Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Outlaws and Overlords
Outlaws and Overlords
Outlaws and Overlords
Ebook543 pages7 hours

Outlaws and Overlords

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Despite an agreed-upon ceasefire, the Community and the Alliance of Six are still at war. With the discovery that the Lind and the Larg are key to the survival of every species in the Milky Way, can they survive long enough to act?

An adventure ride through the galaxy with old friends and new aboard an elderly ex-warship on a quest to find kidnapped children and answers turns into something far more sinister while the inhabitants of Planet Rybak find once more that their home is in danger.

This is the 2nd edition. January 2020.

PLANET WOLF
(1) Wolves and War - (2) Conflict and Courage - (3) Homage and Honour - (4) Dragons and Destiny - (5) Valour and Victory - (6) Ambition and Alavidha - (7) Paws and Planets - (8) Tales and Tails

DRAGON WULF
(1) Journey and Jeopardy - (2) Gossamer and Grass - (3) Flames and Freedom

FLYING COLOURS
(1) Rascals and Renegades - (2) Outlaws and Overlords - (3) Sparkles and Sphinxes (forthcoming)

T’QUEL MAGIC
(1) Ephemeral Boundary - (2) Enduring Barrier - (3) Eternal Bulwark

MULTIVERSE MUDDLE (forthcoming)
(1) Vampyre Crypt - (2) Faie Castle - (3) Shadow Cave - (4) Demon Citadel

SAMMY THE CAT
(1) Cat in Charge - (2) Cat at Christmas - (3) Dog not in Charge

KILL BY CURE

LanguageEnglish
PublisherCandy Rae
Release dateSep 2, 2018
ISBN9780463817773
Outlaws and Overlords
Author

Candy Rae

Candy Rae has been an avid reader since childhood, with fantasy and science fiction appearing on her bookshelf in her first year of university when a friend introduced her to talking dragons. All her life, she has wanted to write, but it wasn’t until Christmas Day in 2003 that she sat down and started planning the book that, after many revisions, became the first book in the Planet Wolf series: Wolves and War.As a former accountant, Candy was notorious among her family for elongating her commute home by parking in a safe space and starting to write, having got into the habit of carrying a notebook with her wherever she went, a habit she continues to this day. When she’s not writing, her hobbies include knitting, tapestry, and trying to figure out ‘whodunnit’ in murder mysteries.Candy lives in Ayrshire, Scotland, with her large black cat, Sammy, and her Labrador-Corgi cross, Alex. She writes her books in British English with a Scottish flavour.

Read more from Candy Rae

Related authors

Related to Outlaws and Overlords

Titles in the series (3)

View More

Related ebooks

Science Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Outlaws and Overlords

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Outlaws and Overlords - Candy Rae

    FLYING COLOURS (2)

    OUTLAWS AND OVERLORDS

    * * * * *

    Candy Rae

    * * * * *

    SMASHWORDS EDITION

    * * * * *

    Flying Colours (2) - Outlaws and Overlords

    Copyright © 2020 Candy Rae

    All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead; is purely coincidental.

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author.

    Smashwords Edition, License Notes

    This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    * * * * *

    BOOKS BY CANDY RAE

    Planet Wolf Universe

    Planet Wolf Series: Wolves and War - Conflict and Courage - Homage and Honour - Dragons and Destiny - Valour and Victory - Ambition and Alavidha - Paws and Planets - Tales and Tails.

    Dragon Wulf Trilogy: Journey and Jeopardy - Gossamer and Grass - Flames and Freedom.

    Flying Colours Trilogy: Rascals and Renegades - Outlaws and Overlords - Sparkles and Sphinxes (2020).

    T’Quel Magic Trilogy

    Ephemeral Boundary - Enduring Barrier - Eternal Bulwark.

    The Multiverse Muddle

    Vampyre Crypt - Faie Castle – Surtr Chasm - Demon Citadel.

    Stand Alone Books

    Kill by Cure - Cat in Charge - Cat at Christmas - Dog not in Charge

    * * * * *

    Flying Colours (2) - Outlaws and Overlords is dedicated to Mary Jane. I owe her a lot. Without her encouragement I would not have written one book, far less twenty-four.

    * * * * *

    Cover Artwork by Harri Crawford.

    * * * * *

    AUTHOR’S NOTE

    Flying Colours (2) - Outlaws and Overlords is written in what is known as Britannic, or British English but with a Scottish flavour, the occurrence of Lallans, or Lowland Scots being the most predominant. There are spelling and pronunciation differences between Lallans/Lowland Scots and the different dialects and versions of English as written and spoken in other parts of our wonderful, diverse world.

    This is the second edition of Flying Colours (2) - Outlaws and Overlords.

    * * * * *

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    INTRODUCTION

    PART ONE - THE OUTLAWS

    CHAPTER 1 - The Dreadnought ‘Waltou’

    CHAPTER 2 - The Community

    CHAPTER 3 - The Stowaway

    CHAPTER 4 - The Encornet System

    CHAPTER 5 -The Black Isles

    CHAPTER 6 - The Hunt

    PART TWO - THE VADA

    CHAPTER 7 - The Return

    CHAPTER 8 - The Cadets

    CHAPTER 9 - The Fifteenth Ryzck

    CHAPTER 10 - The Kohorts, the Lindars and the Ryzcks

    PART THREE - THE RYBAKIANS

    CHAPTER 11 - The Plot

    CHAPTER 12 - The ‘Falling Apart at the Seams Bit’.

    CHAPTER 13 - The Civil War

    CHAPTER 14 - The Susa’s Own

    PART FOUR - THE OVERLORDS

    CHAPTER 15 - The Encounter

    CHAPTER 16 - The Muster

    CHARACTERS

    GLOSSARY

    APPENDICES

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

    * * * * *

    INTRODUCTION

    Flying Colours (2) - Outlaws and Overlords’ begins approximately a year after the events in ‘Flying Colours (1) - Rascals and Renegades’.

    The Planet Wolf Universe

    It is the thirty-third century.

    The Community and the Alliance of Six are still, technically, at war.

    The Community, led by the ‘Prime Director’ is a huge human conglomerate that rules over a large number of planets situated in a number of space sectors. The rich and powerful Community High Families will do just about anything to keep control of these planets and the wealth they can squeeze out of the citizens.

    The Headquarters of the Community (The Directorate) is situated on Planet New Earth. The Directorate is made up of twenty main directors (the Directors) and around seventy junior directors (the Administrators).

    The Community maintains a huge army and a massive space-navy, and has always pursued an aggressive policy of anthropocentric xenophobia with the result that many citizens now believe as fact that intelligent non-humans are dangerous.

    Continual thorns in the Community’s side are the pirates and smugglers who roam the star systems to turn a profit. They think of themselves as part of the Community and separate at the same time. Therefore, there is some crossover within trade and transport entrepreneurial areas.

    The smugglers prefer to believe they are of a higher class than the pirates. They adhere to a code of conduct that excludes piracy, kidnapping and needless death. The pirates have no such code.

    In recent years an increasing number of Community citizens have been defecting to the Alliance.

    The Alliance of Six (known simply as the Alliance) is made up of a group of six species.

    The six species are the Humans, the Diaglon (in looks they are similar to the dragons of Earth legends), the Vlon (human-sized insectoid creatures), the Jus (large reptilian creatures, about half again as big as a human and not so technologically advanced as the other five), the Lind (wolf-like/horse sized (in build akin to a thoroughbred racehorse)), and the Larg (also wolf-like/horse sized (in build akin to a carthorse)).

    These six inhabit a number of planets situated outwith the areas controlled by the Community. They have three main interests in common. These are freedom, the determination to stay free and a resolve to help others attain their freedom. The Community is their enemy.

    Most of the human members of the Alliance are members of a large interplanetary group known as the Dragon Wulf and it is their Commander-in-Chief who is in overall military command of the Alliance. The Alliance space-navy consists of ships from the Dragon Wulf, the Diaglon and the Vlon. The Alliance headquarters moves from place to place to avoid being located and attacked by the Community who would love to get its ‘hands’ on the leaders.

    When this story opens, Alliance Headquarters has not long moved from a large planet in a space sector three five star systems away from the border between the Alliance and the Community, to a Diaglon world, Planet Echt. Echt is also the location of the Alliance’s main spaceship building and repair facility.

    The Alliance military consists of the space-navy, the space-ground infantry, and a specialist group called the Vada. The Vlon also have a small army of soldiers but to date, unlike their space-navy, these soldiers have not fought alongside human troops.

    The Vada is a Lind/Larg/Human cavalry force dedicated to fighting evil and protecting those who must be protected. It was founded on a planet called Rybak after two human colonial spaceships accidentally landed there and ‘met’ the native inhabitants, the Lind and the Larg. The Vada has been in existence for just over eight centuries, most of those on Planet Rybak. Twenty-seven years ago, the Lind and the Larg, together with their humans, left Planet Rybak and travelled to Planet Tak. Stronghold, the headquarters and training section of the Vada is now based on Planet Tak.

    The Vada is made up of 51 Ryzcks (Companies) of 35 vadeln-pairs each (a vadeln-pair is made up of a Human and either a Lind or a Larg, life and mind-bonded, plus support and training personnel. The Lind and the Larg are both telepathic. A number of Ryzcks undertake regular tours of duty on Planets Tenha, Rybak, Echt and Neamh. The Ryzcks are much in demand by planetary exploration teams because they are very good at on-surface reconnaissance, and also getting themselves and the teams out of trouble if the unexpected happens. A small number are attached to the Alliance space fleet and a slightly larger number perform a number of diplomatic duties throughout Alliance space.

    Every year young men and women arrive on Planet Tak hoping they will be selected to become the human half of a vadeln-pair and a member of the Vada. They come from all walks of life, from many planets and possess many different talents and abilities. Between tours of duty the Ryzcks return to Planet Tak to undergo further training at Stronghold. They claim, with truth, that they are ready to go into action at a moment’s notice.

    * * * * *

    Flying Colours (1) - Rascals and Renegades

    Synopsis

    Year Standard 3274 to Year Standard 3276

    A star system with five habitable planets was located in a space sector within reach of both the Community and the Alliance. Beside this system was another system, one rich in precious minerals and ores.

    The Community and the Alliance both sent exploratory fleets of warships, soldiers and scientists. They clashed and the Alliance fleet was victorious, destroying or capturing all of the Community fleet apart from three who managed to escape.

    Meanwhile, there was what could only be described as an epidemic of kidnappings amongst the Community’s rich and powerful families, the High Families. The abductions were perpetrated by a group of pirates known as the Renegades who were holding the children and young adults on the surface of one of the five planets.

    After many adventures the kidnapped were rescued and the Renegades destroyed. It came to light that the Renegades were in the pay of the Prime Director of the Community. He had ordered the kidnappings as a means to gain more wealth and power over other High Families.

    * * * * *

    During the year after the end of ‘Flying Colours (1) - Rascals and Renegades’, one of the twenty Directors, Gaius Marcius Rutilis by name, in collusion with another ten directors, worked to depose the then Prime Director and bring a degree of democracy and enfranchisement to the citizens of the planets under Community control. This has been successful in part, but the deposed Prime Director is not going quietly and is stirring up trouble along with the High Families connected to his.

    Some of the space sectors controlled by the Community are like tinderboxes, ready to explode. Some planets are on the side of the old prime, others on the side of the new, others are arguing about it, and others are determined to support neither. The men and women of Space Fleet and the Military are sitting on the fence while the senior officers argue about what to do.

    Prime Director Gaius Marcius Rutilis wants to begin peace talks between the Community and the Alliance of Six. A large number of the rich and powerful within the Community do not.

    Technically, a state of war still remains between the Alliance and the Community although the cease-fire negotiated after the Battle of Skala remains … for the time being.

    It is as if every living being in the galaxy is holding their breath.

    It has become - the ‘Phoney War’, the calm before the storm.

    * * * * *

    Flying Colours (2) - Outlaws and Overlords is a story in four parts.

    It begins with the longest part of the book, an adventure ride through the galaxy with old friends and new aboard an elderly ex-warship on a quest to find kidnapped children and answers. It is a quest that turns into something far more sinister.

    The Vada will experience a period of rapid expansion.

    The inhabitants on Planet Rybak will realise that once again their world is a danger hotspot.

    Finally there is how the Alliance of Six finds out that Lind and the Larg are key to the survival of every species in the Milky Way.

    * * * * *

    Introspection - Thalia and Josei (Planet Tak)

    Thalia Josensdochter, wife of the Vada’s Susa, was in a sad and pensive mood.

    It’s no wonder I’m feeling like this, she was thinking, gazing over the countryside. She and Josei loved it up here on High Hill. They could see for miles, as far as the beginnings of the Rtathlians.

    She smiled. It was here, all those years ago, when she had realised that she was falling in love with her husband. How many years? More than she wanted to contemplate. She and Josei had just been promoted to Vadryzka, before the Tenha Expedition.

    Josei looked up, wagged his tail. Being mind-linked, he knew exactly what Thalia was thinking about.

    Tenha. Thalia didn’t like to think about Tenha, the planet where her sister Tara had died. And now there were rumours that the First Ryzck, of which her niece Tyra was an ornament, would be heading there.

    At least her and Artem’s children were till too young to serve and die.

    She wasn’t a fool. It would happen one day; it was what being in the Vada was all about, but not yet, not yet awhile.

    * * * * *

    PART ONE

    An adventure ride through the galaxy with old friends and new aboard an elderly ex-warship on a quest to find kidnapped children and answers. It is a quest that turns into something far more sinister.

    THE OUTLAWS

    YEAR STANDARD 3277 - 3278 --- YEAR RYBAK AL 837 - AL 838

    Alaz remembered the day when young Dexter Rastall had provided his stomach with that lump of lead that had never gone away …

    "Alaz, he had said as he had got to his feet. Who are the Overlords?"

    "I’m not sure what you mean."

    "The Overlords, Dexter had explained patiently. Those in charge of everything. The pirate people said the word in whispers."

    Alaz had been left pondering deeply.

    He had heard mention of ‘The Overlords’ back on Planet New Earth. At the time he had thought ‘Overlord’ was another word for ‘Directorate’.

    A year ago, Alaz had felt sick, as if the ground was falling away beneath his feet.

    Now, a year later, he felt exactly the same.

    After some thought, he added everything he knew about the nebulous overlords to his briefing notes.

    * * * * *

    CHAPTER 1

    THE DREADNOUGHT ‘WALTOU’

    "I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts."

    (Herman Melville (1819-91))

    Planet Tak

    Dexter kicked at the dirt. It was not fair. It was just not fair.

    He wasn’t to be allowed to join the team aboard the Waltou. After all the help he had given Alaz Smircoff and the rescue team on Planet Divi he had felt sure he would be welcomed aboard as a ship’s boy.

    It’s too bad, it’s not fair, smuggling ships all have a ship’s boy, everyone knows that, he was thinking. He had worked on his request for the last, well, the last ages and ages, and still his mother and father had refused to give their permission.

    His father had informed him he was far too young and his mother had burst into tears and told him that now the family was together, she was going to make sure they were never apart again.

    Dexter loved his parents but didn’t feel the need to be in such close contact all of the time.

    It’s a wonder she lets me out of the house to go to school every morning. He kicked up some more dirt. I came home from being kidnapped okay and I would’ve come back with Jim and Avdrya okay too. Dexter worshipped Ryzcka Jim and his part Lind, part Larg with a reverence that made the older man feel uncomfortable at times although Dexter didn’t know that. I wonder if there’s another way?

    Dexter continued to walk home, his school satchel dragging behind him, his mind on some conversations he had been a part of in recent tendays, conversations the topic of which he had instigated.

    So intent was he on thinking and planning, he didn’t notice the large brown eyes that were following his progress along the track.

    Mulda had found the person she had been looking for these past months.

    * * * * *

    Planet Echt

    I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts, quoted Alaz, a quote from one of his favourite books, Moby Dick.

    He sighed and pushed away his completed briefing notes. Time to get down to some real work, beginning with the updated crew manifest.

    There were thirty-three all told, including himself. He read the short career résumés he had been sent with some amusement. The people who had written them possessed a sense of humour although they were perhaps more than slightly paranoid about who were loyal to the Alliance and who might not be (and therefore a potential security risk).

    Alaz Smircoff/Alexander Brown. Brought up on Planet Rybak. Left after the abortive Community invasion in Rybak date AL 824, (thirteen years ago). Wife and baby daughter were killed there. Joined the secret service section of Dragon Wulf, the leaders of the fight against the Community later that year. Until 3274/5 residing on Planet New Earth as an undercover agent (private investigator). Successful. Escaped when compromised. Took part in Penkjai Expedition. The best there is. A leader with imagination although can be unconventional at times. Rather good looking in an odd sort of way.

    I wonder if whoever wrote this knew I would be reading it? Okay. One spy. One.

    Birt Rattenbury. Smuggler. Illegitimate son of Old Ben Rattenbury. Crewmember aboard the Millymolly. Father left him behind when led the other crew on suicide mission to save the children during Penkjai Expedition. Has knowledge of smuggling routes and boltholes in the Community sector. What these boltholes are is subject to debate. Allegiance to Alliance unknown quantity. Surveillance advised. Two eyes better than one.

    One young pirate. Two. He would ignore the advice at the end of the paragraph.

    If he were to give someone the name of one person he did not trust aboard the Waltou, it would not be Birt.

    Viggo Sjorovare. Smuggler/Pirate. Approximate age 16. Mother - Ellie Sjorovare (deceased- murdered by father). Father - Viktor Ionescu. Pirate. (Ship - Impaler - location unknown.) Claims to know locations of bases of operations - pirate and smuggling. On comparison between his knowledge and Alliance information of known bases, this claim appears to be accurate. Is after revenge on father for murder of mother. Potentially unstable. Allegiance to Alliance unknown quantity. Surveillance advised.

    Another young pirate. Three.

    Perhaps his allegiance might be slightly suspect to some, but Alaz, always a good judge of character, did not think so.

    Sergeant Antonio Poggi. Corporal Trixie Washington. Soldier Dolly Truffle. Soldier Fin Petrov. Four ex-Community soldiers. They have changed allegiance from the Community to the Alliance. It is possible that one or all of them is not a true convert. It is also possible that one or all are only after revenge against those who killed their friends.

    Four Soldiers. Seven.

    Alaz thought about the phrase, ‘only after revenge’. He would keep an eye on them but was sure it was the pirates the four were after. Loyalty to the Alliance would come in time.

    Sally Pennyworth. Travis Carrell. Two ex-Community Pilots. They have changed allegiance from the Community to the Alliance. It is possible that neither is a true convert.

    Two Pilots, Nine.

    Alaz had no problems with these two. He suspected that they hadn’t been happy as Space Fleet officers. The two had jumped at the chance to join the Waltou.

    Jim and Avdrya. Jack and Nalya. Jon and Talya. Danielle and Henlei. Beth and Wlei. Lila and Zuzyei. The Alliance Intelligence Service has little information about individual members of the Vada although the twosomes of the thing called a Fifteenth Ryzck (similar to a cavalry troop?) have been mentioned often in communication transcripts. It is believed that the Fifteenth Ryzck is an elite commando unit within the Vada.

    Six Vadeln and their Lind. Twenty-one.

    Alaz was laughing. Elite commando! Elite cavalry would be a better description.

    These six vadeln-pairs had all served with distinction through the years as members of the Vada’s Fifteenth Ryzck, the Fifteenth being simply the fifteenth of fifty-one ryzcks. The group had retired, with permission, or had a leave of absence from the Vada to join the Waltou on the mission. Alaz grinned as he re-read the final sentence about the Vada. He must remember to tell Jim and Avdrya about the report when he saw them, an event that wasn’t too far away. He made a mental note to ask Susa Artem to send a long and detailed communiqué to the Alliance Spymaster so that information pertaining to the Vada could be updated.

    Alaz skipped through the details of the next entries. He would find out what they were during the voyage. They were all experienced Dragon Wulf personnel, loyalty unquestionable. He ran through the names. There were none that he recognised.

    Two Engineers. Margot and Danielle. Twenty-three. One Communications Specialist. Andy. Twenty-four. One Navigator. Anatoly. Twenty-five. One Cook. Ramsay. Twenty-six. Five Crew. Ryan, Monica, Petra, Connor, Sean. Thirty-one.

    He reached the final two, the two he had added the previous evening.

    Rutger Toonder. Was captain of Alliance corvette Leef Vrij. Volunteered for this mission. Reason unknown. Unconventional and a daredevil. Family ties unknown.

    One Captain. Thirty-two.

    Samson Ratcliffe. Weapons specialist of exceptional abilities. Has served with Rutger Toonder since his late teens. Nickname Ratty.

    One Weapons Specialist Thirty-three.

    Alaz wondered what ‘Ratty’ was like.

    The Outlaw crew, whispered Alaz. ‘Waltou’ was ‘Outlaw’ spelt backwards.

    He hoped the disparate shipmates would rub along together without too much friction. They had a very long way to go and their voyage was likely to take a very long time.

    * * * * *

    Alaz took a deep breath.

    When Mike Scanlan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Alliance had informed him last night that he had found him the perfect skipper, one who was slightly unconventional but one certainly up for the challenge of an extended journey into a hostile environment. Alaz had been both relieved and apprehensive.

    The ‘perfect skipper’ appointment had come about because Mike Scanlan’s old ship, the Zivjeti Slobodno, was a write-off. The damage was extensive and she was to be broken up on Planet Vienas in the Penkjai System and her parts reallocated to various space docks for use on other vessels.

    That had left her newly appointed skipper, Tobias Finley, without a ship. A friend of Mike Scanlan, the skipper of the apple class corvette Leef Vrij, had proposed to Mike that Tobias take over command of the Leef Vrij and he transfer to the Waltou.

    Mike had figuratively shaken hands on the deal immediately. He knew the Waltou’s mission would be a tricky one and he wanted the best people aboard her.

    Alaz didn’t know Rutger Toonder but hoped they would be compatible. Cooped up for months in a ship with people you didn’t like but had to work with wasn’t a pleasant situation to be in.

    The door whooshed open and Alaz entered the bridge.

    Rutger turned to greet him. He had the widest smile and brightest twinkling eyes Alaz had ever encountered. Alaz relaxed at once, accompanied by the feeling that all would be well.

    Call me Rutger, grinned the said Rutger Toonder holding out a huge hand. And this is Samson Ratcliffe, otherwise known as Ratty, the best shipboard defence operator in the entire universe!

    Ratty looked up. His eyes were gleaming. Where in all the galaxy did you find this old lady? he grinned, showing off a set of crooked, but incredibly long front teeth. It was obvious that he was very pleased with the weaponry the ship had been fitted with.

    Alaz relaxed some more.

    It had taken a year to get the old warship fitted out with the Alcub drive and the other necessary alterations.

    This was because she was, as Alaz had described her to Marcel Rossier, the chief engineer of the space ship facility on Planet Echt, because they were ‘going in sort of surreptitiously undercoverly’.

    Marcel had understood Alaz’s point immediately.

    The result was a work of art.

    Marcel Rossier and his team had had to make the Waltou resemble a very elderly and slow space ship. Alaz and his crew were going to travel deep inside the Community controlled part of the galaxy incognito, pretending to be itinerant traders (the polite term for smugglers) so she had to look the part.

    It was not unusual for a smuggling ship to be an old, ex-warship so her outmoded anti-missile armour and the two small of missile launchers would not look out of place.

    However, sections of light, modern armour had been fitted behind the old and her missile launchers hid very up-to-date missiles.

    She also possessed more than the two launchers. To her starboard there were another two, artfully hidden inside two mock exhaust frames. There were smaller launchers embedded port and starboard, also hidden, this time behind the old-fashioned escape pod bubbles.

    The actual escape pops were in fact a part of the hull itself and complied with current safety standards.

    She was also very fast. The most recent version of the Alcub drive had been fitted and her engine room was now, as her engineers had said when they saw it, ‘to die for’. The ship had been designed and built during the era of the pre-alcub engines and the engine room was now the most spacious of spacious, even after a good third of the empty space had been converted into a freezer and cold storage area.

    Parts of the interior, like the living and visitor areas, had been modernised but as much of the old fixtures and fittings as possible had been left, the modern pipes and wires being placed inside the bulkheads and the old veneer put back.

    Each member of the crew had their own cabin and there were larger cabins for the vadeln-pairs who would be joining the ship on Planet Tak.

    The fixtures and fittings in the recreation areas was comfortable and of good quality, if rather battered after many years of use and misuse.

    The bulkheads and the updated airlocks were completely modern. This was the part of the refit and why the refit had taken most of the year. Only the crew knew where the emergency consoles and the manual levers were hidden.

    A visitor would think the ship was exactly what it said on the tin, an old, shabby smuggling vessel that might explode into bits with the slightest damage.

    Behind the façades, the bridge was state of the art and boasted battle equipment and technology that captains of the new stellar class corvettes would envy.

    All in all, the Waltou was almost absolutely perfect in every way; at least that was what Rutger Toonder said to Ratty half way through their initial conversation.

    Shortly after Rutger had finished talking about the engine trial results and his satisfaction with them, the cook arrived and Alaz stepped back to talk to Ratty.

    Alaz was listening to Ratty’s rapturous conversation about his weapons console and looked over to where Rutger was standing talking to the cook. They were discussing meals. It was when Rutger asked to see the commissariat lading bills and menu projections that Alaz became a hundred per cent relaxed. It was clear that Rutger really cared about the men and women under his command. He had also taken the time to find out how much the Lind ate and was informing the cook. Alaz grinned when he saw the look of horror on the cook’s face when the man found out how much freezer space he would have to set aside for the needs of the four paw crewmembers alone.

    There was something reassuring about Rutger Toonder. Everybody felt it; everyone felt that bit better about everything when he was around.

    The Waltou’s primary mission was to rescue sixty kidnapped children. Alaz would find out later that this had been why Rutger had decided to accept the Waltou command. He might act the bluff buffoon, some acquaintances might call him aloof, but the children of his friends adored him like the kind and indulgent ‘uncle’ he was.

    * * * * *

    Planet Tak

    A week later, the Waltou was on her way to Planet Tak where Alaz and the crew would visit some old friends and welcome aboard the final twelve crewmembers.

    They also had some passengers, the most interesting being Marcel Rossier, who was returning to the planet for an extended visit with his wife and children and the Orumcek she looked after there. The Planet Echt facility had been left in the charge of one Eochaid Ford, Marcel’s more than capable deputy.

    Almost as one, the crew pleaded to hear about his adventures twenty years ago on Planet Tenha when he first met the Lind and the Larg.

    Alaz felt sorry for their guest who began to lose his voice three days out from Echt but he did not stop the demands for Marcel to tell them a little more. He wanted to hear it too. The tale was exciting and Marcel was so good at telling the story he made it come alive.

    Eventually, they all stopped asking about the past and began thinking about the future.

    Waiting for them on Planet Tak would be two people many would be pleased to see again. The eleven-year-old Dexter Rastall (he would have said twelve, or at least ‘almost’) and the eighteen-year-old Tahsin Vaurien had played a major part in an adventure they had shared last year. The two had been kidnapped and taken to Planet Diva by the Renegades in the pay of the then Prime Director of the Community.

    After their rescue Dexter and Tahsin, together with some others, had declared their intention to remain in the Alliance part of the galaxy.

    The negotiations had taken five months, but eventually the Community delegation had come to an agreement with the Alliance delegation.

    The children who wanted to remain could remain and their families would be permitted to join them, in exchange for the return of a number of high ranking military prisoners being held by the Alliance.

    The handover, known as the ‘Hostage Family Handover’, had happened four months ago and all the families were now living on Planet Tak.

    Alaz was looking forward to seeing how the Peel family were getting on in their new life, especially one Narkissos Peel, an ex-policeman who had saved his life when he had helped him escape from Planet New Holland. He expected that Dexter and Tahsin would swarm him under before he got the chance. As a matter of fact, he was looking forward to their exuberant greetings.

    * * * * *

    The Waltou landed on the Planet Tak spaceport’s small landing grid with a great amount of clickety-clackety noise. The landing engines had been designed that way to give the impression of an elderly ship with elderly, inefficient engine drives.

    The welcoming group consisted of three members of the Peel family.

    Alaz was disappointed when he saw that neither Dexter nor Tahsin were there but was soon carried away by the exuberance of Narkissos Peel’s welcome and the more reserved, but just as noisy welcome from his parents, John and Bluebell. He found out that the rest of the welcoming committee were on their way.

    Once the introductions between Rutger and the three were complete, Alaz, making sure Narkissos was introduced as his surname rather than his hated primary name, he asked where Holly, Narkissos’s younger sister, was, expecting to be told schoolwork took priority over all reunions, however important. John and Bluebell were like that.

    She got chosen by a Lind last month, grinned Peel, letting go of Alaz’s hand.

    A lot of them did, added John Peel.

    Alaz’s eyebrows rose.

    Peel shrugged.

    Forty-two of them, he answered the unspoken question. And rumour is that there are more to come. Many are older than the usual fourteen, he continued. A ship came in with colonists on their way from Planet Rybak to Planet Keturi. He grinned. About thirty didn’t continue their journey. Twelve were vadeln-paired as soon as they landed and family members stayed.

    I think the Lind were waiting for them, added Peel.

    Alaz grinned. He thought that very likely. There were Lind on Planet Rybak and they were very good at, as his friends Jim and Avdrya had said to him once, ‘sniffing out talent’.

    So Holly and …

    Oei.

    They are at the Stronghold?

    They are, at least sort of. They’re building a new barrack block outside the walls and it’s partially occupied. Ah, here come Jim and Avdrya. They said they were intending to be here to meet you.

    As Alaz turned to see the vadeln-pair cantering towards them, his face broke out in a grin.

    You would have thought Jim was half the age he was by the way he jumped down from Avdrya’s back.

    Great to see you, laughed Jim, banging Alaz on the back so hard the younger man thought he would hit the deck. It certainly was hurting enough.

    Jim hadn’t changed a whit since they had last said their goodbyes (but not their farewells) back on Planet Divi. At first glance Avdrya looked exactly the same too but, as Alaz looked closer, he noticed her pelt was now completely white, as white as winter snow. Back on Planet Divi there had been flecks of colour intermingled with the white. He remembered then that the Lind went white with age, not grey like humans. He greeted her with a smile and she smiled back and, she might be old in years but she was not acting old. Her tail was wagging so hard he thought it might sweep him off his feet if she got any closer. An excited Lind was apt to forget they were as big as horses and could floor a non-Lind without a much effort.

    Jim shook hands all round then invited them all back to various cabins, houses and dagas to spend the next two nights. It was planned that the Waltou would blast off, the morning after that.

    Rutger, Ratty and the other ship-operations crew declined, all except the cook who wanted to speak to his fellow cooks at the Stronghold for ideas about how to keep the Lind healthy ‘en voyage’.

    Alaz was going to stay in Jim and Avdrya’s daga, a circular, wooden, one roomed edifice situated east of the Stronghold. He had never been inside a daga before. He had heard of them though. One couldn’t grow up on Rybak without knowing what a daga was, the traditional home of a Lind family. Humans called the underground home of a Larg family a den, the Largish word being utterly unpronounceable. The Larg didn’t seem to mind. Most of their language was unpronounceable by a non-Larg.

    After a meal consisting of spicy karova stew, what Rybakian didn’t love this repast … Alaz asked the question at the forefront of his mind.

    What’s this I’m hearing about the Vada expanding and building a huge accommodation block?

    Blocks.

    Plural?

    We had to, said Jim. Actually started the build the day the Largan arrived to inform Susa Artem that there were well over a hundred Larg wishing to join the Vada and to expedite accommodation please, and as soon as possible.

    Just like that?

    Just like that. Susa Artem put a call out for volunteers. Rybak, Tenha, Neamh, Echt. Susyc Aru has been most cooperative and sent a Brai flugzeg …

    That’s a transport, said Alaz, nodding his head.

    That’s right … all around to pick people up who want to vadeln-pair and who passed the initial scrutiny and assessment. It’s due in this tenday.

    I’ll be dammed! Any idea why this is happening … now?

    We’ve all been discussing it. Think about your history lessons when you were a boy. It’s happened before.

    In Murdoch, history lessons were, shall we say, rather on the limited scale? Expunged history of Murdoch. A couple of chapters about the evils of Argyll and Vadath, mostly a lot of rubbish. Expunged history of the years before Rybak.

    What was expunged? asked Jim, diverted.

    Anything modern, democratic and revolutionary, answered Alaz. Until I left I didn’t know there had been numerous revolutions topping kings and despots.

    Has it changed now?

    Alaz shrugged.

    I don’t suppose much. So why is this happening?

    History tells us it is because they will be needed.

    How do the Lind and Larg know?

    It was Jim’s turn to shrug.

    No scientific explanation. They just do.

    Both men turned to Avdrya but she didn’t know how either. She only knew that it was so.

    We’ll be gone by then anyway, Alaz commented. He tried not to sigh. What Rybakian didn’t wonder what it would be like to bond with a Lind, or a Larg?

    Jim seemed to know what he was thinking. He placed a hand on Alaz’s shoulder.

    At least some of your friends have been chosen, he said.

    Go on, who?

    Before I put you out of your misery of suspense, I might as well warn you. Peel wants to join our trip. He told me last month. I told him I would ask.

    He never said a thing at the spaceport.

    He would have, if his parents hadn’t been there.

    "I

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1