Jessica, Jalea, and Tug all huddled behind Tug’s vehicle to shield themselves from the whirling dust and debris as Tobin’s ship settled to the ground and its engines began to spin down. Nathan looked around, noticing that the dust was slow to disperse.
“This is why I don’t usually fly purchases out!” Tug yelled over the declining sound of Tobin’s engines. “It takes forever for the dust to clear! One of the disadvantages of living in a big hole!” Tug pulled his shirt up to cover his mouth and nose to avoid breathing in the dust as he rose from behind the vehicle. Nathan did the same as he followed.
The large cargo hatch on the starboard side of Tobin’s ship swung down until it touched the dirt, becoming a loading ramp on which Tobin quickly descended. “Captain! It’s good to see you safe.”
“Why wouldn’t we be?” he asked.
“This is Haven, Captain. Safe describes very little on this world,” he smiled. “Shall we begin loading?”
“Tobin, this is Tug,” Nathan introduced. “I believe we should first settle our bill with him.”
“Yes, of course,” Tobin agreed, feigning forgetfulness. Tobin produced a small bag from under his cloak. “This should more than cover it,” he told them as he handed the bag to Tug.
Tug took the bag from Tobin. Surprised by the excessive weight, he opened the bag to look inside and found many more credit chips than he had expected. “This is too generous, Captain.”
“Consider it a bonus for all your hospitality,” Nathan told him.
“But Captain, this is nearly twice what the molo is worth at market.”
“Yeah, well, we did almost blow your head off last night,” Nathan chuckled. “So I think you deserve it. Maybe it will get your wife off your back for letting a bunch of strangers stay for dinner.”
“Indeed it might,” he agreed as he tucked the bag of credit chips into his pants pocket.
“We should get going as soon as possible,” Tobin insisted, seeming a bit anxious.
“Of course.” Nathan turned to the others and signaled them to start loading the bundles of molo.
They quickly hauled the carefully tied bundles up into Tobin’s ship, stacking them down the middle of the small passenger area.
“Stack them wall to wall, Captain,” Tobin advised.
“How are we all going to fit on board if we do that?”
“I would prefer to take the cargo up separately,” Tobin explained. “It would be safer as there is no good way to secure the load. If we were to hit some turbulence, someone could become injured by flying bundles.”
Nathan looked about the cabin, comparing the available space with the amount of cargo still to load. Although he figured there would be enough room to squeeze them all in along with the cargo, he figured it was better to follow Tobin’s advice and err on the side of caution. And since Vladimir had not completed his study of the FTL systems on Tug’s fighter, the additional time would not be wasted. “Okay, wall to wall it is.”
Ten minutes later, the ship was loaded and ready to go. “Very well, Captain,” Tobin announced. “I will run this load up to your ship, and return for you in just over an hour.” Tobin waived as he climbed back up into his ship, the loading ramp swinging up behind him and filling in the hatch as it sealed shut.
Nathan and the others again moved behind the vehicle as Tobin’s ship began to spin up its engines. Within minutes, the whine of the turbines was replaced by the roar of the thrusters as it lifted off, ascending vertically until it was well above the top of the sinkhole before it began to turn and accelerate forward. They could no longer see it through the cloud of dust that enveloped them, but the sound of his engines quickly disappeared.
“My wife will be complaining about the dust for days,” Tug groaned as he brushed himself off.
“Jess, contact the ship and tell them that Tobin is on his way with the first load. And let her know we’ll be back on board in a couple hours. I’m going to go check on Vlad.”
“Commander?” Ensign Yosef said. “One of the cargo shuttles just departed on another run to Haven.”
“Again? That’s their fourth load today,” Cameron said. “How much stuff is he buying down there?” Cameron twisted from side to side in the command chair. It had been a long night, and her attempts to take naps on the ready room couch had left her a bit stiff. “Any sign of Tobin yet?”
“He left Haven spaceport about an hour ago. He set down on the surface about thirty kilometers outside of the city for about fifteen minutes. I’m assuming that’s the landing party’s current location, as Ensign Nash contacted us just after Tobin lifted off again, to inform us he was inbound with cargo-something called molo. He should be arriving in a few minutes. I show him entering the rings now-”
Kaylah’s voice suddenly stopped in mid sentence, drawing Cameron’s attention. “What is it?”
“That’s odd,” Kaylah said. She double checked her readings before continuing. “I could’ve sworn I saw a rather large contact. But it’s gone now.”
“Did you get an ID on it?”
“No, sir. It was only on my screen for an instant before it disappeared. The system didn’t even have time to generate a track log for it.”
“A ghost? A false contact of some sort, maybe?” Cameron theorized.
“Possibly. But I’m pretty sure it was a legitimate contact.” Kaylah turned to face Cameron. “It might have slipped behind the planet, dropping out of our line of sight before we could get a fix on it.”
“Is that possible?”
“I’ve seen a few contacts come out from behind the planet that I didn’t see going in. I just assumed they had arrived on the far side.”
“How long until it would come out from behind and be visible again?”
“About an hour at normal orbital velocities,” Kaylah reported.
“Well, it’s not like we can go and investigate,” Cameron said. “Keep an eye peeled in case it comes back.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How much longer are you going to hide?” Jalea pleaded. She and Tug stood in the middle of the bunkhouse, arguing.
“For the rest of my life!” Tug insisted. “The rebellion is over, Jalea. You just refuse to accept defeat.”
“You once said that as long as you could still hold a weapon, you would continue to fight! What has changed?”
“We no longer hold a weapon!” he told her. “We have no ships, and maybe twenty surviving members who have scattered to the winds! And if they are successful with their new power source, there will be no stopping them!”
“We have a weapon!” Jalea insisted. “Their ship! With their jump drive, we can appear within range of key targets, destroy them, and then disappear before they even have a chance to defend themselves!
“And how do you propose to attack with a broken ship? You said yourself it was badly damaged in its recent engagements. It has no energy weapons, no shields. It isn’t even completed.”
“We can fix their ship,” she pleaded. “We can use our technology, give them energy weapons, improve their shields-”
“And how will you do this? With what army?” he asked.
“We can find our people. And when news of our magical victories begins to spread, more will join us and our ranks will swell once again.
“And why, Jalea? Tell me, why would they want to help our cause?” Tug asked, pointing outside.
“They need that power source. Without it, it will take them months to get home instead of weeks. And their world is also in dire need of their jump drive. Helping us will help them.”
Tug stared at Jalea a moment. “You may be right. But still I cannot join you. I made a promise to Ranni and my children.”
“You made a promise to your people, as well.”
“Do not go there, Jalea. I fought as much as any man-more so! I was fighting when you were still in braided- tails and studying Angla with your father. I have shed as much blood as any man could and still live to tell. This last battle was nearly my undoing. My wounds are still not yet fully healed. If I was to leave yet again, I do not think I would have a home to return to should I survive.” Tug dropped to sit on the edge of one of the beds. “My days as a Karuzari are over, Jalea. It is time for another to pick up the flag in my place.”
Jalea moved to sit on the bed next to him. She picked up his hand and held it in her own. “I do not mean to
