She had a grim expression as she reclaimed her seat, “Sorry about that, Hayes; I hope I haven’t dropped a wrench in your gears. I have a limited tolerance for people that don’t know what they’re doing.”
“Don’t worry about it; I haven’t had a good feeling about our progress here anyway.”
Eva’s parents were silent for awhile after Mays’ rant before they began quietly talking. A minute later, they got up.
“We will talk with friends - Eva come”
Eva took her Mother’s hand and they walked toward other groups.
Pressler stretched, “If we’re going to be here for a few days, we’re going to have to organize rotating watches; I fully expected to be back in isolator drive hours ago. Right now, I need a shower and breakfast.”
Mays rose with him, “Me too; we’ll be back in a bit.”
Hayes watched as they posted one of their other crew members to watch the remaining floaters, and they lifted for their respective ships.
#
“CONTACT WITH SHIP’S BEACON - IDENTITY, CARGO VESSEL PUGNACIOUS.”
“AI, acknowledged.”
Hayes was sitting with Pressler, Mays, Wilson Stark, the First Officer of the Winslow, and Beverly Wolfe, the Chief Engineer; their two cargo floaters had joined the growing fleet in the field. Ames and Twisst had not returned yet but Hayes had caught up the new arrivals on the situation and introduced them to his friend, the furry bad attitude. Actually, things were going well with that situation and Hayes had gotten his first chance to meet the puppies. They were reluctant to come out from under the bush but Mom coaxed them out.
An hour later, the floaters from the Pugnacious were down; Captain Teresa Wainsworth and Second Officer Harold Hoffman had joined the group. About that time, Ames and Twisst returned from the town with Joe and a few of the other Forest leaders.
“CONTACT WITH SHIP’S BEACON - IDENTITY, PASSENGER VESSEL GREGORY FALLS.”
“AI, acknowledged.”
Hayes turned toward Ames, “Well, Doc; it seems we are almost all gathered. Have we all come here for a glorious purpose or will this be a tale of great regret that we tell our children?”
Ames scratched the side of his head, “I think we have some movement; Joe had a description of the situation here sent to all of the other towns and told them that they may send anyone that wants to go. There is some panic out there and I am expecting some refugees; I don’t know how many.”
Captain Wainsworth was irritated, “I expected to be loading as soon as I hit dirt; now I find out that the locals are sucking their thumbs in indecisive fright. I had a lucrative contract waiting at Barrimore but Reynolds stuck a bayonet up my ass, and now I’m stuck on this butt boil.”
She turned to Ames and held a finger to his nose, “You start these backwoods yahoos loading in two hours, or I’m gone.”
An uneasy and slightly shocked silence fell over their group and a large number of nearby locals. The AI had not translated the outburst, but the emotion was clear enough.
“Actually, Captain, you should be talking to me.”
Hayes opened another pouch of butterscotch candy as Wainsworth turned to face him.
“And why should I be talking to you, Lieutenant?” The sneer that colored that last word was more than obvious.
He held the open pouch and looked up at her with a gentle smile on his face as he chewed on a lump of candy, “Because, while Doctor Ames and Doctor Twisst are in charge of relations with the inhabitants of this planet, Admiral Reynolds gave me full authority over all ship traffic in this system. If you attempt to leave without clearance from me, I will have one of the patrol ships cut your AG ring to pieces then take you and your crew aboard under arrest.”
Commander Mays raised her hand and did a silly schoolgirl bounce on her seat; “Oh! Oh! Me! Me!”
Hayes bowed toward the trigger-happy destroyer Captain, “The privilege is yours Captain Mays; here, have a butterscotch.”
She reached into the pouch with one hand while she pressed on her com pad with the other, “Mays to Rance.”
“Rance here, Captain.”
“New standing watch order; weapons console is to be manned at all times. If any ship breaks orbit without clearance from Lieutenant Hayes, you will fire a warning shot and advise them of the error of their ways. If they still don’t see things your way, you will correct their thinking by chewing on their AG ring and arresting the crew. Any questions?”
“No ma’am; crystal clear.”
She took her hand from the com pad and started chewing the candy.
Wainsworth looked from one to the other with an expression of disbelief taking over her face.
“Try to relax, Captain; we shouldn’t be here more than four more days. The Contact Commission will make good any losses that you suffer, and give you a grand Certificate of Commendation that you can brag about. Here, have a butterscotch.”
“It’s very good butterscotch.” he called after her as she stomped back to the nearest of her two floaters.
The intensity of their exchange had been an item of extreme interest to the nearest groups of Foresters; two older males approached Hayes.
“Is a greater problem for us <question>”
Hayes stood and walked them back closer to a group of Foresters so that more could hear him, “There is tension among us. Some of these ships and their crews have been diverted from their daily business at great cost. They are unhappy to find that their sacrifice was made for nothing because you fear us and the idea of leaving your home. They came here to save your lives; now they believe they
