Solar Star

Maclyn got up from the couch and went to the wall communication system.

“Su-min?” he said into the machine.

There was a moment’s pause and a crackle before a lilting female voice replied.

“Yes, Mac.”

“Has the Red Rocket docked yet?” he asked.

“It sure has,” and she laughed.

Maclyn smiled.

“He didn’t prang it again did he?”

“Yep, it’s got a lovely dent in the side. Very artistic.”

Her deep, throaty laugh echoed around the room. Maclyn smiled at his bemused guests before asking Su-min to contact the Captain of Red Rocket to see if he’d join them. That done he made his way back to the couch and sat down.

“You have a way?” Sarrin asked, already knowing he had.

Maclyn nodded.

“Maybe, nothing definite” he said quickly, seeing Kassina’s look of delight. “Please don’t get your hopes up yet but there may be a way.”

“How?” she asked.

“Well, the Red Rocket is a much bigger ship than this. It’s also slower and not as elegant.”

He grinned; he never could resist the opportunity to praise the Solar Star.

“But its Captain, Ray Silvereen, is trustworthy, to a point” he added.

Kassina frowned.

“To a point?” she queried.

“Put it this way, he likes to think of himself as an inter-galactic hero; you know tall, good looking and brave. Unfortunately he’s none of those but if you flatter him and feed his enormous ego he can play the role of hero quite well, even courageously.”

Maclyn paused, remembering a time when Ray had pulled out all the stops and saved their asses.

“Anyway, if we use both ships, we’d have more than enough room for the people and supplies.”

He turned to Sarrin.

“How long will it take to get there?”

Sarrin steepled his long artistic fingers.

“That would depend on the cruising speed of the ship” he said.

“Yeh, well this craft can go at preen six but Silvereen’s can cruise at about preen four.”

“Then it will take us as many as six months to reach Ieesha.”

“I was afraid of that. We’ll have to stock up to the roof before we leave or we’ll starve.”

Kassina looked at Sarrin but he gave nothing away.

“One more thing. It’s going to be an expensive trip so how are you going to pay for it?”

This was the question Kassina had been dreading the most, because the community had little wealth except their land and what they obtained from teaching and the craft goods they produced.

“We will give you our lands in South Dakota and there is some money but how we divide it between two ships I don’t know.”

She bit her lip; her eyes were shadowed by worry. Maclyn could feel tears might be coming, so he quickly changed the subject.

“We’ll think about that later” he said. “Anyway we don’t know yet if Ty will do it or if Red Rocket is available.” He leant forward and took her hand.

“Don’t worry; I’m sure we’ll sort something out.”

She smiled at him and it was like the sun had just come out from behind a cloud; it lightened the whole room and filled Maclyn with warmth. He couldn’t help but smile back.

“Right” he said. “Let’s go and find Ty and see what he says about your mad scheme.”

They got up and proceeded to the door when Mac added.

“It’s just crazy enough for him to love it.”

The small semi-circular bridge of the star ship ‘Solar Star’ was only partially manned. The ship slowly came back to life after her extensive upgrades and refit. For the past three months she had been at the shipyard on the outskirts of the old city of Denver. The crew of 37 had been working hard to get their own sections up to scratch then once their work was done, they’d been able to take time to visit their families. They were all due back the next day but most had reported back early. Ty Kelsey stood at the engineering station checking the readings against the list he had in front of him. The Chief Engineer, Samuel Dayton, stood beside him, a slight smile on his dark face. He was pleased with the improvements, in both engineering capability and speed as they had achieved far more than Ty had asked for and from Ty’s expression, he too was impressed.

“A 30% increase in speed, yet no problems with the hull’s integrity?” Ty questioned.

“That’s right. The test run went like a dream.”

Ty smiled.

“That should keep us well out of the range of the Space Corps’ ships” he said.

Dayton nodded.

“Sure will.”

His southern drawl was more pronounced than usual.

“So, we are ready to go?”

“Yes, Captain. We’re ready when you are.”

Ty nodded and handed the checklist back to the tall Negro man, who then turned and headed for the doors of the bridge, which opened on his approach. He stopped in surprise to see Maclyn with two strangers.

Maclyn smiled at him.

“Hi Chief, is Ty here?”

Dayton nodded.

“Yep, he is.”

He indicated over his shoulder.

Maclyn led his guests onto the nerve centre of his world and Kassina, at last, saw Kelsey for the first time. He wasn’t exactly tall, maybe 5’10” but his build was athletic, broad in the shoulders, narrow in the hip, strong but lithe. He turned at the sound of Maclyn’s voice and Kassina stared in disbelief.

“It’s him” she muttered softly to herself.

Two years before she had had a vision whilst meditating; it had been vivid and upsetting and this man had appeared in it. She still didn’t understand all she’d seen then but she knew he was important; important to her and her community.

Ty frowned; he didn’t know they had visitors so he raised an eyebrow at Maclyn who grinned back.

“Ty, this is Kassina and Sarrin” he said.

Ty smiled that half smile that charmed people whenever he used it.

“Hi, nice to meet you both” he said.

He directed his next words to Maclyn.

“I didn’t know we had guests.”

“More than guests, they want to discuss a business proposal with us.”

Ty knew Maclyn would never bother him unless he thought what they were proposing would be both profitable and interesting to him. Maclyn knew Ty wasn’t interested in the nitty gritty of business as it bored him; he liked broad strokes and left the details to others, as he had no patience for them.

“Will I like it?” he asked.

Maclyn grinned.

“I think you’ll love it” he said.

The huge oak wooden doors to Colonel Nye’s inner office opened hesitantly on her command. Cornell, her young male assistant, glanced nervously around the door before entering fully. The Colonel had never been an easy person to work for, as she seemed by nature, a cold and calculating individual. She was not someone you could get to know or like and in the last few months, she was even less approachable than normal. Her violent mood swings were terrifying to behold and very unpredictable, making everyone jumpy and tense. He wasn’t sure what would be thrown at him, so preceded with extreme caution.

“Yes Colonel?” he asked quietly.

She looked up from her desk, her blue ice like eyes crackled with malice and even more disturbing she was smiling. He gulped and felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise in alarm; if anything was more unnerving than the Colonel’s stare, it was her smile.

“I have heard, Cornell, they are almost ready to go. Are the troops prepared as I requested?”

He nodded.

“Yes. They are on standby, Colonel.”

She leant back in her chair and sighed with pleasure as she could feel the net closing in on her most hated enemy and she meant to be there to see his face when they arrested him.

“They are to be ready to go at all times. I am waiting for the final go ahead and then I’ll join them and we’ll move in. Understand?”

He nodded and unconsciously started to back away from her.

“Yes Colonel, it shall be done.”

She lifted her hand and dismissed him so he scurried out of the room, pulling the door together behind him and breathed a sigh of relief. He went back to his desk and put his head in his hands.

“What do I do now?” he whispered to himself.

He couldn’t see what was so wrong with the Sakkara community. They hadn’t hurt anyone; all they wanted was to be left alone and carry on with their way of life as they had done since the dark times. Others were not being hounded like them so why Nye had decided to select them for special treatment was a mystery to him. He sighed as he’d have to send the Colonel’s message to Major Gerrard soon but he couldn’t leave it there. Somehow, someway, he had to warn the community they had two days at most to leave.

“God help them” he said, as he reached for the trans link.

Maclyn sat back and looked around the table set centrally in the brand new briefing room situated behind the bridge. He listened to Ty asking Sarrin question after question about the route to Ieesha and what they might face out there so far from Earth and her colonies. He had to smile as he had predicted it right; the sheer adventure of going to Ieesha, where no Earth ship had gone before was like an elixir to him. It wasn’t about monetary payment, as he’d never even mentioned money. For Ty it was the danger of the venture that would be hard for him to resist, plus the added bonus of getting one past Colonel Nye. They had had minor run-ins with her department before when they transported questionable cargo between Earth and Mars. Sometimes you have to sail pretty close to the wind to make a spaceship pay; so finances sometimes needed boosting with a not-quite-legal transaction that paid very well although Maclyn tried to keep this activity to a minimum. He disliked the people you had to meet in that line of work but needs must where the devil drives; at least with this trip, it wasn’t illegal, just dangerous. He looked at his cousin; Ty’s hazel eyes shone with excitement and his hair flopped forward on his wide forehead as he leant forward listening intently to Sarrin, who had brought star maps with him. Maclyn listened to them but didn’t fully understand what they were saying; he was the first to admit he was no spaceman, but he was proud of the ship and what they had achieved in the past five years. Without him, Ty wouldn’t have accomplished it; he might not be Captain Material but Maclyn was a talented organiser, people manager and accountant. It was his abilities that got them the best crew outside the Space Corps and now the best ship too which was why sometimes he felt Ty didn’t really appreciate him quite as he should. Slowly, he became aware that Kassina was watching him and he felt himself going red. To cover his embarrassment he quickly got up and went to the coffee machine, picked up the pot and brought it back to the table. Ty held out his cup and Maclyn filled it without a word and Ty carried on questioning Sarrin as though there was nothing else in the world to think about.

Kassina frowned and when Maclyn retook his seat she leant towards him and asked.

“Is he always so rude?”

Maclyn stopped momentarily and seemed surprised at her question.

“Ty?” he queried.

“Yes, him” she said angrily.

“Oh Ty’s, Ty. When he’s into something he has tunnel vision about everything else.”

“Even manners?” she said.

Maclyn nodded.

“He’s never been good on manners, not even as a kid.”

“You’ve known him a long time then?”

“Yep, all my life, so I guess I don’t think anything of his ways. He doesn’t mean to be rude.”

“You could have fooled me” she replied.

Maclyn sighed as it seemed this was one woman Ty had not impressed so he decided to change the subject.

“Do you understand what they are talking about?” he asked.

She crinkled her nose and shook her head.

“Not a word” she said and grinned.

“Well then, why don’t I give you a quick tour of the ship while they decide how to get you where you want to go?”

“Do you think Kelsey will agree to take us?” she asked hopefully.

He looked at his cousin’s face and knew that nothing would dissuade him from this trip.

“I can guarantee it” he replied.

“How do you know? He hasn’t said he will” she pointed out.

It was true, nothing had been formally agreed but he didn’t need to be told.

“Trust me. If we can get the Red Rocket then the Solar Star will be going to Ieesha.”

She didn’t look wholly convinced but she nodded anyway. He got up and she followed suit. As they walked to the doors and Kassina looked back at Sarrin and Ty to tell them where they were going but neither of them had noticed them leaving.