Alex sent. Alex sent.
Hector replied, pleased to find Alex in a positive mood. With more than a day’s worth of contact time connecting to the SADEs attached to the fleet, Hector was indeed aware of everything that had transpired.
Alex sent, his power radiating through his thought, and Hector absorbed the dual pleasure.
You were correct, Trixie, Hector thought, recalling his partner’s word about Alex’s reaction to any level of his efforts.
Hector said, trying to express a sense of humility.
Hector replied.
Alex asked, intrigued to hear Hector speak of irritation.
Hector replied. He attempted to sound despondent and was gratified to hear Alex’s roar of laughter. He had lamented the lack of opportunities to make the human who rescued him do that.
Alex asked.
Hector sent, using the Dischnya term for peacemaker in the generic sense.
Alex queried.
Hector replied.
Now Hector’s use of the Dischnya term made sense to him. Under most circumstances, Alex would have left the distribution of military assets to Tatia, but Hector was telling him that an argument was brewing. More than likely, the subject revolved around the fighters’ strategic deployment for offense, meaning outfitting the Tridents, or for defense, protecting the Freedom.
Alex asked.
Hector said.
Hector replied.
Alex said. he added, ending the call.
Morning meal at the head table was a bed of tension. Alex and Renée were in an upbeat mood, but the others were eating silently.
Alex sent to Renée.
Renée sent in reply.
Alex enjoyed his morning meal, exhibiting the usual gusto. When he finished the last of his thé, he said, “Shall we adjourn to a conference room to discuss this issue?”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” Tatia said firmly.
“I see. Then shall we adjourn to a conference room because I wish to discuss the status of the assets of Omnia Ships?” Alex replied. He had spoken softly, but his eyes drilled into Tatia. In turn, hers burned with frustration. It was obvious she thought Alex was encroaching on her duties, as military commander of the fleet.
Alex was surprised to discover that the discussion would include every admiral and Julien. He glanced at his friend, as the group settled around the table, and Julien sent, by which Alex figured his friend meant he was backing his partner.
Cordelia linked the admirals, who were on patrol, into the holo-vid.
“Congratulations, Admiral Tachenko, on the addition of twelve Trident replacements with full complements of travelers,” Alex began. “I understand we have quite a few fighters aboard the Our People for resupply of the expedition.”
Alex was attempting to be as neutral as he could, hoping to keep the discussion friendly. That didn’t happen. Soon, it was clear that opinions were strongly divided, as Hector had hinted. What he found interesting was that two of the Trident admirals were in favor of more travelers aboard the city-ship to protect the Omnian leaders.
Reiko was a proponent of offense, and Tatia supported her vice admiral’s opinion. Cordelia had volunteered the idea that the two sides of the argument could split the difference, and her voice had gone unheeded.
Alex glanced around the table. Most of the admirals were leaning back in their chairs, with arms folded or hands in their laps, demonstrating their reticence to compromise.
“Well, this decision strikes me as a strategic one,” Alex said, leaning on the table, his hands clasped together. “We’ve always been able to settle this type of question together, and I’m disappointed that we’ve come to this state of affairs. I recognize this expedition has been sailing for more than three years, and there’s little hope of returning soon to Omnia. In light of the intransigent positions I hear being expressed, I’ve decided to take it upon myself to remove the thorn in your sides, in other words, make the points of this argument moot. I’ll be sending the travelers and the pilots aboard the Our People back with Captain Hector.”
“You wouldn’t?” Reiko objected strenuously.
Tatia frowned, eyed Alex, and then chuckled. “Oh, yes, he would,” she declared.
The individuals around the table stared at Alex, who waited quietly, his eyes hard.
Tatia’s arms unfolded, and she placed her hands lightly on the table. Then, in an encouraging voice, she said, “If you’d be so kind as to excuse us, Alex, I believe we have a compromise to work out.”
“An amiable one, I hope,” Alex said, rising from the table. It wasn’t a request, and everyone knew it.
Julien followed Alex out the door. Walking beside his friend in the spacious corridor, Julien said, “Decades ago, I would have said that was an excellent bluff.”
“And now?” Alex asked.
“I understand it wasn’t,” Julien replied. “You bluntly reminded our leaders that they shouldn’t lose touch with those characteristics that bind us. In this case, it’s our cooperative spirit, notably a concern for one another’s opinions.”
* * *
As the New Terra’s children matured, they enjoyed trips to visit the Freedom to acquaint them with what would be their new home, when the sister ship Our People arrived.
However, rather than endowing the children with a sense of expectation, Etoya and her staff noted a growing restlessness among them. They attributed the problem to the differences in the children’s experiences between the New Terra and the Freedom. The drab, dim surroundings of the New Terra couldn’t compare to the bright, wide spaciousness of the Freedom. The children loved the greenery of the parks, after their initial reactions of shock turned to wonderment and finally delight. They were introduced to Cordelia’s reality vids and often had to be cajoled to leave and let others view the display.
When Etoya heard the Our People had transited, she was greatly relieved. It was nearing two-and-a-half years since the children had been rescued. Her primary concern became how long it would take to prepare the city-ship to handle the children. In her mind, it couldn’t come too soon.
As the day began, the Our People made station above the New Terra. Alex tipped a virtual hat to Hector, who had timed his arrival to accommodate his anxious visitors. He boarded a traveler with a large group of individuals, all of whom had an interest in reviewing the material the city-ship brought.
When they landed, Captain Hector s
tood ready to greet his visitors, a broad smile on his face. He received what he cherished, a huge hug from Alex and a kiss on the cheek from Renée.
Tatia, Reiko, and Franz thanked Hector for his efforts. Franz linked to the pilots and ordered a meeting, which would take place in the city-ship’s auditorium. Then the threesome strode briskly to reach the location in the upper decks.
Mickey, Miriam, Luther, and a group of engineers profusely congratulated Hector on his haul of supplies and set off to peruse the material and choose how best to distribute it.
After Alex introduced Hector to Etoya, he requested Hector take them to the level that the captain had chosen for buildout.
Hector good-naturedly chatted with Etoya about the type of accommodations she would expect to have in the buildout. As Etoya enumerated her list, Hector checked them off his. By the time Etoya wound down, Hector was pleased to discover that he had covered every item the ex-crèche administrator had requested, and there were many more things that were built that she hadn’t.
Deliberately, Hector led the small group to the secondary park that would be reserved exclusively for the children. There Hector introduced Etoya to Nema, Boris, and Storen, saying, “I’ve brought three university professors to help you with the children’s social development.”
“I know them well,” Etoya said, happily greeting the three university administrators.
“Well, let’s take a look at the space,” Hector said, having signaled a lift, whose doors opened to receive the group.
Renée sent to Alex and Hector. She’d learned that the two of them had chosen to keep secret the work, which had been completed on the deck dedicated to the children.
Hector asked innocently.
Renée shot back. She had to admit that she was surprised how well the university administrators were concealing their mirth about the surprise.
When the lift’s doors opened on the children’s deck, the group exited but allowed Etoya to step to the forefront. Instead of the usual pristine corridor walls, the bulkheads were painted with vibrant scenes, some realistic and some fantastic.
“We should preserve these,” Etoya gushed. “The children would love them.”
Ten meters down the corridor, a pair of double doors slid open on Hector’s signal. The group let Etoya walk into the room first. Like the corridor, it was brightly decorated with images, which reflected future professions.
“This dorm room is for the wild ones, as you call them,” Nema said quietly. “When the older children are ready, we’ve prepared cabins for them, two to a room.”
“You’ve finished the buildout,” Etoya said, with a gasp. She walked around the gleaming room. It was inviting and furnished in imaginative ways that fostered interaction among the children.
“This … this is so clever,” Etoya stuttered. She turned to Nema, tears in her eyes. Nema, who was always a hugger, held out her arms, and the two women embraced. In turn, Etoya hugged each of the other professors.
“Etoya, you really should be thanking Captain Hector,” Boris said. “He drafted us and engineered all this.”
Etoya regarded Hector and said, “I’ve always thought it a little odd when I saw New Terran-born individuals embracing or otherwise sharing intimate gestures with SADEs. As an elderly woman, who has lived most of her life among Méridiens, I’m saddened that it has taken me this long to understand that I’ve been the odd one. If you’ll forgive me, Captain,” Etoya said and held out her arms to the SADE.
“I’m pleased to be your first,” Hector replied, with a wry grin, which elicited a burble of laughter from Etoya.
After the two, human and SADE, released each other, Etoya looked at Alex and said, “It’s rather like holding onto a warm blanket wrapped around a boulder, isn’t it?”
Renée replied, “I think that’s why the SADEs like Alex’s hugs. He has enough muscle to trigger their deep pressure sensors.”
“Nonsense, Renée,” white-haired Nema shot back. “Every individual wants a hug from Alex.”
Renée sent to Alex, who gave his partner a quick smile.
“The facilities are ready … everything, Captain?” Etoya asked.
“You’ll see for yourself, Etoya, that all is ready and much more than you requested from me during our walk here,” Hector said. “Come. Let us continue the tour.”
As the group reviewed the facilities, Alex slipped away to join Tatia’s meeting with the pilots. He stood quietly at the back of the room, as Franz assigned positions. The lieutenants were soon dismissed and filed out of the small auditorium past Alex. Many struggled with uncertainty whether to salute him or not, and Alex smiled good-naturedly at them. The youthful faces left a sour taste in his mouth. It was the same emotion he felt when he heard of Ellie Thompson’s choice for pilot, Yumi Tanaka, Edouard and Miko’s daughter.
Tatia, Reiko, and Franz waited at the front of the auditorium for Alex, who quickly joined them, when the room emptied.
“How did it go?” Alex asked.
“They’re an eager bunch,” Reiko commented.
“Captain Hector deserves an enormous amount of credit for coupling Confederation travelers with Haraken pilots,” Tatia said. “You’d think the SADE was doing his best to imitate his mentor.”
“Hmm … who would that be?” Franz asked tongue-in-cheek.
“Stay on track, Commanders,” Alex growled. It earned him a brief spate of laughter. “How did the pilots take the apportionment?”
“There was grumbling from pilots who discovered they were assigned to the Freedom after they realized there were a few empty slots left aboard the Tridents,” Reiko said.
“I gave the lieutenants an assignment,” Tatia said. “They’re to review our analysis of the conflict at the wall.”
“I think mindsets are going to change by tomorrow,” Franz said, his demeanor shifting to display the sadness of recent memories. “This group will learn that some of our heavy fighter losses came from defending the Freedom.”
“I assume the new Trident officers and traveler pilots will have the same assignment,” Alex said.
“Absolutely,” Reiko replied.
“Good. It might help them survive our next encounter,” Alex said, wishing them a good day, and hurrying to locate Mickey and his engineering team.
Alex was guided to one of the Our People’s lowest levels. These bays, which surrounded the circumference of the city-ship, were originally intended to carry massive terraforming and mining equipment, in addition to dome site construction materials. The equipment and materials had been sold at Haraken when Alex bought the city-ship.
Locating Mickey, Alex cycled through the airlock and came to a halt. A mountain of packing cases greeted him. They extended the entire way to the overhead.
Mickey sent to Alex.
It was a while before Mickey and his group of engineers came around a stack of crates to greet Alex, who held out his arms, asking the obvious question.
“Apparently, the Confederation freighters, which delivered supplies to Omnia, couldn’t make the trip out here, and our freighters had contracts to fulfill,” Mickey explained. “So, Captain Hector crammed these empty bays with the freighters’ loads and all the supplies he could get his hands on.”
“We’ve observed four other bays prior to this one, Dassata,” Luther added. “Each one exhibits the same attempt to use every conceivable space.”
“Have you perused the Our People’s inventory lists, Alex?” Miriam asked.
When Alex shook his head, Miriam added, “This ship carries a small number of individuals compared to its capability. Captain Hector took advantage of approximately 76 percent of the empty space to load supplies for the expedition.”
“You’re referring to t
he bays?” Alex asked.
“No,” Mickey said, grinning. “Miriam is speaking of every space: bays, storage rooms, meal rooms, cabins … every space.”
“You requested a SADE help you, Alex, and he performed, as you would expect,” Miriam said, with pride.
“Items we might not have thought to ask for are here, Alex,” Mickey said. “I’m pleased to say that Hector brought nanites stock. And, good news, he brought food stocks. There’s enough to feed the expedition for five more years, which is a timely thing. I checked with Admiral Cordelia, and she estimated we had no more than a year’s supply left.”
“Time seems to slip by when you’re trying to take on an alien federation,” Alex said. He was lost in thought for a moment, and the individuals quietly waited. They had been overjoyed by the enormous find, but it was obvious Alex was more concerned with the grander scheme of things.
“Well, important question, Mickey, can we fit everything aboard the Freedom and the freighters?” Alex asked.
“We’ll make it fit,” Mickey replied, with determination.
“Good,” Alex said, turning around to exit the bay. He paused at the hatch and said, “Empty our fleet’s oldest freighter and keep it empty.”
Before Mickey could ask, Alex was gone. The engineering team exchanged questioning looks, and Mickey said, “You heard him. We empty the oldest freighter.”
By the time Alex returned to the tour of the children’s facilities, it was completed, and Etoya and the professors were involved in an earnest conversation.
“Oh, Alex,” Etoya said. “Good timing. When can we move the children here?”
Alex picked up on the slight discomfort portrayed by the professors, especially Storen. “There’s no hurry,” he replied. “We have a huge amount of freight to clear off this city-ship. Apparently, this deck is about the only one that isn’t stuffed with equipment and supplies.”
“Wonderful,” Nema perked up. “That will give us time to visit with the children in their present surroundings and plan how best to introduce them to their new home.”
The professors brightened, and Etoya looked disappointed.
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