Solar Star

O’realian looked around at the twelve elders who had gathered to hear what they faced. He had told them of Kassina’s message and updated them on the forces waged against them.

‘So you see, we are now on borrowed time. At any moment Nye’s forces could move in on us.’

Their faces were grave but calm, even resigned.

‘What happens now?’ Kenyon asked, his voice controlled but gruffer than normal as the truth of their predicament had hit him especially hard. Never had he believed this would happen and he had been opposed to leaving; thinking they could come to some agreement with the ruling government and that O’realian was being too quick to abandon their home and their life’s work. But events of the past week had shown him that to stay here would mean they would have to move to different areas, renounce their way of life and be absorbed into the state machine. He couldn’t do this, so reluctantly he now agreed that to leave at least gave them a chance to continue to live as a community and be free to practise their spiritual way of life.

‘Now we have to help our people get ready to leave. The Solar Star can be here just before dawn to evacuate a hundred people and the crates we’ve already packed, and take them to the other ship in Denver. Then we have to hold out until it gets back to take the rest of us.’

He was greeted by a stunned silence and he quite understood their shock at his words but there was no panic, although he felt their anguish and pain. He too hated to leave the only home he’d ever known, but it had to be attempted even though for those left, it might turn out to be a futile gesture. He was under no illusion, it wasn’t going to be easy to hold the landing site long enough to evade the Colonel’s forces.

Tel’kesa spoke first.

‘Where will this ship land?’ she asked.

O’realian smiled and nodded to her.

‘I thank you for reminding me,’ he said, as he had forgotten to tell them this.

‘Captain Kelsey suggested the amphitheatre as it is big enough for Solar Star and close to the compound.’

Many of them nodded in agreement.

‘So we can move people there in the dark?’ Naaren asked.

Her hands fluttered like butterflies as she spoke, like she did when she was nervous.

O’realian nodded.

‘Yes. I hoped you and Nester would get the first families ready as we need the ones with children to go first, then anyone who had difficulty with mobility and any animals we hope to take, because the second time they land we could be under fire and speed will be paramount.’

He looked at their faces and sensed their heightened emotions, but also their determination as they would persist, if not on Earth, then on Ieesha and they wouldn’t be stopped now. Naaren looked at Nester and both women smiled and then nodded to O’realian. They were the perfect choice, both elderly now, but much loved and respected by all of the community so they knew everyone well and needed little time to organise who was to go in the first group and who could wait.

O’realian took Naaren’s hand and said.

’I would like you both to go with our people in the first wave to comfort them and keep them safe.”

She knew he was also worried about them as they were no longer able to move very fast and might hold up the second air lift. He was too polite to say this but she was grateful for his love and consideration.

He felt her tighten; she wasn’t happy to go first, but waited as he added.

‘You will be needed to keep everyone calm and together once they get to Denver and you will be of great help in settling our people on to the Red Rocket.’

‘But we should stay here and help you,’ Nester cried, her voice as dry as old sticks.

‘No, your place is with the people, to take care of them as we start our most dangerous journey into the unknown. They will need your wisdom and strength and we will know they are in good hands.’ O’realian said.

Tel’kesa nodded.

‘You must do this for us so that we are free to use our powers to hold back Nye long enough.’

’Are you suggesting we try the ‘Kataree’?’ Kenyon exclaimed.

Tel’kesa’s face was serenity itself, her cornflower blue eyes burned with a deep peace and composure as she stood her ground.

‘I am. I believe this is the time we have been waiting for. The time the Andromidian’s knew would come and prepared us for as it only needs faith and we can prospect ourselves, at least for long enough.’

She turned, particularly focusing on Kenyon.

‘Do you have enough faith?’ she said.

He felt a shiver go through his body.

Maclyn was stunned by the audacity of Ty’s plan, but on further reflection he began to think he might be able to pull it off. He walked down the empty corridors of the still sleeping ship and began to sort out in his head what should be done first. He reckoned he had a maximum of three hours to clear the landing bay and sort out the cargo deck. Not enough, he mused, but all he had and he didn’t want to be the reason Ty was late at the rendezvous. What he needed was some help so he moved to the wall panel and activated the ship’s main computer.

‘Computer, give me an update on personnel who have checked back in,’ he said.

‘Computing,’ came the organised voice.

Whilst he waited he reviewed who he needed and hoped they’d reported back. Everyone was due by 8.00am but anyone reporting then was going to be thrown into the thick of things as the first wave of Sakkarians should have arrived by then.

‘All crew except four have reported, the last were Elena Roedensky and Kate Samuels.’

Maclyn smiled and turned to the turbo lift and went down two floors to the second deck of the crew’s quarters, where Kate lived. She was an engineer, but also a very good and fast shuttle pilot, just what he needed right now. He’d liked to have Ben Black Elk, their helmsman too, but he knew he’d be busy on the bridge preparing for the trip to South Dakota. He stopped by the cabin door and pressed the buzzer and it made a pleasant tinkling sound. Within seconds the door slid open and revealed a lithe, slim and very attractive blond woman with bright blue eyes and an ever-present smile, even at 1.00am.

‘Mac, what a surprise,’ she said and waved him in.

He followed her into her small living area and noted she hadn’t changed out of her suit yet.

‘Look Kate,’ he said fumbling with the list he was holding.

She always seemed to bring out his sense of inferiority more than anyone else as he liked her a lot, but was too shy to do anything about it. He didn’t believe she’d agree to go out with him, so to save himself the humiliation of a rejection, he didn’t ask, but he couldn’t stop being nervous around her. She waited for him to continue, but he seemed to have stumbled to a complete stop.

‘Yes Mac,’ she prompted, which seemed to jump-start him again.

He began to tell her what needed doing, without looking her in the face.

‘So you see I need help with the shuttles.’

She saw that and had already put her jacket on and was ready to go before he’d finished speaking. She took his arm and led him out of the room.

‘I’ll get them shifted for you, so why don’t you roust a few people out of bed and move the cargo, okay?’

He finally looked her in the face, blushed and muttered.

‘Okay.’

The bridge seemed very bright to Kassina and Sarrin, when they followed Captain Kelsey there to start preparations for the trip to Sakkara. Ty sat in his command chair where he could swing around and see every station easily as the bridge wasn’t very big, usually accommodating only six people who all had assigned tasks, such as communication, helm, and science, tactical and engineering. Maclyn, who was First Officer, had no set station as he was trained to take over any of these positions in an emergency. He could also fire one of the three weapons controls if they were needed. The bridge was a semi-circle with a huge view screen on the outside wall, then a row of three seats, the one in the centre slightly further back than the other two and occupied by the Captain. Behind them sat the other three crew at their computers and sensory boards. The room was painted in yellows and terracotta’s, which made it a comfortable place to be, but Kassina noted someone really did understand the effect of certain colours on the human brain. Yellow worked on the intellectual level, helping with concentration and memory, and the terracotta was stimulating, but unlike red it didn’t produce aggression or anger. It was more controlled, active but coupled with intellect and was a perfect combination to keep the crew on their toes, concentrating, but thinking clearly too. She wondered if it had been purposely designed like that or was a happy accident. The chairs themselves were padded and moulded to fit a human body perfectly, supportive and yet soft and comfortable and they also had a mechanism that once activated was a safety device, holding the occupant in, preventing them from being thrown to the floor. At present Kassina sat in Maclyn’s seat, content for now to watch all the activity around her. Soon it would be time to contact O’realian to see if their mission would take place.

Ty took Sarrin’s arm and led him to the helmsman, Ben Black Elk, and introduced them.

‘Sarrin has the co-ordinates to Sakkara,’ he said.

Black Elk smiled.

‘Well that’ll help.’

Ty smiled back and left them to it and he moved on to Su-min who had been shown how to use Sarrin’s device to contact O’realian, and was attempting to do so. She sucked her lower lip and little frown lines appeared between her eyebrows as she gingerly pressed the send button. She edged back from the device as it hummed, and waited.

Ty perched himself on the desk, one leg supporting his weight, the other he swung backwards and forwards, his arms crossed over his chest. He smiled down at his pretty communications officer and asked.

‘Is it working?’

She looked up at him and shrugged.

‘I am not sure. I think so.’

She looked down at the black screen again.

‘I did everything Sarrin told me to do.’

Her frown deepened.

‘I think I ...’

She stopped and narrowed her eyes. Ty got quickly to his feet and moved behind her where he could also see the screen. Slowly it began to lighten and a line of numbers appeared across it; Su-min sighed with relief and once she’d checked the sequence was the same as Sarrin had given her, she entered the reply code. They only had seconds to wait before the face of Kassina’s father once again appeared before them. From his demeanour it was hard to tell what the community had decided.

‘Captain Kelsey, I have an answer for you,’ he said.

Ty nodded.

‘Is it on?’ he queried.

O’realian allowed a small smile to crease the corners of his mouth at Ty’s direct approach; a man who obviously didn’t believe in small talk.

‘Yes, it is on,’ he replied. ‘Right now, we are moving what we have ready to the landing site and others are preparing a beacon for you to home in on. It will be lit when we know you are close by.’

‘Good, what about the people?’ Ty said.

‘We are gathering up family groups and the less able who will go first, along with a few animals.’

‘Animals!’ Ty exclaimed. ‘I never said we could take animals.’

‘But we have to, otherwise we cannot start again,’ O’realian explained.

Ty frowned, he had been brought up on a ranch and had a dog on the ship with him now, so he understood about livestock and their importance, but how would they cope in space? There were other problems too, like housing them, feeding them and a certain by-product to be got rid of.

’What sort of animals are we talking about here? He asked, aware that Kassina had joined them and was listening intently to their exchange.

‘A few goats and hens, that’s all.’ O’realian answered.

‘But father what of the horses and sheep?’ Kassina demanded.

He sighed.

‘I know you love your horse my child, but how can we take him? He’s too large and would it be fair to him in a tiny place for maybe months and months. No he will be set free here when we leave.’

Kassina knew what he said was true, but still the pain of losing him was great.

‘What of Magic? Can I take him?’ she asked.

O’realian smiled sadly.

‘I have told everyone else that personal pets have to stay behind, there isn’t room to take what we really need, let alone anything else. They are creatures of Gaia and maybe it is best they stay here.’

Kassina didn’t totally agree but knew her father too well to bother arguing with him, but she also knew herself and if there was any way she could get her black cat, Magic, aboard the Solar Star, she would take it.

Kelsey took up the conversation again.

‘I suppose the goats and hens will be alright, but they will have to travel on the Red Rocket.’

O’realian nodded.

‘They will as I will make sure of it, and thank you.’

Kelsey smiled wolfishly.

‘Oh don’t thank me, thank Captain Silvereen,’ he said.

Su-min smothered a giggle and even Kassina’s sadness left her face briefly at the image of Ray Silvereen’s face as his ship becomes another Noah’s Ark.

Off screen someone caught O’realian’s attention and he got up. For the viewers it was a frustrating couple of minutes until he returned, not being able to see what was going on.

‘I’m sorry about that,’ he said. ‘I don’t know if Kassina told you, we thought someone here had told Colonel Nye our plans to leave.’

Ty frowned.

‘No, I didn’t know that.’

O’realian sighed and shook his head.

‘Well I am afraid it is true. We have caught her trying to use a hidden communicator.’

‘Did she have time to use it?’ Ty asked.

‘No fortunately it had been discovered when we started to pack, so we left it for our friend to try to use, after we disabled it.’

Ty grinned; it seemed for all his spirituality that O’realian was no fool.

‘So what do you do with her now?’ he asked.

“We have tied her up and once we leave I am sure the Colonel will find her spy.”

Kassina pressed forward.

‘Who was it farther?’ she asked.

‘Tryana,’ he answered simply.

Kassina gasped as she was one of her good friends.

‘I don’t understand,’ she muttered, shaking her head. ‘How could she do this, and to have fooled us all?’

‘My child I do not know her motives, nor do I have the time to find out. We have more pressing things to accomplish.’

He paused then looked at the time.

‘It is nearly 3.00am, when will you arrive here?’

Ty knew their best chance to get at least the first group out safely was to go in just as dawn was about to break, which meant no later than 6.30am with 6.00am being even better.

‘As close to 6.00am as possible. Have everything and everyone for the first lift down by the landing site then and maybe we’ll give Nye a bit of a shock.’

O’realian nodded.

‘Let us hope so,’ he said.