Trial by Ordeal

by Philip R Benge

  **********

  On the planet Helionia, Captain Lysenko has had one of his most trusted men watching the starship Dagger with orders to notify his superior should it prepare to lift off, or should anything else noteworthy happen aboard it. Hans Byland was the officer who he had detailed for the job; he was a thirty-year man, with enough experience to know how to keep out of sight and not allow the boredom of the task to cause him to slip up. Byland was situated inside a small terrestrial shuttlecraft that belonged to a close friend of his family, and at this precise moment, he was watching Ares Fortuna and some old crone board the starship. Immediately afterwards he had seen the crew of the ship preparing the ship for immediate lift off, his task was almost completed, all he had to do was contact his superior to notify him of the changes to the situation.