Solar Star

The Solar Star taxied to their hanger base just after 8.00am, but to most on board it felt much later. Black Elk carefully turned the ship and reversed into the bay to make reloading the shuttles and the rest of the supplies easier, but also to facilitate a speedy departure. He didn’t know if Ty’s prediction that the Colonel would find them would come true, but he trusted his Captain’s instincts.

‘Better to be safe than sorry,’ he thought as he shut down the engines.

Once they had stopped Ty came back to life after several minutes of silent planning and he had worked out what they should do next. He didn’t know how long they had but not a second could be wasted as if they were to escape they had to be ready to leave as soon as possible and preferably before the Colonel turned up. He didn’t know why he felt she would find them, but his gut told him she was going to try.

‘Okay,’ he said and turned first to Black Elk. ‘Ben I want this ship ready to go at a moment’s notice, so you check with Dayton to make sure the engines, fuel, the extra crystals and water are all ready and aboard.’

Black Elk nodded.

‘Aye Captain,’ he said and started to do his pre-launch checks.

Ty then turned to Su-min.

‘I need to know if all the crew have reported back and if so make sure they are either onboard or very close by at all times. I don’t want to leave anyone behind, but if we have to go...’

He left that hanging and she smiled.

‘I understand Captain and I’ll make sure everyone is accounted for.’

Ty smiled back.

‘Good,’ he said as he got up from his chair and turned to Maclyn.

‘And now Mac, let’s see how quickly Armin has sorted out the guests’ quarters and let Retro Ray know he’ll have to move his butt and get into orbit ASAP.’

Maclyn grinned at that. Retro Ray didn’t like to do anything quickly, he wasn’t built for speed, but he was also a coward and the idea of being shot at might just move him along a bit.

They left the bridge alone with Sarrin who wanted to place his own shuttlecraft into the Solar Star’s hold. They took the turbo lift right down to the hanger deck and as the doors opened they were greeted by the sound of many voices, the loudest of which they recognised as Doctor Roedensky’s.

‘Now listen everybody,’ she shouted over the general hubbub. ‘You must listen up. This is important. We have to get you to your quarters so we can reload this deck for departure.’

O’realian stepped up beside her, as she wasn’t making much impression on the general noise so he stood on a small box and almost immediately, as if by magic, everyone stopped talking and turned to wait for him to speak. Ty was surprised. He had only briefly met O’realian, and had recognised he was a very special individual, but all at once he became much more than that. There was almost a glow or radiance around him; he seemed to shine out like a beacon of warmth and light. Ty found himself waiting almost breathlessly for his words, and when he tore his eyes from O’realian to look at Maclyn, he saw that he too seemed mesmerised.

‘My friends,’ O’realian said, in a calm soft voice. ‘We have still much to do and the danger has not yet passed. The Colonel will still try to stop us leaving Earth, so time is short. The doctor here has your details and the crew will show you where to find your quarters so please go with them my friends and get settled in. Do not leave your quarters until Captain Kelsey says it is safe to do so. We can’t help the ship’s crew to do what they need to, but we can help them if we stay out of their way.’

He stopped speaking and looked at the sea of faces around him, noting they were nodding in agreement with what he had said and then he spotted Ty at the back.

‘Captain,’ he said. ‘Is there anything else they need to know now?’

Ty shook his head.

‘No that about covers it and the quicker we can load the ship, the better it will be for all of us.’

O’realian nodded.

‘That is true, so friends quickly now go with your guides and we will soon be on our way to Ieesha.’

He climbed down from his box and for a brief moment no one moved or spoke. Then the Russian doctor started to do what she did best; she began issuing orders.

‘Alright, listen up.’

She looked down at the list she’d been given.

‘Devers family,’ she said.

A small group made their way towards her.

‘Deck four, cabin fifteen.’

Lars Peterson, one of the engineers led them to the turbo lift. Ty smiled, it seemed things here were under control so he gently started to weave between the milling crowd, followed by Maclyn and a bemused Sarrin, towards the open cargo doors. It took several minutes to make it but once there the first people they saw were the unmistakable Retro Ray and the smaller Armin. They spotted each other at about the same time, but it was Ray who got the first words in.

‘Kelsey, you never said anything about livestock,’ he shouted, his face red and sweaty from the exertion his flabby body was unused to; Ty kept a straight face and just raised one eyebrow and looked down at him from their higher position on top of the ramp.

‘You didn’t ask,’ he replied quietly.

Ray opened his mouth then shut it again; his eyes flickered and his hands flapped, unsure of what to say to that.

‘But...,’ he said.

He frowned and glared at him as Ty came down the ramp and took Rays arm steering him away from the Solar Star.

’Now Ray I’m sure you can cope with a few chickens and goats.’

He glanced at Armin who nodded so Ty relaxed because if Armin was okay about it, then it was only a matter of smoothing a few of Ray’s ruffled feathers and this storm in a teacup would blow over. The easiest way to do that was flattery. Ray was a sucker for that with his already inflated opinion of himself so it didn’t usually take much to convince him that he, and only he, was the right man for the job. Ty was a past master at flannel, as many young women could testify, so he took a deep breath and began.

‘Ray I know we couldn’t cope on the Solar Star with them and the Sakkara community need these animals to start again on Ieesha.’

‘Sure Ty, I can see that but....’

’No buts Ray. Only you and your great crew can do the job. Without you Ray, they wouldn’t be able to take them with them and how could they manage then? It all depends on you Ray so if YOU can’t take them, then we’ve failed.’

Ty shook his head sadly and Maclyn swore there were tears in his eyes. Ray looked at him and nodded wisely.

‘I see,’ he said. ‘It all depends on me.’

Ty nodded.

’On you Ray, but I know you won’t let us down.’

He kept his eye contact with Ray as he spoke and saw the change he was looking for come over him. He sort of grew a few inches and his chest came out and he squared his shoulders and Ty knew then he’d won and struggled to keep his face straight.

‘You can count on me Kelsey,’ he said.

Ty nodded.

’I know I can Ray, that’s why I asked you to help us.’

Ray nodded and then turned to Armin.

‘You sort that out with Kelsey then Armin,’ he said.

‘Yes Sir,’ the smaller man said.

They all stayed silent as they watched Ray waddle back to his ship, a self-satisfied smile on his face. Sarrin was very confused with what had taken place here and Maclyn shook his head in wonder.

‘Man you missed your calling Ty.You should have gone on the stage.’

Kelsey tried to look surprised.

‘Moi,’ he said with his hand on his heart.

‘Yes you,’ Maclyn replied unimpressed by his act of innocence. ‘You played him like a violin.’

‘A Stradivarius’ Armin added, grinning from ear to ear.

Ty smiled.

‘Well, knowing your subject is the key,’ he said modestly.

‘And you know just how to manipulate old Ray,’ Maclyn said.

Ty shrugged.

‘He’s easy; anyway Armin does it all the time.’

Armin nodded.

‘Yep, I guess I do, but I have to hand it to you, the tears in the eyes...’

He put his fingers to his lips and kissed them.

‘A masterpiece, bravo.’ He said.

Ty bowed his head ever so slightly and muttered ‘thank you, thank you.’

Maclyn chuckled and then caught sight of someone Ty hadn’t yet been able to master. Kassina, who with her father O’realian, were making their way down the ramp towards them.

‘Let’s see how you get on with her,’ Maclyn said, pointing them out to the others.

Ty scowled.

‘Not so good I’ll wager,’ he muttered under his breath.

O’realian smiled at them.

‘Captain, I haven’t yet had the real chance to thank you for your help and how efficient your people seem to be.’

‘Well I’m afraid I can’t take all the credit for that. Maclyn and Armin are the main organisers, not me.’

Kassina snorted as so far all the abilities he seemed to have been for talking, but she kept quiet, for now at least. The hanger was becoming a dangerous place to be with shuttles and boxes moving to and fro.

‘I think we had better get out of here for a while and let them reload,’ Ty suggested.

O’realian nodded.

‘Ty look, I’ll get on with making sure the rest of our supplies are here and loaded,’ Maclyn said.

‘Okay.’

‘And I, with your permission will load my shuttlecraft on Solar Star?’ Sarrin asked quietly.

He’d been so quiet Ty had almost forgotten he was there.

‘You’ll have to see if there’s room,’ Ty replied.

Maclyn looked at the Andromedain.

‘You stay with me and I’m sure we’ll get it on there somehow.’

Sarrin nodded and followed Maclyn over to where Kate Samuel and Matt O’Neil were, awaiting his instruction.

‘Well we need to talk, so let’s go up to the lounge and see how we can speed up our departure,’ Ty said.

Armin, Kassina, O’realian and Ty to make their way back into the Star and up to Deck three.

‘Do you really think the Colonel will find us?’ O’realian asked.

‘You can bet she will as she seems to hate you with a passion.’

O’realian looked confused.

‘I don’t know why as I don’t think we have ever met.’

‘No?’ Ty said in surprise. ‘Are you sure?’

O’realian frowned and he tried to think when he might have met the Colonel, but couldn’t place her.

‘No Captain, I don’t believe I have.’

Ty shook his head.

‘Then I don’t understand why she is so determined to destroy Sakkara, but especially you and from what she said I felt she knew you personally.’

Kassina gasped.

‘That’s right father. I’d forgotten, but she did say something about knowing how you thought and it did sound like she knew you.’

Ty was pleased she’d agreed with him, it was a first. They stopped talking as they boarded the middle turbo lift, which took them up to Deck three, right outside the small crew lounge. Kassina looked around it and liked what she saw as it was different to the larger lounge area she had been in before. This was decorated in golds, bronzes, beiges and browns, with small splashes of orange, all very soothing, with swirls of blended colours on the walls, seamlessly blending into the carpets on the floor. The beige curved sofas, with orange cushions made the room appear like a sophisticated apartment; the ornaments and the lighting making it both comfortable, but practical. She was again surprised by how comfortable it was, but then she had begun to appreciate that the crew spent a lot of time on board as in reality the ship was their workplace, but also their home.

‘Take a seat,’ Ty said and they sat around a low table made of two different coloured woods, intricately inter-woven and polished. It was beautiful and elegant and Kassina couldn’t help but stroke it. Ty watched her and was pleased that she liked the room as it had only just been finished along with most of Deck four, which had badly needed it. As the officer’s quarters and bridge were on this deck, Ty had decided that it should wait until last for a makeover, as it was the cargo bays that made the ship its money. Now five years on, the ship was finally finished and as he always envisaged it to be and he was proud of the ship, but tried hard not to show it. With everyone seated he took the lead and quickly told Armin what had happened at Sakkara and his fear that time may be in short supply and from what he’d heard Armin didn’t disagree and he nodded.

‘So how much time do you think we have?’

Ty sighed.

‘I don’t know, but not much.’

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raising, his own alert sign that had saved his life before. He couldn’t ignore it and he ran his hand through his blonde hair and continued.

‘How close are you to being ready to leave?’

Armin considered for a moment before replying.

‘I guess a couple of hours, but we are still waiting for delivery of a few supplies.’

Ty frowned.

‘What sort of supplies?’ he asked.

‘Just some of the dried food stuffs, they were supposed to be here by now.’

‘We may have what you want as I spotted some crates down on the dock. Look why don’t you talk to Maclyn and see if we have what you’re waiting for. If we do, take them and we’ll have yours when they arrive. I’d really feel a lot happier if you could get the Rocket into orbit before the Colonel arrives.’

‘So would I,’ Armin agreed. ‘I’ve heard some tales about that woman, none of them pleasant, so I’d rather not get on her bad side.’

He paused, and then added.

‘If she has a good side that is, and if half of what I’ve heard about her is true, I doubt she does.’

Kassina shuddered as the memories of those ice-cold eyes boring into her would take a long time to forget. Her father put his arm around her and she felt safe again, but could he protect them from the vengeful Colonel? She hoped so, but she wasn’t sure he could. However much she hated the idea, she had begun to suspect their lives now depended on the blonde male chauvinist pig called Ty Kelsey, but fortunately, he might just be up to the task. How he had handled himself in front of Nye was, she grudgingly admitted, quite impressive, but if it came to a battle, would he hold his nerve? That remained to be seen, but they had no choice now as they had no home to go back to, their only hope was Ieesha, and their only way to get there was on the Solar Star and Red Rocket.

Armin got up.

‘I’ll go see Maclyn and let you know the moment we’re ready to go.’

‘Good,’ Ty said.

Armin turned to leave, and then turned back.

‘Just one more thing Ty.’

Ty looked up and waited.

‘How come you think you’ve got a better chance at holding off Nye than we do?’

Ty smiled slowly; no one outside of his crew knew of the upgrades the Solar Star had been given and Ty had made sure not to advertise them. From the outside she didn’t look a lot different than she had before, just less tatty. Her new engines, at the moment were swung close to her sides for aerodynamic purposes whilst on earth; however, once in space they would be swung out and behind her for extra thrust, but also for safety they had been designed that if one overloaded or was damaged it could be detached, so any explosion wouldn’t endanger the ship. They also carried two spare engines in case of such an emergency; but the latest and most secret improvements were to her shielding and weapon systems.

‘We’ve done a bit of work on her,’ he said quietly.

Armin smiled as he had a high opinion of this younger man; he was a born leader, who also had a good brain. Ray had written him off as young and foolish when they’d first met four years ago, but Armin had thought he was wrong, and so far Ty had proved that he had been right. Ty had made a good living with the Solar Star and turned an old rust bucket into a comfortable, sleek and seemingly well-protected ship.

‘I’d love a guided tour,’ he said.

Ty smiled broadly.

‘I’d be happy to give you one, once we’re safely on our way to Ieesha,’ Ty replied.

Armin nodded.

‘I’ll hold you to that,’ he said as he left the lounge.

O’realian watched the exchange with interest.

‘Captain, do you really believe your one ship could stand off Nye?’

Ty shrugged.

‘Honestly, I don’t know. It depends on the strength of the forces she brings with her but I’m hoping she’ll not have the time to round up an army, which is why I want to be away from here as soon as we can.’

O’realian nodded, it made sense and he was grateful his daughter and Sarrin had found such an able man to help them.

‘Well you seem to know what you’re doing,’ he said.

Kassina sighed heavily and Ty half smiled at her.

‘I think so, but feel free to come and talk to me at any time.’

O’realian glanced at Kassina and saw her sceptical expression and he raised his eyebrows at her. She looked at her father and sighed again, but didn’t speak. O’realian knew what she was probably thinking. She wouldn’t acknowledge Ty Kelsey as anything more than the Prima Donna role she had already cast him in; not until he did something to make her change her mind. Her main character flaw had always been her insistence that she was right, and she tended to judge others by her own often-impossible standards and once judged, it took a lot for her to change her opinion. If she did, she’d have to admit she might have got it wrong in the first place. O’realian loved her, more than life itself, but she could be incredibly stubborn and infuriating too and he sensed she may have come up against someone just as stubborn and implacable as herself in the Captain, which should make for some interesting developments on their long journey to Ieesha. He stood up.

‘I think we had better get out of your way them,’ he said and Kassina rose with him.

Ty walked them out into the corridor.

‘Your quarters are on this deck,’ Ty said.

‘Oh!’

O’realian was surprised; he had thought only the ship’s crew had quarters here.

‘Yes we didn’t have enough spare cabins, so some of the crew are going to share.’

Kassina snorted and thought.

‘I bet you’re not.’

But she didn’t say it out loud.

Ty understood her and as her opinion of him seemed to be so low, he thought she’d believe only the worst of him; in fact he was going to move out of his cabin, but Maclyn insisted he would move as Ty had his office in his lounge area whereas Maclyn used the small room behind the bridge. It was easier for him to move into Ty’s cabin than for Ty to move into his; also Max wouldn’t take kindly to a cat moving into his home. Ty led them down to a brown door and pressed the keypad, activating the doors, which slid open.

‘Here you go,’ he said and stood back allowing them to enter first.

Kassina noticed the name on the plaque under the keypad and glared at Ty as she passed him and it was his turn to sigh. Whatever he said or did, it seemed she’d take exception to and it was a shame as she was a very beautiful woman and he usually likes beautiful women and they usually liked him, but not this one. Ever since they’d met, it had been like a flame to matches and yet he didn’t know why, but there seemed nothing he could do to change it.

‘Computer, lights,’ he said as he followed them in.

It wasn’t exactly tidy in there as Maclyn hadn’t had time yet to pack, but for a single man it at least was clean. The quarters consisted of a spacious lounge area that had plenty of storage compartments and two small sofas with an elegant carved wooden table and it had a bar where Maclyn kept quite a well-stocked liquor cabinet. To the right was another door, which led into a large bedroom and a smaller side room which was the bathroom. The bed was facing the door and quite large and Kassina looked at it and smiled up at her father.

‘I hope you don’t snore dad,’ she said.

Ty grinned.

‘The bed does come apart to make two,’ he added helpfully. ‘Sorry it’s a bit of a mess, but once we are on the way, Mac will move some of his stuff, so you’ll have more room.’

He looked around him and thought it was maybe a good thing they weren’t seeing his cabin, as it wasn’t as presentable as this. Maclyn had an eye for design; the new interior of the ship was largely his work with a little input from the rest of the crew. But everyone had designed and decorated their own quarters, so they reflected their own personalities and tastes and Maclyn’s was like stepping into a Mexican hacienda. It had white walls with terracotta panels and a colourful rug on the main wall and one thrown over one of the sofas. The corner bar wouldn’t have looked out of place with a cowboy or two sat at it and the table was beautifully carved and decorated as it was very old and was a family heirloom. The overall affect was masculine and comfortable and Ty thought how well it summed up its owner. Maclyn was an easy person to like and pleasant company.

‘Is it okay?’ he asked them once they’d looked around.

‘It is, but I don’t want to make any of your crew leave their quarters, not on our account. This is their home,’ O’realian said.

Ty smiled.

‘I know, but they offered. Look, I’ve got to get back to the bridge and see how the loading is going.’

’Of course, we have kept you too long,’O’realian replied.

‘If you need help getting your gear up here, I’ll...’

‘No need Captain, we will manage.’

Ty nodded and turned to leave before remembering the last member of their family.

‘Oh, where’s that cat?’ he said to Kassina.

She glared at him.

‘She’s with Shalon, as we didn’t know where we were staying.’

‘Well keep her in here please, as my dog doesn’t like cats and he has the run of the ship.’

He didn’t wait for her to reply, but turned on his heels and made his escape.

Kassina opened her mouth, but was prevented from giving him a mouthful by the sight of his retreating back.

‘Oh, that man is....is,’ she stuttered.

‘Is a lot like you,’ O’realian finished for her.

‘Don’t be insulting,’ she replied.

O’realian threw back his head and laughed.