The Alliance in Peril

by Peter Lewis Atkinson

  Alenna made everyone aware by saying, “Please bring your items to the checkout.” She was aiming this mainly at the adults. The adults put everything into a pile. I slipped in the train set along with its track extension. Alenna gave my sister Rachael the debit card to make payment. She intended to watch, but I managed to distract Alenna with some small talk, long enough for an assistant to put everything into three large bags. The three eldest girls volunteered to carry the bags. Well, we had the goods, but how long will it be before Alenna realised that the total bill for purchases from the souvenir shop came to much more than she had expected. Well, not that long! After boarding our carriage for our final journey back to our waiting coach, Alenna looked at the receipt.

  Alenna turned to our daughters and said, “I need to look in those bags.” The girls handed her the bags one at a time, leaving the bag with the train set in to last. Alenna looked inside each bag in turn. She then turned to me, before saying. “Jake, I don’t have to ask the others as I know it could only be you, why have you purchased a train set?”

  I replied, “It’s for all the daughters to play with. If you had been paying attention you would have noticed that they had all gathered around the display in the souvenir shop.”

  Alenna replied, “Sorry, I was occupied, I was having a discussion with a human mother and her two children. Now I know that the total on the receipt is indeed correct, that’s fine.”

  Alenna just saying that is fine and nothing else was surprising, I did not expect to get off that easily, but I was very satisfied with the outcome. I watched the girls as they looked towards the field that the horses were in, as we passed. I again said nothing. Finally arriving at our destination where we left the heritage line, before joining our coach for the journey back to the cargo freighter. On arrival at the ship, we noticed two boxes at the top of the ramp by the airlock door.

  As I looked at the label on the larger of the boxes, Jenna asked, “What is it?”

  I turned towards her. She was not the only one that wanted to know. I just said, “It’s some tasty treats.”

  Several daughters asked, “Can we have one please dad?”

  I replied, “If you like, but you will not find them to your taste.”

  “Dad, you said they are a tasty treat, of course, we would like one,” replied Jessica. I turned the box around. It had a clear plastic front drilled with many small holes.

  Almost without exception the family took a step backwards as they saw what was within the box, and it horrified them, “They are not a tasty treat!” screamed Emily in disgust.

  I smirked and said, “I did not say it was a tasty treat for us, but it will be for the toads.”

  Alenna scolded me, “Stop calling the Grocka toads will you Jake!” I did not answer her. After entering the ship I carried both boxes straight to my man cave. I stood the larger box on my desk and peered in. It was full of locusts and had several shelves which in turn had holes in them. This enabled the locusts to move freely within the box. The second box was packed with leaves to feed them, so they would not starve. I hoped we could deliver them to Grimda before they ran out of food. Alenna expected some last minute orders to arrive. Alenna had mentioned to her mother’s house that they had eaten a fish called salmon, and in doing so had an order for this fish from them, especially after Alenna mentioned how tasty it was. I was not going to be able to spend our last evening on Earth just relaxing.

  A group of my daughters came looking for me, Ellie always took the lead and asked, “Dad, please can you put the train set together for us?”

  I did expect to be roped into doing this for them, so I replied, “Right, take everything to the small entertainment room. I will be there shortly.” The girls went straight there to wait for me

  I entered the room. The girls had unpacked everything. I set about joining the track together to create a fairly basic layout, but with the track extension kit, we had a passing loop and a siding, although we only had one train. The passing loop had two points, so the girls could divert the train through the loop. Ellie was the most dominant daughter and always took command. She bossed the younger girls about and was soon instructing them as to whose turn it was to operate the controller. I left the girls playing with the train set. The next day, it was time to leave Earth and to return to Alkarr.

  Chapter 5

  A Very Big Gift

  The journey back was uneventful. The arrival and landing were also uneventful. Finally, there was nothing to report regarding news or anything that would be out of the ordinary regarding any of the wives’ families, so a total uneventful time. I would be travelling to the moon later, and I expected that to be uneventful as well. I had left the locusts on the ship, locked in my man cave. Due to regulations, they would rightly need to be quarantined, if they were to leave the ship. As always the wives disappeared one by one to go to their mother’s taking the children with them. I was left with Perri, Isabell, Honey and Yarkeli.

  I asked Yarkeli, “Do you wish to accompany us to the moon?”

  Yarkeli replied, “Thank you, but no, I am going to try my hand at doing some art and wish to be left on my own this time.”

  “Ok, have a good time while we are away,” I said, wondering what kind of art she had in mind.

  Perri, the children and I left for the moon on the shuttle. We had a consignment of chocolate for the café owner.

  I was wondering if Lidier had anything of interest that could be sold to Earth, when Perri said, “I am so looking forward to seeing what art Yarkeli will have produced during our absence.”

  I replied, “Are you sure? I think you may well be very disappointed. Lusianian art is not usually to Alkarrens’ taste.”

  “We will see,” said Perri.

  I did not have any high expectations as to the end results, but Perri was much more positive. After landing, we were meet by Lidier and escorted into the dome. I was eager to enquire of Lidier if she had indeed acquired anything of interest. Alas, again I was disappointed, not a single thing. She reported to me that some lines seemed to have dried up such as used spacecraft of all descriptions. This I believed was down to the fact that nothing new in civilian craft was being constructed at this time. Everyone was holding on to, and making do with what they had. We spent some time with the family before making a quick visit to the commercial centre where the café was situated, to deliver the chocolate. Only this time we did not stop to participate in having a meal there. We needed to return to Alkarr as it was now getting late. By the time we travelled back to Alkarr, landed and returned the shuttle to its bay, it was way past bedtime for both Isabell and Honey. I carried Honey from the cargo port. She was fast asleep. Isabell was a little grumpy due to being overtired and Perri held her hand as we walked from the port to our residence. Honey barely stirred as she was laid on her bed. We had one more day before we were scheduled to do another cargo run. I hoped to spend the day relaxing in the garden, but it was raining. Yarkeli announced she was ready to unveil a painting she had created. Well, I had to see this, I was not the only one. All the wives and Rachael were also curious to see. We gathered in the large reception hall. In front of us was an easel. A sheet had been placed over the painting to obscure our view. I was not at all confident that I would like whatever Yarkeli had created, but it would have been rude of me not to join in.

  We stood there in expectation. Yarkeli said, “I hope you like the painting, but please be honest if you don’t, I will not be upset if you hate it.”

  Now that was not true. I know she would be upset. I just hoped it was at least acceptable. Yarkeli held on to the sheet and then lifted it off the painting. Gasps were heard from the wives. I could not believe what I was looking at. No odd shapes or strange colours of unknown objects, I really did not expect such a pain
ting by a Lusianian.

  I was the first to congratulate her, saying, “It is absolutely stunning. You have captured the flowers so beautifully and if I may say-so, it almost looks like a photo from a distance.” At this point I clapped my hands, the wives then also joined in with the applause. Yarkeli had captured in her painting, our garden with its flowers of bright colours. Not only that, she had incorporated a figure standing there with a flower in her hand. This figure was none other than her daughter Pooky. Yarkeli was, without doubt, as good an artist as Minty and Emily were. All this time she had hidden this talent from us, though I am not sure if she realised how talented she actually was.

  Alenna said, “Yarkeli please, please hang your painting in the galley for all of us to admire, it’s so beautiful.”

  Yarkeli replied, “Thank you, I was not sure if you would like it?”

  Alenna continued, “We love it and we look forward to seeing more from you, so don’t stop painting.”

  I got a chance to speak to Perri and confronted her saying, “You knew something about Yarkeli and you also knew she would produce something way out of the ordinary for a Lusianian.”

  Perri smiled and replied, “I did. You see I noticed Yarkeli doing a sketch recently and had a peep. I was surprised at how good the sketch was, it was then I commented to her that she should consider taking up art. So perhaps it was down to me why she now has.”

  I commented, “Well that’s three good artists in the family, which is unless you have a hidden talent for art Perri?”

  Perri replied, “No not me, I could not paint to save my life.”

  I laughed and said, “Me neither.”

  I spent most of the day in my man cave. I endeavoured to find out anything even if it was minuscule, about the movement of the Silka. I could not. It was as though a shutter had come down. If anyone knew anything, they were keeping it to themselves. The next day we were ready to go to Relnor, but first, we would make an unscheduled stop at Grimda. I needed to negotiate a deal with the Grocka, besides I wanted to be rid of the locusts. They were a little noisy making a popping noise as they jumped and hit the top of the box, quite annoying if I wished to read or listen to music in the man cave. The journey there was uneventful. Making an appointment to see the Grand Grocka was fairly straightforward if it centred on food. Sometimes you were taken straight to her, especially if it was something new to eat. We did not need any of the family to volunteer this time. Alenna and I would go, plus Jenna for translation. I carried the box of locusts as we made our way to the lodge of the Grand Grocka. Standing outside her lodge were two guards, though, they did not have anything in the way of weapons. One gestured to us to wait, then she left. Around five minutes later she reappeared accompanied by another Grocka. I never thought of the Grocka as being highly intelligent, just intelligent, but this one shattered that illusion. This Grocka spoke perfect Zeln in a croaky sort of way.

  She first introduced herself, “I am called Charka, and I am the head translator for the Grand Grocka.”

  Jenna had to introduce us first, pointing in turn as she spoke, “I am known as Jenna, this is Alenna, and this is Jake.” Charka nodded towards us as we were introduced.

  Now Charka asked, “Are you here to have an audience with her Excellency, the Grand Grocka?”

  “Yes,” replied Jenna, “We wish to negotiate the purchase of ore.”

  Jenna removed the sheet covering the front of the box. Charka looked into the box, and her eyes seemed to light up. As she peered at the locusts, she stuck out her long thin tongue, seeming to taste the air. The two guards were more than interested and moved forward to have a peep as well, but Charka waved them back.

  Charka said, “Please wait while I see if her Excellency the Grand Grocka will see you.” She then left.

  Alenna said, “They won’t eat them in front of us will they?”

  I replied, “I am afraid so; they will without a doubt.” Jenna cringed.

  A short while later Charka reappeared and said, “Her Excellency the Grand Grocka will see you now, please follow me.”

  We were taken inside. Seated on what must be described as a throne, was this much bloated Grocka, surrounded by many other Grocka. I could only surmise that she spent the whole day having her minions bringing her food to eat. Jenna again lifted the sheet off the box for all to see. The Grand Grocka pointed to one of her minions, who stepped forward.

  Charka said, “This is one of the food tasters for her Excellency and she is ready to perform the tasting.”

  Alenna and Jenna shuddered. The thought of eating one of the locusts especially with it wriggling horrified them. I opened the small top flap and the Grocka plunged her hand in, grabbing a locust. She then smelt it, satisfied, she then licked it before putting it in her mouth and crunching it up. I thought both Alenna and Jenna were going to be sick, but they managed to hold their posture. She then reached for another. At once she was scolded by the Grand Grocka. Reaching for another could only mean one thing, obviously she found the locust to her taste. The Grand Grocka was handed one to try. She soon had crunched it up and swallowed it down, indicating to one of her minions to bring her more. She also allowed Charka to taste one or two. While the Grand Grocka continued to eat the locusts one by one, some weighing scales were produced. One locust was carefully weighed, the locust then tried to escape. Charka was too quick for it, catching the locust in flight with her long thin tongue, before first munching it, then gulping it down. Alenna was in a good bargaining position. We now knew the Grocka found the locusts to their taste. They started with one-hundred and fifty tonnes of ore to one tonne of locusts. We, on the other hand, asked for four-hundred tonnes. To cut the story short, after much haggling we came out with two- hundred and fifty tonnes, which was fifty tonnes more than we expected. We now only had to deliver the insects, one tonne is a hell of a lot of locusts. I just hope they would fill our containers with the ore before they start gorging themselves on them. Next port of call, our continuation on to Relnor.

  This trip to Relnor was supposed to be just another regular delivery of produce, but it did not turn out to be just that. We arrived, landed and unloaded our cargo to plan. Then something very unusual happened; we were prevented from leaving Relnor. A delegation of three alliance officials came to our ship.

  The one in charge said to Alenna, “We require your services. We need you to transport two defence frigates and their crews to Alto.”

  Alenna replied, “When?”

  The official said, “Now”

  Alenna, replied, “We have to return to Alkarr before going on to Molk to collect a consignment of fish. We can’t do it right now!”

  The official said, “We can do this the easy way or…” there was a pause before the official said, “We do have the right to commandeer your ship, though we would rather not. Alto will only take half a day’s detour from your route back to Alkarr. We will pay well and there will also be a chance to acquire a few more transport contracts.”

  Alenna had very little choice so grudgingly replied, “Ok, you give me no choice. We will transport the frigates along with their crews to Alto, but please tell me, why the urgency?”

  The official made it clear to Alenna, “That information is classified, so please don’t ask questions and don’t mention anything about this delivery to anyone”

  We now had to go to a military base on Relnor. This was adjacent to the construction yards. This time I would get a very close peep at what was being constructed. One battlecruiser looked about finished, the others were in various stages of construction. I could observe a hive of activity centred on these battlecruisers. I also noted about half a dozen frigates in various stages of construction only there seemed to be no activity around them at all. The thought crossed my mind, co
uld they be short of construction engineers? We landed at the base and were soon greeted by a number of military personnel. I was shocked, as was Alenna and the other wives. Most of these military personnel were Alkarren. I had not seen, met or knew of any Alkarren that was part of the alliance defence league. Alkarrens as far as I was concerned were too emotional to be in the military. I just could not imagine them ever firing at any living thing, especially knowing they would be killing an intelligent being. All those I had met and known were Lusianian, although I was aware that there were some Dregg and Ballar in the military. There were a number of other races that relied wholly on the alliance league for protection such as the Grocka and the Flitten. Again I thought, you know this would be without a doubt the best use for humans. They would fit in well, defending alliance worlds. We were to transport these frigates with Alkarren crews. Alto, after all, is an Alkarren colony. The frigates were hovered aboard. I was to be chaperoned from now on, as the crews were all unmarried Alkarren women. We offered them the hospitality of our ship, but the captain in charge was the most unemotional Alkarren I had ever met. She seemed to give me the impression that she was as hard as nails.

  Alenna asked her, “Would you like to have a cabin for yourself and two for your crews? We can also provide meals for you if you like?”

  This captain just said in quite a stern voice, “I thank you for your offer, but my crew have their orders and will stay on the frigates.” She then thought for a moment before saying, “I and my crew will perhaps partake of one meal a day from you, if that is convenient, perhaps last meal of the day?”

  Alenna said, “Of course, I am sure you and your crew would like to have a break from eating the bland food from the frigates on-board dispensers.”

  The captain replied, “The food from the dispensers is nutritional and filling, don’t knock it unless you have tried it.”

  Alenna not wanting any confrontation said, “Quite right captain, you know what’s best for your crew.” Alenna had tried food from the dispensers on frigates but did not let on. Alenna was aware that it was indeed bland and tasteless. We left Relnor for Alto. I wanted to ask why they and their frigates were being sent there, but this captain gave the impression that she would not be forthcoming with an answer. Up to now, she hadn’t even acknowledged my presence, even though I was also a captain. I assumed, males took no part in her life and were only an inconvenience to her. It took a couple of days to break the ice with her, but at least she was now talking to me.