Solar Star

O’realian stood at the end of the ramp making sure all that could be loaded, was. The ten crates had ended up being thirteen and they’d have three more ready by the time Solar Star returned. It seemed they’d be able to take much more of the essential supplies with them than he had first thought as they had been planning this for so long that the elders knew in their heads what were the most important items they would need on Ieesha, so the last three crates had been filled in record time. Newton and Abigail were filling the last ones now and everyone leaving had their own personal possessions with them, their clothes and a few small belongings. They couldn’t take much but he smiled at some of their choices. He’d seen children with small bags with their favourite toys or books, adults with family albums and even a pot plant. He had packed Kassina’s clothes, but he wasn’t sure what else she wanted to take and he stood there hoping to be able to speak to her, but through the river of loading people and animals; he was having trouble spotting her. Finally he saw his beloved daughter with a blond young man he recognised as Captain Kelsey and they came down the ramp towards him.

‘Kassina,’ he shouted above the noise of the ship’s engines and moving people.

She turned her head in his direction and a huge smile spread across her face on seeing him. She tugged at the man’s arm and pointed to him and they both jostled their way between goats and boxes to reach his side.

‘Father,’ she said and fell into his open arms.

‘My child, it is good to see you, but what are you doing, you should stay on the ship.’

‘That’s what I told her, but she wouldn’t listen to me,’ said the man.

Kassina scowled at him.

‘I told you why,’ she said to Ty before turning back to her father. ‘I need to get some things from my room, I haven’t even got any clothes,’ she said.

‘I know, so I packed them. Shalon has them with her,’ he replied.

O’realian was prevented from saying any more as they were told the final box was loaded and the ramp was being retracted. O’realian led them back into the compound and they turned to watch the ship lift slowly skywards before she shot into the increasing brightness of the lightening sky. The sun had passed above the horizon and it looked like it was going to be another beautiful day. Ty would personally have preferred clouds to sunshine, fog would have been even better, but the weather was out of his control and he’d learnt long ago that you had to deal with the cards you had been dealt and make the best of them. Once Solar Star was airborne he had troops to deploy.

‘I’ll set up my people on the amphitheatre perimeter,’ he said. ‘Is everyone else ready to leave?’

O’realian nodded.

‘All of us are now in this compound, we have two members packing the last crates and they will bring them here as soon as they are finished.’

‘The Solar Star will be back in fifty minutes maximum, so everyone needs to be here in forty,’ Ty stated.

O’realian nodded.

‘They will be.’

With that assurance Ty left them and O’realian took Kassina’s arm and they went into the meeting hall.

‘So that is Captain Kelsey?’ O’realian asked her.

She was shocked to realise that she’d never got around to introducing him.

‘Yes, that’s Captain Kelsey,’ she said.

Her tone didn’t quite disguise her feelings for him. O’realian raised an eyebrow at her questioningly and she sighed.

‘It’s a long story father and we haven’t the time now.’ She said.

‘Maybe not, but I’ll look forward to hearing it,’ he said and then added. ‘Perhaps he is too much like you.’

She glared at him a denial on her lips, but he beat her to it.

‘I have to go now, we are going to attempt the Kataree,’ he said casually, knowing his bombshell would drive all thoughts of Ty Kelsey out of her mind.

‘The Kataree,’ she said softly. ‘Can you do it?’ she questioned.

He smiled and shrugged.

‘Why not, there must be a reason why we did all that training now it has to work,’ he replied.

He paused before adding.

‘We have to defend ourselves, we can’t rely on Kelsey’s people to hold them off by themselves, but stun guns aren’t our way. The Kataree is.’

She understood.

‘Yes father.’

She gave him a hug, before he too, turned around to face the new day and join the other elders. She was left to collect a few mementoes and to find ‘Magic’ her black cat, which was the real reason for her insisting to come back to the compound.

The military air car set down in front of the command tent and Major Gerrard braced himself for the arrival of Colonel Nye. The doors flew open and the small blond figure erupted out of it and made straight for the Major who stood to attention. She looked him up and down with her icy blue eyes, noting a tall broad shouldered man of forty, with short black hair, greying slightly on the temples, dark guarded eyes and a strong jaw-line. He looked competent enough, but she would soon see.

‘Report,’ she barked, once she was within range.

He fell into step behind her as she stormed past him into the tent.

‘At approximately 6.15am, a large aircraft appeared and landed inside the amphitheatre, where we think a large number of people, a number of crates and animals were loaded and then it took off,’ he said.

He didn’t know what else to say and her expression told him what she thought of both him and his report.

‘Did you do anything to stop this happening?’ she said, her words dripping in sarcasm.

He tried to look her in the eye but found her glare increasingly uncomfortable and in the end he had to break contact and look down at his feet.

‘We were taken by surprise and by the time I had mobilised the men the ship had started to leave.’

She sniffed at that; clearly unconvinced, believing he hadn’t really tried to stop them. She knew a lot of the military was against the policy of enforced chipping and didn’t understand her loathing of the Sakkara community, making them less than enthusiastic at preventing a peaceful community leaving if they wanted to. She wasn’t going to let that happen, with or without Major Gerrard’s assistance; nor had she any intention of enlightening him as to why she believed they had to be stopped at all costs. Only she knew why they must be stopped from leaving. Even President Berryman only knew what she had chosen to tell him; just enough to make him believe she was right and to give her the authority she needed to bring them down; and now some fool of a Major was not going to stop her.

‘Is the compound empty?’ she questioned.

‘No Colonel. There are about fifty people remaining, plus ten or so from the ship.’

She smiled, but it wasn’t pleasant, her face twisted into a wolfish grin of pure malice.

‘So he is still there,’ she said softly to herself.

Major Gerrard blinked and was unsure if he should say anything. She suddenly lifted her head.

‘Take me to your observation post; I want to see the situation for myself.’

He nodded and quickly led her to the overlook where the best view of Sakkara could be found, but even here the amphitheatre was almost entirely blocked from sight by the large earth banks that surrounded it. He handed her the powerful image intensify glasses and stood back so she could observe what was going on below them. Slowly she panned across the once familiar landscape and noted some unusual things.

‘How long have the horses been out?’ she said without breaking her scan.

‘The horses?’ Gerrard queried.

‘Yes man, the horses,’ she repeated. ‘You do know what a horse is?’ she continued sarcastically.

Before he replied he glared at his lieutenant who told him they were out before it was light.

‘And that didn’t alert you?’ she shouted.

Gerrard frowned, puzzled by all these questions.

‘No Colonel, why should it?’

‘Because I suspect it hasn’t happened before.’

This time she did turn and glare at him.

‘Am I right?’

He felt his stomach lurch and his throat close up but somehow he managed to reply.

‘Yes Colonel, you are right.’

She treated him to another of her evil smiles, which made him extremely nervous, before returning her attention to the buildings closest to the amphitheatre. At first she couldn’t see any sign of movement, but as she watched she began to see shapes of people hiding in the long grass on the rim of the earthworks. She counted eleven people which could be those from the ship, but she couldn’t see them clearly enough to be sure but one thing was plain, they were waiting and there was only one thing they could be waiting for, the ship.

‘And I’ll be waiting for you too,’ she said with grim certainty.

She stood up and turned to Gerrard and he swallowed hard, which gave her great satisfaction. To be feared felt good and she fixed him with an icy stare and proceeded to tell him what she wanted him to do.

The damp grass began to irritate Jenny A’larmo immensely, and her hands were going numb with cold; as a mechanic she rarely took part in covert operations. The winter sun was watery, producing little heat and she shivered as the wind cut into her back. She looked around her, waived to Tom Selkirk, another mechanic, positioned to her right and glanced at the despondent looking Lenny Coates to her left. Lenny was the ship’s eternal pessimist and Jenny wondered why he had volunteered for this assignment. He’d already told them they were doomed and that the dreaded Colonel Nye would get them. Jenny hoped for a better outcome than that, but she knew just how vulnerable they were if, or should it be when, the troops decided to attack. So far they’d been lucky, the element of surprise had worked for them, but they had used that card now and the troops wouldn’t be caught like that again. She pulled off her woollen gloves and blew into her cold hands, trying to get the feeling back so she could hold her stun gun properly as she didn’t want to be struggling with it at the inopportune time. Her watch told her they’d been sitting there for nearly twenty minutes, although it seemed a hell of a lot longer. It wouldn’t be too long now before the Solar Star returned.

‘Then,’ she thought. ’The shit will hit the fan.”