“He isn’t answering,” she said, sitting down on her bunk. “Perhaps he’s already asleep.”
“Then go find him, Major.” Starfire took her arm and urged her to the door. It opened to reveal Tranter and Hal. A gentle shove by Hal propelled Con Tranter forward and he and Erion stood in the centre of the room, looking at each other. Starfire grabbed her clothes and boots. She pushed Erion into Tranter’s arms on her way out and hissed, “Kiss him you idiot!”
“Well,” said Hal, as they walked down the corridor, “how much did we make?”
“By my reckoning, three hundred and fifty.”
“Split two ways that’s a hundred and seventy five each.”
“Raan’s gonna be pissed,” said Starfire. “I only upped our stake a couple of days ago.”
They walked down the corridor, the tall gunman, dressed in black, and Starfire in the man’s shirt she wore as a night gown and her untied, Marine issue boots.
“You can have my bunk, Lieutenant. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“Thanks Hal.”
“Oh, the things I do for love.”
"And a hundred and seventy five credits," added Starfire as their voices faded away in the distance.
“So,” said Gant, looking at the assembled faces the following morning, “You wish to relocate one hundred and sixty three political prisoners from Serrell and go to a meeting with the Katraians and two races that wish to remain secret, to discuss the evacuation from Serrell of another one thousand, two hundred and seventy seven people to Katraia.” Con Tranter nodded.
“That’s about it, Gant.”
They all sat in in Tranter’s lounge. There was Gant, leader of the Rebel Alliance, who looked small and insignificant, next to him was Elkrist, his second in command, then Thirty Seven and Con Tranter. Delta Ten and the rest of the Grennig crew dotted themselves about the room on anything they could find to sit on. Gant didn’t look like the leader of anything. He wasn’t very tall, had delicate features and his long, layered, copper hair fell to his shoulders. He had a quiet voice, but spoke with authority, and his eye’s burned with intensity and strength.
“And you can tell me nothing of these two races, other than that they are peaceful.”
“They have been here for over a thousand years, Gant,” said Erion. “They need our help but they do not wish to become involved with us.”
“And this has something to do with Manta Six?” put in Elkrist.
“As a staging post only, El.” Everyone looked at Hal. He never usually spoke much and never at meetings like this, so it paid to listen to him. As Erion had often said, he wasn’t a complicated man and told the truth as he saw it.
“So you cannot tell us anything of what you know,” said Gant.
“That’s the way they want it,” said Hal, firmly. It was clear by his manner that he wasn’t going to discuss it further.
“This will cost us much in fuel,” said Elkrist, “at present our finances are stretched.”
“Money won’t be a problem,” said Erion. “Our friends will cover any amount you wish.” She placed her bank card on the table, “I have access to three million credits and there is more if needed.”
“You kept that quiet,” muttered Starfire and Erion winked.
“Elkrist and I must discuss this with Thirty Seven,” said Gant.
“Don’t take too long, Gant,” said Hal. “Serrell is in a mess at the moment and this would be a good time to move. If you ain’t gonna help us, we’ll need to go freelance.”
“You will have your answer within the hour.” Gant, Elkrist and Thirty Seven stood up and walked out of the room.
“Well,” Starfire lit up a black cigarillo and blew the vapour across the table, “what do you think they’ll do?”
“Did you mean what you said Hal, about going freelance if they won’t help, I mean?” asked Erion.
“We still got contacts from the old days,” said Tranter. “The Cloud brothers’ll come in with us. I know that without asking.” Jed Cloud and his brothers flew the Rising Star, another of Tranter’s creations and sister ship to the Grennig.
“Let’s hope it won’t come to that,” said Erion. The door slid open and Gant and Elkrist walked in.
“That didn’t take long,” said Raan.
“Very astute, Captain,” said Gant. “It was put to us in no uncertain terms, that if we refuse to help, Thirty Seven will leave the Rebel Alliance and close the Cantina Complex.”
“I have already despatched a Little Rock with a private message for Prince Raemond on Katraia and a coded message to our friends on Serrell,” said Thirty Seven. We suggest a meeting at Aquitaine in three days’ time.” He looked pointedly at Erion. “I would also like you to return to Manta Six. As you know, it is unmanned now that Forsta is gone and runs on automatic, so I would like to ensure that there is enough fuel for any ships that make their transfers there.
“Delta Ten?”
“Yes, Thirty Seven,”
“I would like you to carry out an intensive survey of Manta Six. I wish to know the dimensions of the complex and I wish to know if there are any storage tanks for fuel. Since, according to Major Dubois, money is not an issue, I also propose that the Grennig tows a fuel tanker back with her, to get the ball rolling. I do not want a mass exodus there. The Manta system is barely populated and the other five planets are on the opposite side of the sun, however I do not want to draw too much attention to Manta at this time.”
“It will be done,” said Delta Ten, with a little bow.
“Do you have enough fuel for us to freight there, Tranter?”
“Yep,” he answered. “We got plenty. We had a delivery a couple of days ago and I can get more if you want.”
“That’s if it’s all right with you, Gant,” Erion looked to the head of the Rebel Alliance for conformation.
“Whatever Thirty Seven wants is fine with me,” he stated firmly. “The Alliance owes its existence to him and he has never asked for anything before. This mission is totally in his hands. We will do all we can to help.”
“And perhaps one day you may feel free to tell us all about it,” put in the sultry Elkrist.
“See,” said Hal, looking at Starfire again. “Curiosity.”
The journey back to Manta Six passed without incident and the Grennig, towing the full fuel tanker, stopped in orbit. Delta Ten took Raan over to it in the Little Dragon and the Grennig unhitched the tow line. Raan took the Tanker down, landed it on the dusty, main pad and rolled it into the cavernous bay on the end of a tow truck.
Starfire did the same with the Grennig and they all went to the guest quarters, where Vermillion was waiting. She nodded politely to Erion and Starfire, who took the couch, then to Hal and Raan, who sat on matching club chairs. Delta Ten, as usual, stood by the door. Vermillion eased herself down onto the low stool and looked as if she was squatting. Her knees were higher than her hips, but she didn’t look quite as big.
“Welcome, all of you,” her warm, melodic tones filled the room. “Thanks to your courage,” she motioned gracefully to Starfire and Hal with a shining, metal hand, “we now think we can build a stable connection to the Trenee. There will be a time delay, but we both believe that two way, shielded communication is possible.” She nodded politely to Del, “Your crewman Delta Ten has been invaluable to us. I hope you all realise how special he is.” Citizen Bob entered the room. They knew it was Bob because he was wearing Tranter’s sticky note. It kept falling off so in the end, Starfire went to the replicator and asked for a piece of chalk and wrote his name on his chest. Bob thanked her and carefully put the sticky note onto the coffee table.
“Since this was once a Starport, we have the facilities here to store as much fuel as you wish,” he began. “We believe we can hide all of the transport ships you bring here and we are in slow communication with the Trenee about building a ray shield for the whole complex here, so that it cannot be seen by computer scans or by direct vision.”
“Well t
hat is good news, isn’t it?” said Erion with false brightness. Hal had yet to see any good side to this arrangement and it was, she had to admit, denting her confidence a little.
“Now we have dropped off all this fuel,” began Starfire, “I’m going to need a bit of it for the return trip to Aquitaine.”
Bob swivelled his head around, almost all the way, to look at Vermillion. It was a bit disconcerting the first time they had seen a Citizen do it, but they were quite used to it now.
“I wish to ask a question, Vermillion.” There was silence for a few moments.
“I freely give my permission,” said Delta Ten from the back of the room. Vermillion bowed her head to him.
“You courage and good heart does you credit, android, but this could be very dangerous. I assume that you are self-aware?”
“I am,” said Delta Ten, seriously.
“Wait a minute,” Erion stepped forward. “You’re not thinking of what I think you’re thinking of, are you?”
“Eh?” Starfire and Raan shared a puzzled look.
“The fact that I can hear and understand you is a sign of our compatibility,” continued Delta Ten.
“He’s going to let Vermillion get inside his head,” said Hal, softly.
“No, wait a minute,” Erion stepped forward. “Your safety is my responsibility, Del. I can’t allow this.”
“I do not see how you can stop it, Erion,” said Delta Ten, carefully. He had never called her anything but ‘Major’, before and she noticed this fact and sighed.
“You’re right, as usual, Del,” Erion stepped back. “I made you a free machine. This risk is yours to take.”
“There is much research to do before we can think of doing this,” said Vermillion, “but I must confess that the thought of leaving here, even for a few hours, fills me with excitement. Please excuse us. The base is yours. Go wherever you wish.” She left with Bob and Delta Ten.
“Well,” said Starfire, “that’ll be creepy. It was bad enough when he spoke with Rigondal’s voice on Katraia.”
“We’ll deal with it, like always, Lieutenant,” smiled Erion. Starfire caught sight of a little silver ring on a thin chain around her neck. “Tranter gave it to me,” she explained. “Last night. It’s the washer from an ion engine fuel intake. It’s all he had on him at the time.” She pushed the little washer back under her shirt before Starfire could read the inscription and looked around the room. “Any questions? No. Then let’s drop the matter.” Raan’s expression went from delight to suspicion in less than two seconds and he caught Starfire’s eye accusingly.
“Well, she gave us the freedom of the base,” said Starfire, rubbing her hands together with excitement, “let’s go for a walk.” There wasn’t much to see really, but they went anyway, going down one corridor and up another. The Citizens were all courteous and all seemed pleased to see Hal. Starfire made a mental note to find out what he had actually done for them. In one room, there were several computers and screens showing the bays and the outside, another level was clearly for maintenance and several spare parts lay on benches. They paid a visit Citizen Hofolhdxhy in the hydroponics garden cultivating beautiful orchids and he proudly showed them the little blue flowers from Starfire’s necklace that were now growing well. It didn’t take Starfire long to become bored and hungry so they headed back to the lounge after asking the way. They were so used to Delta Ten being their personal Sat-Nav, that they had forgotten to note the position of the nearest aircar.
“We really ought to think about getting Delta Ten on the payroll,” mused Erion as they sat inside the little spherical shuttle.
“What does he need money for?” asked Starfire. “He doesn’t need food or anything. He’s an android. He could live on a shelf.”
“I don’t know Lieutenant,” mused Erion, “clothes maybe, his own ship perhaps,” Erion looked pointedly at them all, “gambling.” They all looked away.
They ate, talked, drank coffee, ate some more, dozed a bit, drank more coffee and it was several hours later that Bob and Delta Ten walked in. They looked at Delta Ten and Starfire said,
“Is it you in there, Del?”
“No, Starfire,” the voice was Del’s, “it is I, Vermillion.”
“Wow!” Starfire stood on tiptoe and stared into Delta Ten’s amber eyes.
“You will not actually see anything in there, Lieutenant,” said Vermillion in Delta Ten’s voice.
“What about Del?” asked Erion. “Is he all right?”
“He is here, in stasis,” said Vermillion. “All that I am, all that is me, is here in this positronic brain.”
“Fraggin’ hell,” said Raan.
“Indeed,” said Bob.
“How long can you stay in there?” asked Hal, getting to the point.
“I have been in this shell for an hour. I shall return to the lab and transfer my consciousness back to my body and we shall consult with Delta Ten. Only he will be able to tell if there are any consequences. I wanted to see you all with these eyes before that happened,” she said. “Come, Bob,” she turned a little awkwardly and left the room on the black robot’s arm.
“Vermillion,” called Erion as they were at the door, “please ask Del to come straight back here after he gets his faculties back.”
“Of course,” Vermillion nodded politely and left.
“Fraggin’ Hell,” said Raan again, momentarily stuck for words.
“If this works, we could take Vermillion with us to Aquitaine,” said Erion. ”We should hear from Kaura by then.”
Delta Ten came back half an hour later.
“Well?” asked Starfire, then realised ‘well?’ didn’t mean much to an android, so she added, “are there any adverse effects from the transfer?” after realising ‘how do you feel?’ wouldn’t cut the mustard either.
“I took a mental back up before the procedure,” he began, “and I find that, apart from a time lapse, there is no difference to my neural net.”
“That’s good then is it?” asked Raan.
“Yes, Captain, that is good.” He turned to Hal. “We have heard from the Trenee on Serrell, Mr Hal. They nominate you to speak for them at Aquitaine.”
“Why didn’t they ask me?” grumbled Starfire. “I would have done it.”
“Because you’re an idiot,” said Raan, and ducked as she threw a cushion at him.
“Stop it, children,” said Erion. “When do we leave?”
“Twenty point eight three hours, Major,” answered Delta Ten “Bob, Al and Betty have volunteered to overhaul the Grennig’s ion engines. I would like to assist them.”
“Anything you like, Del,” said Erion
Chapter 11
“Right then,” said Erion, “All set? Get us to Aquitaine, Lieutenant.”
“Five down for primary ignition,” said Starfire.
“Main Engine start,” said Raan,
The Grennig throbbed underneath them and Vermillion, in the guise of Delta Ten, leaned forward to see out of the window.
“Lift off thrusters at my command,” said Starfire.
“Thrusters aye,” said Raan. The Grennig slowly rose from the concrete pad in a cloud of dust and its nose lifted to point to the heavens. The Grennig rose up through the clouds and left Manta Six behind.
“Course laid in for Aquitaine,” said Erion.
“Laid in and locked,” said Raan.”
“We have go for Jump,” that was Starfire.
“Jump,” commanded Erion, and the Grennig shot forward in a blaze of colours.
“Most illuminating,” said Vermillion from Delta Ten’s post at the engineering computer.
“Oh,” said Erion, “why is that?”
“Well, Captain Raan and Lieutenant Starfire do not seem to take anything very seriously. I was concerned for my safety, but Hal instructed me to watch when they were at the controls of their ship. I am most impressed.” Raan and Starfire exchanged looks, not knowing whether to be offended or not.
“We will reach
Aquitaine in four hours, Major,” said Vermillion.
“Thank you Del,” said Erion. They had decided to keep Delta Ten’s name for convenience and safety. The Federation had spies everywhere and Erion did not want her presence to become known. She turned to Raan. “Now, Captain, tell us all you know about Aquitaine.”
It was a beautiful little planet of green and blue. As the Grennig descended, the pink edged, fluffy clouds parted and a white, modern looking Starport could be seen, looking like a child’s doll's house in the distance. Several domes could be seen as they approached and Raan explained that each dome was a self-contained, holographic little world of beauty, entertainment, pain or whatever you wanted. Hal walked in.
“You don’t look half as menacing wearing that,” said Starfire. “Almost normal in fact.” His black clothing had gone and he wore faded, washed out jeans, a white shirt and a black, open waistcoat. His contoured holster and gun were the same, but the belt itself was made of scuffed, brown leather.
“Are we going to see you in a pretty frock then?” he asked as she disappeared to get changed herself.
“Frag off,” she muttered and appeared a little later wearing her white kaftan with its little embroidered flowers and blue jeans. It should have looked feminine except that she had slung her khaki, Marine issue gun belt around her waist. Erion wore a stylish, silk trouser suit of cornflower blue and Raan wore a white, collarless shirt and dark blue jeans. He too, wore his gun belt and sonic blaster.
“Someone called Lord Raemond is asking to communicate with us,” said Vermillion from her place at Engineering.
“Great!” Raan grinned like an idiot and passed his hand over a crystal. “Raemond, this is Raan. Great to hear you.”
“Likewise, Captain. Rigondal and I are in the Crescent Moon Hotel. We will see you in the Aurian Lounge in an hour.”
Starfire and the Space Dragons: A Grennig Crew Adenture Page 13