Note: this is an Adult-themed, Science Fiction Space Opera intended for readers over the age of 17.
“Inquiries have been made. An accounting must be taken.”
On the verge of their departure, Rondal Caldar and his crew have their journey home delayed by an unexpected arrival.
A cryptic message from his step-father belies the headaches which will follow.
Family has come calling and Rondal is put on the spot. He and his crew must accommodate not only his extended family, but also the Kantite Elder and her Staff.
Adding to his worries is a meeting with his potential mother-in-law and her adopted brood; a new step-sister and two new step-brothers to his true love – the Healer Maya Tal.
Prologue
In a desperate attempt to save their lives, Rondal Caldar had successfully led his unwitting passengers to a relatively safe haven in the middle of an unsuspected Death Void. During weeks of effort they’d all worked together to ensure their salvation. In the process of doing so, they’d achieved a level of peace and happiness they’d never previously known.
Now they were prepared to set out for Caldar’s home world where they might find respite and a chance to rest and eat real food for a change before deciding if they want pursue an existence as sponsored members of the Commonwealth of Planets, or simply return to Earth and try to explain in as little detail as possible exactly where they’d been for the last several months.
However they might later decide, they were all primed to start on this next leg of their adventure…
Noon (Day 92) – An Imminent Departure
It had happened suddenly. The work was done, and there was nothing left to do that would keep them at the platform. They were ready to leave…
The ship had been packed and fully fueled. Both the internal and external converters were up and purring, with David’s modified feed tube assembly performing up to standards.
Larl and Amy’s room had gained a narrow partition to include separate accommodations for Andy and Shay. This had been approved by Ronnie, and engineered by David and Larl.
Before breakfast on this last day, the primary shield had been fully tested outside the platform during another piloting task for David – assisted by Ronnie this time. It had registered stable as a hard shield, even when pushed out to ten kilometers.
Afterwards, Ronnie had taken over and wrung the ship through several violent maneuvers before finally declaring it sound. Then, while David stood by at the con, he’d gone aft and cleaned up the few things that had fallen out or been dislodged from storage.
He’d then programmed in a very short jump, still within the general center of the local star cluster, and had David transition out and back without incident.
Upon their return, they’d all met in the commons and toasted their departure with another bottle of ambrosia. Diane and David were surprised when Andy toasted with them as well.
Afterwards, Ronnie had taken Larl with him to the platform’s con and gone over the shutdown and hibernate sequences with him. He’d also covered the reverse because, as he’d told Larl, “You just never know.”
As the rest of his crew were leaving the pressure hull and making their way to the ship, both Ronnie and Maya had visited her Grandmother’s chambers and said the rites over her once again.
Checking around the cabin, they’d straightened Yandi’s sheet and tidied up the trash, before leaving and sealing the door again. Then they’d walked slowly through the corridors and headed out to the ship by themselves.
~~~
Ronnie sat in the navigator’s position, while Larl brought the systems out of standby where they’d been since the check ride earlier that morning. He even inset and dumped his converted data packet into the system and set his special message to go out with the first com burst.
With everyone buckled in, Ronnie completed the checklist with Larl, and the ship silently stirred from its landing stands. He retracted them before Larl slowly brought them out of the service bay. They couldn’t close the door, but they’d secured everything left loose so nothing would drift away.
Ronnie was thinking that if he ever got back this way, he’d have to bring some commercial hardware to fix the big in-system converter and drives so the spin could be totally cancelled out and the station moved to a better location … probably near one of the stars.
“Okay Larl, I’ve calculated a jump to the thinnest spot in the zone. We’ll transition to there, then run calculations from there for a transition to the other side of the zone. After that, we’ll just flutter our way back to a transit lane and find the nearest base. Set standard departure, Mister Riker.”
“Coms on, Ronnie?”
Ronnie thought about it for a moment. It was standard procedure, but there was no one around to hear them. ‘Would it let anyone know we’re coming home? No. It’s just local, anyway.’
“Yes! Coms on, Larl. Wide broadcast, but I doubt we’ll have anyone hear us. Let’s go home!”
Larl made standard departure settings and triggered the transition countdown to fire in thirty seconds – which also transmitted a warning to local vessels. Not two seconds after initiating, a message came over the com system.
“CS Odontoceti, IRS Sectorus requests hold departure. Stand by for secure communications, ships master to ships master.”
“Or not,” Ronnie muttered. He gestured to Larl, but he’d already punched a hold on departure.
“CS Odontoceti, IRS Sectorus requests hold departure. Stand by for secure communications, ships master to ships master. Please acknowledge!”
Ronnie sat back after routing the com port to the main screen in front of him. The communications system opened a window on part of his side of the large display, with the Imperial Crest of Kantor prominently in evidence.
“You decide to show up now? Where in the hell were you three months ago!” he muttered angrily, before turning to his pilot.
“Larl, look them up – quietly. See if they’re in attack mode or what. I’ll see if I can stall them.”
“CS Odontoceti, IRS Sectorus requests hold departure. Stand by for secure communications, ships master to ships master. Please acknowledge!”
He enabled the encoder and transmitter before sending his response.
“IRS Sectorus, CS Odontoceti acknowledges challenge. We have seven non-combatants aboard; repeat, seven non-combatant civilians aboard. Ship’s master Rondal Caldar sai Caldarous se Earth ne Kantor requesting guarantees of safety for my passengers.”
The display fuzzed before clearing to reveal the face of a rather stern looking man who greeted him with just the tiniest nod of his head.
‘Aww, Crap!’ was just the first thought that ran through Ronnie’s mind.
