“Is he dead, sir?”
Wills knelt down next to the body where he could see that he was breathing and picked up the ceramic mug that was lying next to him. One sniff of the mug answered Edwards’ question. He returned to his feet, “Yes, dead drunk.”
She had a worried expression on her face, “Is there something we should do for him, sir?”
Wills looked around at the petrified night, “No, let him sleep it off; it’ll be a few hours he won’t have to remember.”
He turned to face her with a scowl on his face, “You have a bad habit Edwards.”
There was obvious alarm in her expression and voice, “Sir? What bad habit, sir?”
“You stick the word ‘sir’ into everything you say; sometimes more than once.”
“I do, sir?”
He smiled at her startled look, “Yes, you do; try to suppress the urge when we’re alone. You can call me ‘Admiral’ occasionally.”
A smile returned to her face, “Yes, sir; will do, sir.” The smile vanished, “I’ll try . . . Admiral.”
He nodded, “Better!”
Wills lifted the heavy wood latch bar on the door and pushed it in; it swung easily and quietly on the two large wood hinges. Bernard and Katrin Jordan were the focus of a group of only about fifty Foresters in the far corner. The shade panels covered the inside of the windows and every flat surface had at least one of the glass, vegetable oil burning lamps augmenting the weak illumination from the four electric bulbs that hung from the ceiling. The place smelled like an Italian kitchen.
The first to notice them was CPO Warren, the Jordan’s pilot; he was standing well to the side of the group and turned to salute Wills. This caused the Jordans to notice, followed by the rest of the group. Wills returned the salute as he walked past the Chief Petty Officer. He noticed that the Chief was wearing a battery-pack belt that was attached to the half meter long stun-wand that was cleverly hidden in a slim, non-standard pocket attached to the upper part of his right leg. Apparently the Jordans had an appreciation for reality and the possibility that someone might try to take their frustrations out on the nearest representative of the New Order.
Wills stepped up to join the Jordans in front of the group while Edwards stayed to the side with Warren, “Good morning, Doctors; I thought I might take a little trip up the line.”
They both smiled, “Gut mor-r-ning, Admir-r-al; your-r pr-r-esence es most velcome.”
Bernard stepped forward and shook his hand, “It is, indeed, very good to see you here, Admiral; let me introduce you to the leaders of I.”
This was Wills first trip to I, so he had never met any of these Foresters before. He soon found that they were a much more cooperative group than Joe and his entourage. The purpose of this meeting was more of a check for any major problems and to deliver the usual pep-talk.
Wills found himself giving that pep-talk instead of the Jordans, “On my home planet and on many of the planets humans occupy, the tilt of the planet creates a regular situation near the poles of those planets where there is a period of extended darkness. Here on your planet, the tilt is small and none of your people live near the poles, so you have never seen anything like this.”
He leaned back in his chair and smiled, “Actually, this is far worse; at least we were able to see the stars and the Aurora.”
“What is aurora?”
That stopped Wills in his tracks; he had forgotten that one of the prime reasons he was even here was the lack of a mechanism for creating those spectacular displays. By the time he had finished describing them, he was looking into a wall of wide-eyed wonder.
“Will our new home have these aurora?”
“Well . . . yes, it probably will; it is difficult to find an Earth-like planet that doesn’t. You just happened to get lucky here on Forest.”
#
Most of the group stayed in the building when they left. Katrin was giving Edwards a close look as they all stood on the deck in front of the building.
“Zo, Petty Officer-r Edwar-r-ds. I appr-r-oof uf your-r new look. I tr-r-ust I vill not haf to r-remind you to take a shower-r again?”
Again, through clenched teeth, “No, ma’am; that will not be necessary.”
Katrin ran a slow, jaundiced eye over her once more, “Gut . . . das tut gut!”
The Jordans and Chief Warren strode energetically toward their floater.
“Stop grinding your teeth, Edwards, deep breath now.”
The town leader and three others exited the building when they saw the Jordans leave, “Admiral, will you tell us something?”
Wills turned, “If I can, I will.”
“Why do you send that woman to torment us?”
Wills barely managed to suppress a laugh, “We can’t stand her either; when she is bothering you, she is not bothering us.”
The flight back to the Weasel was a series of giggle spasms caused by the memory of the four Foresters doubled over with laughter.
#
Wills stopped and turned to face Edwards at the loading ramp, “The next couple of months are going to be the worst of our lives. Every one of us is going to have to make an effort to stay sharp. That floater is now yours, and I expect it to be ready on ten minutes notice. I expect you to be ready at the same time.” He leaned down and stuck a finger in her face, “You are to be pressed and polished at all times, and you are to be a worthy example of the people I have around me. Is that clear Petty Officer?”
She was already braced at attention,
