t be,” Xarra corrected, crossing her arms and levelling her gaze at him. “You were going to suggest we were to take the thing in tow? Or leave a marker, telling everyone it’s there?” She uncrossed her arms and recalled some of the things the Human had said about her needing to make decisions. She’d have to relay this up to the Captain so she’d not be able to make the decision but still… “Mark the location on the charts,” she directed. “We might get the chance to rock chase later. Or send someone else for it.” She nodded. “Nice catch by your team, Levan,” she said, turning away from Greedan and heading out the door as he watched her go, appreciating the twitch of her tail.

“I think she likes me,” Greedan said lightly, after she was out of audio range.”

Darren chuckled. “I think she can’t stand you, Greedan.”

“She did thank ‘your team’, not just you, Darren.”

Levan turned to enter the details on the console. He didn’t mind personal informality – his kiss with his wife had proven that – but Greedan had been told to call him ‘sir’ or ‘Lieutenant Levan’ when there was company. “You have more of a chance with Ensign Farria,” he counselled. “She doesn’t care about you.” He sighed, spun around and stood up. “That’s a step up, after all.” He stepped over to another console and typed a few commands. “Want to get our lunches,” he asked. “I’ll take a Hallanbarra sandwich and Coffee.”

Greedan nodded. “Of sourse… sir.” He appreciated the delicate incline of the head Darren granted him, the slight closing of the eyes that indicated trust and acceptance. He’s never had this sort of acceptance and respect at MutaraChem. It made him feel valued and wanted and he found himself wanting to be here more than.. He turned to leave and looked into Postain’s chest.

The Rottian looked down at him and snarled. “Step back,” he instructed sharply. Greedan obliged quickly.

“Xarra told me what you’d found, Levan.”

Darren was about to indicate Greedan was the one who’d found it but a little shake of the hybrid’s head warned him to skip it. He showed the Captain what they’d found.

“Set up a monitor station,” Postain instructed, realising that the meteor was halfway between Karrin and Darby, one of the worlds the Micans might be heading for. Any surveillance device was detectable by itself but, on the surface of something like an asteroid the small amounts of metal could be swamped on detection screens by the other ores and metals. And an armada bent on conquest probably wouldn’t stop, even for Neutidium.


But it might give them a heads up...

[Amazee Dayzee]

Here is hoping that they get that heads up in time. I think they might need it.

[Welsh Halfwit]

EIGHTEEN

Frank waited, almost nervously, at the teleport control station as he awaited Kelvan and his friend from the Rodomont. The big ship was handling the transfer so had just needed to lock on to the teleport pad. They’d done that a moment ago so why hadn’t..?

“If you were any more nervous you’d be in a suit,” Charlie told him, standing in the doorway in light trousers and a stained shirt. “It’s just a friend. Hayseed’s preparing Charna, by the way.”

“Kelvan’s favourite,” Frank replied, smoothing down his jacket. “And it’s, pretty much, Kelvan’s FIRST friend? It’s quite an occasion.”

“Must be,” Charlie sniffed, “You’re letting Raspberry act as co-pilot.”

“Well, I had to…” He stopped as the two young Raitchians arrived on the pad and stepped off.

Frank noted the slightly smaller, lither, Raitchian managed not to wrinkle his nose at the obviously harsher conditions on the freighter. The room was darker and considerably more cramped and the ship had a scent all its own due to a curious quirk in the atmosphere recycler they’d never managed to winkle out. The boys eyes alighted on him as Kelvan remembered his manners. “Enzo, this is my step, Captain Carby. But everyone calls him Frank,” he added, knowing the Human was about to interject the fact. He moved his hand towards the doorway. “And this is my mum, Charlise, known as Charlie. Or mum.”

“And you must be Enzo Carvalho,” Frank said, stepping forward and extending the hand of welcome. “Welcome aboard the Passera, good sir.”

“Thanks,” Enzo said, shaking the hand before greeting Charlie with a traditional light hug and cheek rub. “It’s a good ship you have here,” he said with honesty.

“Well, you have the lying down pat,” Charlie complimented.

Enzo chuckled and tapped his shoe heels together. “I practice,” he said proudly, stepping out of the room as Charlie followed.


Kelvan had hung back. “How come Raspberry didn’t do the controls,” he asked casually.

“My boy – my stepboy – was bringing a friend on board,” Frank told him. “You think I didn’t want to be the first to meet him?” He stepped across and put his hands on Kelvan’s shoulders. “You are brilliant, you know that? I know your dad would be proud of you because I am.”

Kelvan gestured for Frank to lower his head, as though to whisper something. When it was low enough, the boy put his hands on Frank’s shoulders and, checking no-one was watching, quickly rubbed cheeks before whispering ‘honorary Raitchian. For now’ and releasing so he could follow the others. As he’d planned…


Frank replaced Raspberry on the bridge and brought Osser some of the dinner Hayseed had created, taking the helm whilst she ate and drank. “He’s not a terrible cook,” Talitha observed, moving her fork through the slightly singed meat with intrigue. “Although I don’t know what he’s done with this.”

“Knowing him he’s given it fifteen minutes too long,” Frank observed, having made the Lappinean store his for later use when the shift was over. “We still on course,” he asked, indicating the flowing velocity tunnel around them.

“Yes, Cap… Frank,” the Feline corrected, a piece of Charna hanging from her teeth. He reached over and picked it out as she let him. “Sorry,” she told him, “not exactly used to people doing that.”

“Well, it’s not normal but you may have noticed there’s no mirrors here. Just some shined metal.”

She nodded and swallowed. “I get it. They break.” A laugh. “I suppose I’ll have to get used to preening in metal!”

“Yup, you’re Feline,” Frank allowed.

“All over,” Osser said playfully, getting back to the business of making sure they didn’t fall out of space.


“So,” Charlie asked as she escorted the pair around the cargo decks, “what’s your plans for the first day on an alien world?”

Enzo looked over the edge at the most wheat he’d ever seen in his life and considered before he removed his protective mask to reply. Kelvan and Charlie had told him not to inhale deeply and he could tell why. “Well, we’re signed up to explore the caves of… errr…”

“Javich province,” Kelvan said through his mask, having mastered the art of talking with it on.

Enzo pointed to his friend. “What he said.” He coughed so Charlie chose to take the pair out of the room and sealed the door up again. “I’m OK,” he said, coughing to clear a bit of dust out. “Can I see your room next,” he asked Kelvan.

“Course, bud,” Kelvan replied, knowing he’d be showing Enzo the ‘hidden’ magazines he’d told him about earlier…


Yarkin thought she could get used to this, sitting in the Captain’s seat. Or, rather, the Cadan’s seat as she was in temporary command of the captured Jestavanian ship, doing it’s best speed behind the Pollock, which was acting as the rear guard to the small convoy, dragging it down to Velocity 1.9 as that was the best they could manage, even under the ministrations of acting first officer Kohlich doing all he could to stop the engines blowing up. They’d worked out the consoles and flight instructions and she figured out the weapons consoles. The Feline’s stomach rumbled and she wished she’d remembered to bring lunch as she didn’t know what these guys ate or how to order it. “Quite a gift,” she said, assuming it was to be donated to the Karrineans.

“Beg pardon,” the canine at the helm asked.

“Nothing, Hastin,” Yarkin said. “How long?”

“We’ll be there tomorrow at this speed,” Hastin replied, turning to watch what he was doing. Yarkin couldn’t help but notice the Labran’s tail swinging like a fan.