Colin said, “I’m sorry for laughing Julia. I need to explain what Anne was talking about. When Anne asked you whether I was driving you too hard, she was calling me a slave driver. There was an oblique reference in there to your former status as a slave which, depending on how you feel about it, may have been just a little cruel. Not intentionally but still. Basically, Anne was asking you if I am working you too hard.”
“Oh, no, Anne, Colin has always been very kind and good to me. He lets me do anything I want as long as I complete my agreed duties. He’s always telling me to sit down and relax, but I find that hard to do sometimes. Now and then, I forget I’m no longer a slave, and nobody has a right to beat me if I don’t please them. Colin has to remind me of that when I do forget.”
Then, with a mischievous look in her eye, Julia continued, “He doesn’t beat me too hard when I forget.”
Anne laughed, and Susan looked askance for a moment till she realized Julia was joking.
Colin patted her gently on the arm to reassure her as Anne and Susan finished their drinks and took their leave. Once the two Officers were gone, Colin went inside the house with Julia following behind. They needed to decide on the best place to put a few beds, so some of the house guests had somewhere to sleep when the party began to wind down. Colin’s home has a basement which he hadn’t paid very much attention to before then. They went down to it to see if it could be cleaned up enough to accommodate some of Colin’s guests for a night or two. The basement is divided into six rooms, four of which have windows near the ceiling. The windows are operated by a handle that is turned clockwise to wind the windows open and counter-clockwise to close them. The basement had a musty smell, so Colin and Julia went around opening all the windows and doors to let the space air out a little. When Julia began winding one of the handles, it was quite stiff, and the window didn’t appear to be opening. As she continued turning the handle, Julia heard a very faint rumbling sound off to one side of the room. She turned to look in that direction, only to see an opening appearing as the wall on that side moved back, seeming to make the entire room a little bigger. Julia called for Colin to come and look at her new discovery.
Colin hurried into the room to find Julia staring to one side of the chamber. When he looked, it took a few seconds for Colin’s mind to process what he was seeing. As the wall moved backward, it revealed an underground passageway leading back into the rock. The two of them stood staring at Julia’s discovery for several minutes before Colin asked Julia how she found it. Julia explained she was trying to open a window when instead of the window opening, the wall moved. Colin told Julia to wait and hurried out of the room to retrieve some emergency lighting he’d recently obtained. He entered the passageway and found a three-position lever that was labeled ‘Internal Control,' ‘Lock’ and ‘External Control.' Next to the lever, was a handle like the one used for the windows. The lever was in the ‘External Control’ position, so Colin moved it to ‘Lock.' Nothing seemed to happen, so Colin asked Julia to try turning the handle in the opposite direction. When she tried, Julia found the handle turned, but now it seemed to only operate the window. If she turned it in the original direction that opened the wall, the handle now operated the window. After the window was open, Colin told Julia he intended to see where the passageway led. Julia protested, but he asked her to wait while he went to look. The passageway was not very long and led to three reasonable sized rooms plus a bathroom. Apparently, you could stay here for a reasonable amount of time if the need existed. When Colin checked, the taps had water, and the drainage appeared to be working correctly, so it looked like the facility had been maintained, at least till the property went on sale. Colin concluded this was a panic room, the previous owners apparently felt the need for a bolt hole, somewhere they could retreat to and hide in a time of emergency. There were switches in various locations around the walls, but when he tried them, none appeared to work.
Colin decided to see how the door control worked on the inside of this bolt hole. He retraced his steps to the entrance to tell Julia about the facilities along the passageway. After telling Julia about his intention to test the controls on this side of the door, Colin placed the lever in the ‘Internal Control’ position then began to wind the handle. The door closed smoothly till eventually, there was a clunk and the handle stopped turning. Colin noticed that when the door clunked, lights came on back towards the other end of the passageway. It was time to leave this place and think about what its existence meant, so Colin wound the handle in the opposite direction till the door was open again. Once Colin set the lever to the ‘External Control’ position he exited the passageway. Julia wound the door closed again, and they both noticed the window closed with it.
As they walked out of the room, Colin said, “Julia, do not tell anyone about our discovery here today, not even Dave. You know we are expecting a Pirate attack on Cambridge, this may be somewhere you can hide till we deal with the problem. If you hide in there, you have air, running water and somewhere you should be safe. We’ll make sure there’s plenty of food, beds, whatever else we can think of that you may need for perhaps three or four people for a month. We’ll discuss this further as I get my head around all the implications.”
“Okay Colin, I understand, I will tell nobody about it, but why do you want provisions for three or four?”
“If the Pirates enter the System in force, there’ll be an alert, to allow people to make their preparations. A large proportion of Cambridge’s population has military training. I’ve noticed, you’re beginning to gather a circle of friends. Don’t worry, I think that’s a good thing. If you have friends here when the alert sounds, take them to the shelter with you but don’t tell them it’s there till after they agree to go somewhere safe with you. You don’t want anyone on the outside, other than me, who knows where you are. Get yourself in there sooner rather than later. Don’t wait till you see the Pirates coming up the driveway till you go. Empty the cupboards and pantry of food and lock yourself away. When I get back, and it’s safe, I’ll have something set up to let you know it’s safe to come out. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
Over the next few days, Colin bought some extra beds, supposedly for house guests. He also purchased a variety of supplies, including light weapons, emergency lighting, and other things he thought might be useful to stock the bolt hole. Colin and Julia cleaned the basement till it was spotless. They put rugs down on the floors and wall hangings on some of the walls to deaden the sound in the space and generally make it more comfortable and welcoming for his guests.
Finally, the day of the housewarming party arrived. By then, Colin had thoroughly stocked his hidden bolt hole and set up a transceiver in it so he could contact Julia when it was safe to come out if the worst happened and Cambridge was invaded. As far as Colin could tell. Julia would be safe in there against nearly anything but a direct strike from a Kinetic Energy Weapon (KEW) or a nuclear strike on the immediate vicinity. He though such a strike would be the height of bad luck. There was nothing nearby for the Pirates to bother targeting in this area. Even the house was not obvious from space, except when viewed from an oblique angle.
The caterers arrived in the morning to begin setting the house up so food and drinks would be readily available to the guests. Colin and Julia were both busy throughout the morning but went off to have a nap after lunch so they would be fresh for their guests. The first guests began arriving at about 4 PM, so the music and party started. By then, both Colin and Julia were awake, showered and dressed ready to entertain the people who’d been invited. In the end, Colin had to agree to have a company of Troopers running security after he’d asked the Federation Council representative and the President of Cambridge then decided to invite himself to the party. Colin didn’t mind the additional guests, but he did make a point of telling the appropriate people that this was a party among friends and he would not hesitate to ask anybody who caused trouble to leave, with force if that bec
ame necessary.
Guests continued arriving, and the party began to pick up pace. Colin was pleased because he could see his guests were enjoying themselves. The President of Cambridge arrived just before 5 PM. Colin was happy to see he didn’t come with any fanfare. Of course, President Edward Constantin had a security contingent with him, but it was only minimal, and the security people kept a low profile. Julia went to greet him with Colin watching from afar. Colin was extremely protective of Julia and had no intention of having all the good work they had put into teaching her the rights and responsibilities of a free person to have some slimy politician mess everything up. Thankfully, Constantin seemed to be on his best behaviour and to just be there to enjoy the company and catch up with a few of the many people he knew. Till then, Colin hadn’t met the President, but Julia brought him over and introduced them before leaving Edward (Ed or Eddie to his friends) in Colin’s hands. Edward asked Colin if there was somewhere private they could talk, assuring him it would only take a couple of minutes. Colin led the President into the study and closed the door.
As soon as they were alone, Edward spoke, “Commander Gordon, I would like to thank you for inviting me. I promise I didn’t come for political reasons. Commander, it is very rare for me to have an opportunity to attend a gathering like this, where the people are without exception, people I feel I can trust. I know there isn’t anybody here who has an interest in trying to stab me in the back for their own political gain and I wanted a chance to relax among friends.”
“Quite alright Mr. President. Please enjoy yourself. Oh, one thing I will tell you, just in case she seems interested. Julia, the young lady who greeted you when you arrived, is under my protection. Julia had a tough life till we rescued her in Lahoshar, now we’re trying to show her what it’s like to be a free woman. The girl is just starting to get the idea, I don’t want anyone messing that up, not now.”
“I understand. For what it’s worth to you, I’m told that you’re devoted to your wife. I’m the same, the only reason I’m here without her tonight is that she’s ill. I promise the young lady is safe from me.”
“I’m sorry Sir, perhaps I shouldn’t have said that to you, but I am very protective of her, maybe a little over protective. We should go back to the party and enjoy ourselves.”
The President laughed, and the two men went back to the party, understanding each other and even respecting each other. Edward often became impatient with the double talk and lying that he had to endure in politics. The need to make sometimes ridiculous compromises frustrated Edward no end, but unfortunately, it was the nature of the beast. While the two men were in the study, Sonya arrived with the Federation Council representative, Sophon Carlon, Eri, and Shulari. The two men walked over to greet the new arrivals, and Colin was surprised to see Conti standing there dressed like a princess, a huge grin splitting her face from ear to ear. Now Colin was beginning to understand a few things about the recent events. Julia was standing near the new arrivals looking around the room trying to find Colin, and Anne was walking over from the other side of them. When Colin walked over to the group, Conti gave him the formal bow in the Tangesha way, but then unable to contain herself any longer, she hugged him.
Conti released Colin after a few seconds and said, “So Commander, I see you’re still running around the Universe rescuing people. Thank you, Colin, for arriving when you did in Conomar. Captain Carlon tells me that we would’ve probably been caught by the Pirates if you hadn’t intervened. We came to see how good Cambridge’s new ships are. You Colin, and Commander Fraser showed us they were far superior to anything of this class we have already. Thank you, you’ve rescued me yet again.”
“Ma’am, till now, I didn’t know it was you were the Federation Council Representative on board FNS Destiny. I was just doing my job, protecting Federation citizens, but I’m glad your safe now. By the way, Julia here was a slave on a ship we captured at Lahoshar.”
Conti patted Colin on the arm and said, “Good save there Colin. For a second, it almost sounded like you might have left us to our fate if you knew I was there. I’m pleased to meet you, Julia, you have found a good friend with this man.”
Julia bobbed her head in acknowledgment as Colin opened his mouth to speak, but Conti placed a finger over his lips, shushing him before he dug himself into a deeper hole, chuckling to herself all the time. The look on her face told him she wasn’t insulted, or upset. Conti was just pulling Colin’s chain, teasing him. Anne arrived at the group with Siobhan and Carl to introduce her parents to Conti. While the others were all exchanging the usual pleasantries, Colin began to understand why he was asked to invite the Federation Council Representative to this party. He’d thought it was something to do with Conomar, but now realized it was also because Conti considered him a friend and wanted to have a chance to say hello while she was in Cambridge.
President Constantin watched this byplay from the sidelines. Being a good judge of social interaction was a necessary skill for someone in Edward’s position, and he began to realize what an incredible asset Colin was to the people of Cambridge. It was evident to Edward, Colin’s penchant for rescuing people was something that paid off. The President read all the reports about Commander Gordon’s exploits as they crossed his desk. Those reports were thrilling to read, almost like an action adventure. This one man alone took a project intended to provide some self-defence capability for the people of Cambridge and turned it into a highly profitable undertaking, and he’d done it without ever actually being directly involved in the business end. Colin also brought more attention to Cambridge from the Federation Council, attention of the kind Cambridge needed and wanted. President Constantin found himself very impressed with Commander Colin Gordon.
Colin turned to Eri and Shulari, who were standing off to one side and greeted the two Tangesha females.
Shulari said, “You’re making a habit of rescuing FNS Destiny Colin, at least I was awake this time. We probably could have escaped, but we didn’t want to leave FNS Shurana and her crew behind.”
“Why not just take the crew off Shurana and run? You should’ve been able to do that. Conti is from the Federation Council, you could not afford to have her falling into Pirate hands, not again.”
“We were debating that when you contacted us to say help was on the way. Part of the problem was that the Pirates were shooting at us the entire time, we were trying to think of a way to protect the shuttle while the transfer was made.”
“Well, never mind Shulari. What happened, happened. We can’t undo what’s been done in the past. Apparently, you will have an escort of Cobras back to Cotoni station. I’m told I’ll be commanding one of them, so you probably won’t be able to see us for much of the time, we’ll stay dark till we need to show ourselves. If the Pirates can’t see us, the first they know about our presence is when all hell breaks loose in their ranks.”
“Having your escort with us will be very much appreciated. FNS Destiny had a significant upgrade after we arrived back on Taralyn, but even a Destroyer would struggle against more than a few Pirate ships. Still, those four that were chasing us in Conomar, never stood a chance, not against you. My Captain told me how you achieved it, very impressive, you are still thinking of innovative ways to destroy the Federation’s enemies and protect its citizens. I can only tell you I am so very glad you are on our side in this war.”
“So, you’ve finally accepted the Federation is at war? That’s good, it should make the politicians find the money to adequately finance the military. We need to have the tools and the people to do the job we’re expected to do. Enough shop talk Shulari, this is a party, and I want my guests to enjoy themselves. That includes you. How have you been Eri, still on FNS Destiny I see?”
Eri replied, “I’ve been very well thank you, Colin. I see your rejuvenation has been completed successfully. Are you feeling better now? I must admit, we were worried about you on a couple of occasions. Especially after you were hurt on Cotoni Station.”
“For several medical reasons, that is sometimes a side effect of the rejuvenation process. On very rare occasions, the person doesn’t recover everything they lost from ageing, but you clearly did and gained a little as well. I think all of us in the Federation will be thankful for that in the end.”
Just then, Sonya joined the group, looping her hand through Colin’s arm then saying hello to Shulari and Eri. Apparently, the three females had met before as they chatted for a few minutes before Sonya excused herself, and Colin, pulling him away to talk to Henry Fraser.
Sonya said, “Colin, Henry has decided to become active in the Navy again. This means we will have two Commodores here in Cambridge. I will stand aside from overall command in the System and confine myself to the space-based assets. Henry will take on the overall command. We are both in agreement on this, quite frankly, I need a break from my desk. Our little foray out to Lahoshar wet my appetite for operational control in space. I want you to come see me in my office as soon as you can, perhaps tomorrow, or the day after. We have a few things we need to discuss.”
“We’re working now ma’am? Okay, as soon as all my guests are gone I’ll come and see you.”
Sonya chided Colin, “No, we’re are not working now, but I want you to come visit me as soon as you can, with Henry back, things have changed a lot. I only found out today, and we need to reorganize our command structure quite a lot. Now, you need to go back to entertaining your guests.”
Star Man 2: Star Rise Page 22
