Part 4 - Part 03

“Hell no! I told him it was to expedite the inspection because we were in a hurry to leave. You know how it is? If you want something done quickly you have to bribe somebody. If I told him I was carrying rakia I’d be in jail now. The rules have changed since you left… They’re stricter now…” replied Delche.

“The authorities know very well what you do, right? How did you convince them to let you come here?” I asked.

“They had no choice. No one could do the calculation for the hyperdrive jump fast enough to meet the deadline… and I refused to tell them because I never did any calculations! So what was I going to tell them? That I fudged them and took a chance? That we could have flown into a planet? So they either took me or took weeks to do the calculation… which was unacceptable to the government. And if they were late delivering the promised machines Asora told them Otsiron might fly back looking for them,” replied Delche.

“Are they afraid of you? I thought you were their ally and protector,” said Captain Orihci.

“He is… to some but not all. It’s a mess back there. I’ll tell you about it later, it’s a long story,” interjected Delche as he began to unpack the big boxes and remove the smaller boxes resting inside on top. “These boxes on top are the machines. The rakia is packed in

the bottom boxes in breakable glass bottles. I took the bottles directly from my shelves. You know the ones in my restaurant’s basement? I didn’t have time to pour them into unbreakable bottles. I brought you ten machines and two boxes of the parts you’ll need to maintain the machines, as well as the correct vials for collecting blood. These fit directly into our machines. Those boxes over there, you can start taking them in. They hold the machines. They’re light so your guys can take one each.”

“Ten machines? They told us they could only give us five for now.”

“And you’re lucky you got them. After Asora promised the machines to you she went to parliament to ratify the order. But instead of getting a rubber stamp she got opposition. Some parliamentarians wanted a debate… which could have taken weeks…When I found that out I figured you’d never get your machines this way, so I put the word out that I was looking for five DNA testing machines. They arrived on my doorstep over night. You don’t want to know how I got them… I didn’t want to know how they got there... But I got them…” replied Delche.

“My kind of people…Ask and you shall receive…” said Ukasnek.

“What about the other five?” I asked.

“Well, Asora had to pull her ‘Otsiron’ card on them. She said if those machines didn’t arrive at their destination on time you’d come looking for them. That motivated them to forego the debate and release the machines,” replied Delche.

After Enai’s associates took the machines to the facility Delche looked around and asked, “Is rakia legal here?”

I guess so,” said Captain Orihci. “Most people, including the authorities, don’t know what it is. If anyone asks we can tell them its machine cleaner and sterilizer… And we wouldn’t be lying to them.”

“Where can we store it?” asked Delche.

“Let’s put it in my ship for now. We’ll stack it so it can fit.”

“No, no stacking and not in your ship! I don’t want to destroy your electronics if there’s an accident; if a bottle breaks,” replied Delche.

“What accident? The ship is stationary and will remain so!”

“Yeah but what if a passing ship, let’s say a drunk pilot, flies by and decides to take a shot at your ship because he thinks its ugly?” replied Delche.

Everyone cracked up laughing.

“I have a secure place in the facility where I keep valuable things. There is plenty of space to put them there. All the boxes can be placed on the floor… Are the boxes heavy and can we carry them?” asked Enai.

“Yes, they’re heavy. Each contains 16 one litre bottles. This was another reason why I had to pack the boxes inside the ship. They were difficult to lift full. I don’t think we can carry them from here to the facility…” explained Delche.

“I’ll get some soldiers to help us. If I can carry a box so can they,” I said.

“You’ve got to tell us how you got to be like this,” said Ori.

“Like what, big, strong and ugly? I’ll tell you in good time my friend,” I replied and ordered twelve super soldiers to come over and carry the boxes.

When we were finished I dismissed them and we all left and headed for the labs.

“It must be nice to be in charge of an army. How many soldiers do you have?” asked Ori.

“You mean the super soldiers? We have about a million of them,” I replied.

Ori suddenly stopped walking.

“One million of them, where do you keep them all?!” Not in this small place…?”

“This facility is bigger than a city. It’s all underground. It has everything you can think of… I’ll tell you more about it later,” replied Enai as we entered the lab.

The machines weren’t there. Enai’s assistant told us to go to an adjacent lab, a bigger one. When we arrived there we saw the machine operators in their nice white uniforms, with the Macedonian symbols on them, talking to Enai’s associates without a universal translator.

“What the…” I asked Enai. “Do your associates speak the Ostikon language too?”

“No, they’re speaking the Galaxy Trader language.

Ori then interjected and said, “The young operators who were recruited for this mission were medical students who had just graduated. They were all proficient in the Galaxy Trader language even before the war started. They were looking for work when we recruited them. When word came down from the government that they were looking for people with technical DNA machine operating skills, able to speak the Galaxy Trader language, we received over one hundred and fifty applications. To expedite the hiring process Delche used a lottery to recruit those twelve.”

“Why twelve… and not just ten, one per machine?” I asked.

“That’s how many empty chairs we had available on the ship. Why not twelve, I thought… They could all use the experience…” replied Delche.

“How did you get to come here?” I asked Ori.

After pointing at Delche he said, “I wanted to… I wanted to do something… something important with my life. I begged Delche to take me. I was there, at his place, visiting his daughter Airam when we found out you were looking for DNA testing machines. They didn’t tell us much other than DNA testing machines…? What was that all about? I insisted that Delche take me with him.”

“There was no way I could take him. He didn’t have any of the required qualifications. There would have been an uproar from those qualified. So I lied. I told the authorities you had asked for a translator to communicate with the DNA machine operators. It made sense, right? They said no because it would take too long to recruit one. So I recommended Ori, your former communications officer. I told them he was available and willing to go on short notice. The bureaucrat got frustrated with me and said, ‘Do what you want!’ So I took him with me,” replied Delche and looked at the young woman coming towards us. It was Ireva.

Ireva looked at him and asked, “Can I help you Sir?” in the Ostikon language.

“I know you!” cried Delche, looking surprised.

“No you don’t!” replied Ireva in an irritated tone of voice.

“You’re from Ostikon aren’t you…? I met you at the languages academy when I recruited Velika and Dafina for Otsi’s crew. I couldn’t take my eyes off you… Your beautiful green eyes… Your blonde hair… Your tall, slim figure…”

I interrupted Delche and said, “This is Captain Orihci’s daughter. Her name is Ireva.”

It seemed she either didn’t remember Delche, or Delche had said or done something to her in the past. Something she didn’t like.

Delche understood why I’d interrupted him and said, “Nice to meet you Ireva, perhaps I was mistaken about seeing you on Ostikon. It must have been another woman.”

Captain Orihci suspected that there had been something between these two but didn’t say anything.

Our attention was drawn to the raised voices in the communication between Enai’s associates and the Ostikon machine operators. We went over to see what was happening.

Enai asked them what the ruckus was all about.

One of his associates said, “We’re having difficulty integrating their machines with our computers. Each group is blaming the other for the problems. The data formats and communications protocols are different and we aren’t able to match them.”

“Of course you aren’t able to match them. They come from two different worlds. They are like us, the people, we speak our language and they speak theirs…They are different languages… and we can’t understand each other. But you see this?” Enai pointed at my universal translator. “We built these things to translate for us so we could understand one another. You need to build a protocol converter… just like the universal translator… Connect the machines to the computers through it… Now, instead of arguing go and build one…” He then turned around to face us and in a quiet voice said, “The more brilliant they are the less common sense they have.”

“It must be a universal thing…” Delche said laughing.

“You might as well go… get our guests settled. This will take a while. I’ll call you if I need you. And Ireva, you make sure Delche and Ori each get a universal translator,” Enai ordered and left to join his associates.

“Okay Enai, I’ll take care of things…” replied Ireva and waved for us to follow her.

On our way to the reception area Ireva said, “I can give you a Galaxy Trader to Ostikon translator or Galaxy Trader to Macedonian translator. Which would you prefer?”

“Since they both speak Macedonian, give them the Galaxy Trader to Macedonian translator so we don’t exclude Otsi here,” pointing at me, “from our conversations. Is that okay…?” Captain Orihci suggested.

Both Delche and Ori laughed and shook their heads. “Galaxy Trader to Macedonian is fine,” replied Delche.

“Thank you Captain Orihci…” I said and also laughed.

By now we were in the reception area and after Ireva introduced our two guests to her mother she left to look for the translators.

“This is my wife Amih,” said the Captain. After introducing Ori he introduced Delche as his former partner in the rakia trade.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, “and to finally meet you in person, Delche… We’ve heard so much about you from the Captain. You’re a legend in our community. You are known as the ‘king of rakia’ but none of us had met you or knew your real name…”

“That’s how pirates operate… It’s best not to know your partner’s name. That way if you get caught you can’t betray them, even if you want to,” interrupted Ukasnek.

Moments later Ireva came back, gave Ori and Delche their universal translators and said, “Get your luggage and follow these two young ladies. They’ll take you to your quarters.”

Ori and Delche looked at each other and asked, “What luggage? We didn’t bring any luggage…”

“Not to worry, we’ll provide you with whatever you need. As for clothing, you have a choice; military or maintenance uniforms… Your white uniforms will get dirty in no time, especially if you drink too much and roll in the grass and dirt like these guys here…” replied Ireva in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Her tone and comment irritated her parents and both were about to scold her but Delche interjected and said, “You mean to tell me you have rakia here…? We didn’t bring any.”

“Look, I come from a pirate family and know all the tricks… I know you brought some! Why else would you get rid of everyone before you opened the crate? You didn’t want them to see it… or ask questions… I’ll bet you half of that load was rakia. Am I right?” replied Ireva.

“Wow! You’ve got me there…” said Delche.

“That’s my girl! I taught her everything she knows…” yelled Ukasnek proudly.

“Well then…” said Delche, “what will it take to buy your silence?”

“Share the rakia with all of us!” she said which sent everyone, including herself, into loud laughter.

“I think we’ll be okay…” said Captain Orihci.

Ukasnek agreed.

The Captain then spoke to the two young ladies standing beside Ireva. “Please take our guests to their rooms, let them rest and at noon bring them back to the dining area for lunch.”

Getting reacquainted

Captain Orihci, Ukasnek and I were sitting in silence at our usual table in the dining area. Looking tired, we watched the facility workers walk in, eat their lunch and go back to work. We were waiting for Delche and Ori to arrive. Strangely, we felt a bit nervous but had no desire to have a drink. We each had many questions for our guests and many stories of our own to tell them.

To their credit these people here, and probably on the entire planet Nelez, were punctual or had a very good reason for being late. So we expected the young ladies to deliver our guests on time and they did.

The three of us at the table suddenly jumped to our feet and had great big smiles when we saw them coming.

“Here we are…” said one of the young ladies, with a smile on her face as they started to walk away. The Captain thanked the ladies for their help and they left.

Delche spoke first. “Ireva wasn’t kidding about the uniforms. I wanted a military uniform so I could look like you but there wasn’t one that fit me,” he laughed pointing at me. “I’m kidding… Ori convinced me to go with the maintenance uniforms so we could blend in…”

“I did no do such thing!” replied Ori smiling.

“I have a million questions to ask you but I can’t think of one right now, so let’s sit down first and we’ll go from here,” I said.

“Us too, we have many questions for you,” said Delche.

“I don’t know about you guys but I’m hungry. I think we should eat first,” Ukasnek said and led us to the food line.

As we chose our food Delche said, “I’m impressed with the great selection of food you have here. And it all looks so fresh! The only

thing you’re missing is the servers; people to deliver it to you at your table.”

“We have places like that here too where you can sit, relax and spend a long time eating. But the people here, the workers, are in a hurry and can’t wait to be served. Besides this way you get to choose what to take… what you want and as much as you want; just look at Ukasnek’s tray…” replied the Captain laughing.

“Is this all free?” asked Ori.

“Yes, it’s a worker’s benefit. But under the current situation it has been offered to everyone who comes here. This is a rich agricultural planet and we have plenty of food. All of it is locally grown,” explained the Captain.

Just as we sat down Enai showed up, rushing as usual and went straight to the food line. When he had his food he sat beside me and apologized for being late.

“I’m sorry I’m late… Actually I shouldn’t even be here… but it would have been impolite to our guests if I didn’t come… I have some good news…We built a prototype protocol converter and are able to access the Ostikon machines from our computers… That’s the good news… The difficulty now is converting the data so that our computers can recognize it… This may take weeks, months, or even more…”

As we all sat there looking stunned Ori spoke up and said, “Perhaps there is a way… But we’ll have to talk to your technical people…”

“I’m a technical person. I know a bit about almost everything here…” replied Enai.

“How much do you know about your DNA machines?”

“Practically nothing.”

“Is there someone who does?”

“None of my associates… or anybody else from this facility… that I know of...”

“What about those operating the machines…? They must know something?”

“Oh, yeah… I forgot about them… They’re not from this planet.”

“Can we speak to them? As soon as possible… If they’re familiar with how your machine analyzes the DNA we can do something with the data conversion. I have some ideas…”

“I don’t know about that. Half of them are operating the machines and the other half are sleeping. I don’t want to impose on them…” replied Enai.

“I’ll tell you what. Let’s finish eating and we’ll all go to the lab and talk to the operators, the ones on duty, and see what they say. If even one of them says yes then we’ll take it from there. If they say no… then we’ll look for alternatives…” said Captain Orihci.

We were all curious to know what Ori had in mind, especially Enai, who said that if this worked it would be a historic moment for Nelez and Ostikon. We could claim we were the first “scientists” to marry the two technologies. So our lunch turned into a race to see who would finish first. Almost all of them bet on me, except for Captain Orihci who bet on Ukasnek, who actually won even though he had more food on his tray than anyone else. Captain Orihci called it the “eat and run syndrome”, common among the pirates. Enai finished eating last. That was expected since he’d arrived last.

The first operator we spoke to said, “I know some things about the machines and if I don’t I have a manual where I can look it up. What kind of things are you looking for?”

The operator didn’t understand what Ori was asking, perhaps the meaning was lost in the translation or the translator didn’t have the appropriate terminology in Macedonian… So Enai stepped in and explained.

“We need to convert the DNA data coming out of the Ostikon machines to look like the data coming out of our machines so we can process it in our computers.”

“No problem,” said the operator as he opened a door on his machine and pulled out a manual, flipped some pages and found the table he was looking for and handed it to Enai.

Enai showed it to Ori who said, “Now let’s go and see our people, the operators from Ostikon and ask them the same question.”

The big lab was two doors away and we were there in seconds. The first person we asked also handed us a manual with a similar table.

“Yes this is the manual. The table explains the various elements of the DNA strand and shows the letters and numbers the machine generates to represent the various elements in the strand,” said the operator.

“Now if we can only match our numbers and letters to the Galaxy Trader symbols,” Ori said.

Again we began looking glum, like we were lost.

A young lady, an operator from Ostikon, who happened to be eavesdropping on our dilemma came over and said, “I can help you with that. I happened to be looking at the same table earlier and the key to matching their symbols to our letters and numbers is through the description of the strands. I can do that for you…”

Not wasting any time Enai said, “Thank you, you’re a godsend. Now come with me…” and off they went in a rush to the research lab.

“I picked her,” Delche announced proudly.

“No you didn’t,” Ori grumbled. “You only picked a number from the lottery which happened to be hers.

“Now that we’ve solved that problem, let’s go back to the dining area and resume our lunch. I’m still hungry. Let’s have a drink to properly welcome our new friends from Ostikon,” said Captain Orihci.

No one objected.

To our surprise the Captain pulled out a large glass bottle from his trench coat and put it on the table. We were all shocked.

“What the hell? Where did you get that?” I asked.

“Enai must have given it to him. But when? I was with him all the time,” said Ukasnek.

“Nope! I got it myself. I stole it right in front of your eyes when you were moving it to the secure place. If fact I took it out of the box Nine was carrying and hid it in my coat.”

“You’ve still got it boss, even I didn’t see you…” Ukasnek declared.

“We would have been great partners, you and I,” the Captain said to Delche, “and would have built a rakia empire. I was even planning to induct my daughter Ireva into the business. That’s why I sent her to Ostikon to learn your language. But that damned war ruined everything.”

“I taught her how to fly and navigate. She would have made a great pilot. I also taught her everything I know about pirating and our old traditions. She was a top student in the academy, just like her father. She graduated with honours. After that I enrolled her in the military academy. She was very ambitious and wanted to become a Captain… before she turned forty. She would have been the youngest Captain ever… and she would have made it, except for this damned war,” Ukasnek added.

“But how, she looks like a child, she couldn’t be more than twenty…” Delche exclaimed.

“She must be over forty by now, about ten years older than me and perhaps older than you Delche,” I replied.

Delche shook his head, looked at Captain Orihci who looked older than all of us and said, “If she’s your daughter I don’t want to know your age…”

At that point Ireva walked into the dining area and we all turned to look. Without looking at us she went straight for the food line and said, “Talking about me… again…?”

We all cracked up laughing.

“I knew it…!”

Her father spoke up, “We were saying good things about you dear… How gorgeous you look in your work uniform…”

“That’s just it. You like things about me that are gorgeous. Traits that have become impediments for me… My green eyes… My blonde hair… My youthful looks… I’ll bet those were the same type of qualities you looked for in Mom. That’s why you married her… right? I like to be noticed for my accomplishments, not my looks. No one except Ukasnek here ever said anything to me about how smart I am, how good an organizer I am… how good a leader I am… how good a pilot I am... You wanted me to be your business partner and even sent me to Ostikon to learn the Ostikon language but never once did you speak to me seriously and ask me what I wanted to do!”

We all sat there in silence. It felt like a ticking time bomb was about to go off. No one dared speak. As we stared at her in horror she must have realized what she’d said and how inappropriate it was. Her father was a respected leader and accomplished member of this community and he didn’t deserve words like that from her.

She felt awkward and it was visible.

“Speak up my dear, let it all out, you are among friends here…” said Ukasnek.

“What you have Ireva is not an impediment but an asset which can open doors for you everywhere. You have qualities that any woman would kill to have. You have them but you don’t know how to use them. You opened the door for me to say this and if you don’t like it, you only have yourself to blame. Basically I think you’re spoiled and your attitude stinks. You want men who don’t know you to like you, not for your good looks but for your brain… Well my dear, I’ve been to three different worlds and I know it doesn’t work like that. You are a strong character, gutsy and smart but all you do is denigrate and piss people off. Look what you just did to your father… to Delche… What did Delche ever do to you? You are being rude to my friends for complimenting you on how good you look. What’s wrong with that? You were rude to me too… many times. Why don’t you just sit here beside me and be like a big sister to me…?” I asked.

Everyone was cringing and waiting for an explosion. But there was no explosion. She put her food down on the table and sat down beside me like I asked. She wanted to cry but Ukasnek, sitting on the other side of the table opposite her, gave her a stern look so she didn’t cry.

Her father spoke next and instead of saying the usual crap and apologizing to her for not being there for her while she was growing up when she needed him, etc. etc., he said, “From now on I want you to join this group, sit with us and participate in our discussions, our jokes, our drinking bouts and everything else we do…”

Everyone broke into laughter. At this point Captain Orihci opened the bottle of rakia and Ukasnek brought us glasses.

“To my daughter who just grew up…”

“To your daughter…” the rest of us echoed.

The Captain then looked at Ireva and said, “Just think about what the big fellow beside you said and you’re forgiven… Now enough of this, let’s get on with the business at hand. Who wants to go first?”

“I do,” said Ireva. “I first want to apologize to everyone for my behaviour… These are trying times for me… and I realize that I haven’t proven myself, especially to my father. But I will do whatever it takes… And thank you all for allowing me to be part of this group.”

Everyone shook their heads accepting Ireva’s apology. Ukansek smiled widely.

“I thought we should use the rest of the afternoon to tour the facility; show our guests how to get around and where things are. And tomorrow, after they’ve had a good night’s rest, we can take them out with the soldiers on their long march and show them what we do here. One thing I want to remind everyone of is the visit from the inquiry commission. We should be getting news of its arrival any day now,” said the Captain.

“What’s that all about?” asked Delche.

“From what the Galaxy Trader central government told me they’ll be looking to get to the bottom of how and why the war was started, who was involved, who were its architects, what effects it had on the population and the damage it caused. But I don’t trust the government because I believe there is a possibility that our government was somehow involved in this mess. Also, since you Delche and Ori are representatives of Ostikon, a major contributor of soldiers to this war, you’ll be asked questions too… about Ostikon’s involvement… For example, they’ll want to know what the Ostikon government knew about the war. Please be careful what you say… And please don’t play dumb or lie. You don’t know what they already know…” replied the Captain.

“Are we and the machine operators from Ostikon in any danger of being arrested?” asked Ori.

“I don’t think so. Like Otsi said earlier, the commission’s goal is to investigate the situation and see if there are grounds for charges and prosecution. So we should all be safe for now… But please be careful what you say,” warned the Captain.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll take our guests and show them around. You stay here and finish your drinks. If they’re going to look around they don’t need you to distract them,” Ireva said and waved for Ori and Delche to follow her.

“I’m glad she decided to accept my offer to join us. That way I can be with her and keep an eye on her. Let her spread her wings a little. She has been a big weight on my shoulders. I had no idea what to do with her…”

“It’ll be awkward for a while… for all of us…” I said.

“We’ll have to adjust… My dear friend, she’s never been a burden for me,” said Ukasnek.

After we polished off the entire bottle of rakia, which seemed like a lot but divided among that many people wasn’t, we went to see Enai in the research lab.

“This young lady here is a godsend. I think I’ll keep her in the lab. She helped us map all the DNA components and we are this close to building a translation table. Imagine what that’ll mean for us. This lab will make history.”

“It’s well-known in my world that wars tend to accelerate technological developments and open up new possibilities for people. Keep up the great work, Enai…” I said and we turned around and left.

“Where to now?” asked Ukasnek.

“You know something, if you don’t mind I think I’ll go… get some rest… This thing with my daughter has exhausted me.”

“I’ll go too… Look into the jail business that Amih asked me about.”

“I’ll be in my ship if anyone is looking for me. I need to do some cleaning. I’m sure Delche and Ori will want to see it soon. And by

the way Ukasnek, how good are you at getting supplies? I need some for my ship? I need water for sure and some food in sealed containers to last several days… You never know… I may take the boys on a ride around the planet… for old time sake. But you know I can’t pay you. I have no money.”

“No problem, I’ll look into it…”

The ship was a mess. I was tired and too lazy to do the job myself so I activated the general maintenance robot and let it have a go at cleaning the ship as part of its preventive maintenance procedure. In the meantime I sat in my Captain’s chair, reclined it as far back as it would go and watched the robot work.

Suddenly I was startled by a hard knock on the hull coming from outside. The hatch was closed. I had closed it to keep the maintenance robot in, in case it decided to escape. I’m just kidding, if the robot wanted to escape all it had to do was push the green button and open the hatch. There was another hard knock. I looked around. The robot wasn’t there. I must have fallen asleep. The ship was spotless and the robot had gone back into its dock. I got out of my chair and hit the green button. The hatch started to open.

I heard Delche’s voice, “We know you’re in there… they told us you were here. What, you have a woman in there?”

“Come on in,” I yelled.

“Wow! You’ve kept the place clean… How did you manage that?”

“I have servants…”

“Get out of here…”

“He probably activated his maintenance robots,” said Ori.

“He has robots that clean his mess…?”

“Ah, never mind…” said Ori.

“Why are you guys back so soon? You’re supposed to be on a tour with Ireva.”

“Boy, can that woman talk. We’ve had enough of her for one day. In four hours she managed to tell us the entire planet’s history, including your so-called adventures and how you got to be such a big and ugly guy... Do you have any rakia in here or do I have to go and beg Enai to give me a bottle… I see the box I gave you is still tied where I left it…” Delche opened the lid and found the box empty. He was about to say something but I preempted him.

“Look in the other box.”

“There’s only green stuff here…”

“Keep looking!”

“Ah, here’s one. Now get us some glasses.”

As I got three glasses I said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, what happened in Ostikon after I left… the second time?”

“Well, after our soldiers came back many were treated for injuries, dehydration, malnutrition and other illnesses. When they recovered they were sent home. Soon after that the entire army was demobilized and sent home. Even Princess Anelia’s private force was dismissed. They were all owed back pay but Asora’s government had no money to pay them. Anelia had the money and promised to pay the soldiers in exchange for her amnesty and to be allowed back into parliament. And sure enough she was amnestied and voted in. As a result she was never charged with anything. For her immunity from prosecution she gave up her private army and paid the soldiers their back pay. The soldiers weren’t expected to be back so soon, so no money was budgeted for their salaries. Now that Anelia was back in parliament, the opposition, the White party, began to gain strength. Back in her old position as Commander in Chief of the military she decided to demobilize the entire army, not because there was no money but because, according to her, it was no longer needed after the war ended. Now once again Ostikon has no military to protect its citizens. As a result the rats were able to bring

back the draconian laws and took steps to rob us outlanders of our liberty and freedom. I’m sure all this was perpetrated by the rich Whites…”

“So, what happened to Gen and Ruzha?”

“Well, Gen was sent into retirement and took over managing her grandfather’s hotel, and Ruzha went back to working as a photographer cataloging items for the main science lab in the centre zone, same as before.”

“How’s Nagol doing? Did he and the Admiral stay together?”

“Yes they did. Nagol was very happy to see Gen leave the military. With her taking over the hotel he had more time to live the life he really wanted.”

“What about my little sisters Vel and Daf, what are they doing now?”

“They went back to the language academy and now teach Macedonian. They are very popular. Everyone wants to hear their stories, especially about their experiences here. They tell stories about the battles they fought as the crew of the Dragon Fire and about their experiences in the battlefield in their quest to end the war and bring back our people. The entire planet knows about that. You’re a hero in Ostikon… Then, when we heard nothing from you for a long time we all assumed you were dead. You promised us you’d be back if you survived but when you weren’t… naturally people assumed you were dead. So you were a dead hero to them. That’s the reason I believe Anelia and her supporters became so bold and bullied Asora’s government into giving the criminals amnesty and allowed them to take control of Ostikon.”

“What happened when you found out I was alive?”

“The planet shook… Unfortunately by then the military and all those in a position to unshackle us didn’t exist any more. They tried to force Asora to break relations with you but she refused. All your friends wanted to leave the planet and come here but the White party

refused to grant them passage. As for me and him, they saw us as a problem. We were a living legacy of the past but they didn’t do anything to us… Even dead they feared you...”

“Wait until they get a load of you now!” exclaimed Ori with a menacing look on his face.

“Wait until they get a load of my army and what I can do with it. I’ll give you a demonstration tomorrow during our march.”

“What about your daughter? How’s she doing?”

“Airam has been running my businesses for some time now and looking after Asora; trying to keep her sane. I guess they’re both coping… Airam and the chef are doing very well actually. They don’t need me anymore.”

“I’d like to help Asora… I feel responsible for getting her into this mess. We need to do something to help her get out of this predicament. She doesn’t deserve the punishment she’s getting…” I said.

“But what can we do, especially all the way from here?” asked Ori.

“Perhaps we can make a recording of the march tomorrow, send it to Ruzha. She’ll find a way to broadcast it on channel 45. By showing proof that I’m still alive and well and in possession of a very large army might give her some leverage over the Whites. What do you guys think?”

“Yeah, it might alleviate some of the pressure…it will certainly get the Whites’ attention… It might even scare them a bit knowing that you now, in addition to still flying the ship, have a big army. But at the same time, it might make things worse. We now have a new fleet of ships which the Whites possess. They may decide to use them against you,” warned Delche.

“If you can get the soldiers to do something like yell ‘Ostikon’, ‘Ostikon’, ‘Ostikon’ in unison for example, one million of them, might make the Whites think! Let them sweat it out. They have no

idea what we’ve been telling you about the situation in Ostikon, especially in the outer zones! They’ll regret having allowed us to come here,” said Ori.

“Unfortunately the soldiers can’t speak… But we’ll see.”

“Enough of this crap. I get enough of it at home. I don’t need to hear it here too. Let’s drink before we forget how to,” yelled Delche and poured us some rakia.

“To old friends back together again…” toasted Ori.

“To better and bigger adventures… and more drinking in the old ship…” toasted Delche.

“To you guys! It’s nice to see you and be together again...”

I sat in the Captain’s chair and Delche and Ori sat in their old chairs.

“We should fly this thing one of these days… Take it for a spin around the planet… See the sights,” I said.

“I see you’ve updated the navigation system with up to date maps… and you’ve traveled a lot. You used up quite a bit of fuel and ammunition. I should check and see what you have in reserve. If you run out of fuel or ammo the ship is as good as dead. I think I’ll check later. It’s time to drink now. Do you have anything to eat?”

“Look around. There might be some meat jars left and there should be some other food. The Captain and his wife gave us a lot of food when we were at their island home.”

“May I look around in the communications computer?” asked Ori.

“Help yourself but do it quietly please… I still have a headache from drinking earlier.”

“I’ll use my headphones…”

Delche laughed.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Ori…” he replied but didn’t explain.

After listening to old messages on his earphones, recorded a long time ago, Ori asked me if he could call Airam…

“Can you do that? I mean call Airam from here?”

“Yes, I’ll encrypt the message so no one else can access it. She has the key to my encryption code and she’ll know what to do…”

“You sly devil you…” said Delche. I think that’s why Delche had laughed earlier. He knew that Ori wanted to contact Airam. But for some reason Delche didn’t fully approve.

“Sure, go ahead. Help yourself,” I replied.

Sitting in my Captain’s chair enjoying my drink, I watched both Delche and Ori going through the old computer logs reminiscing about the time we were together. Once in a while Ori let out a quiet chuckle… He was probably reminiscing about something from our past.

“I’d like to sleep here tonight if I may…” said Ori.

“Sure, why not? I might decide to stay here tonight as well… if I get too drunk…”

“You don’t get it. He wants to be here when the reply from Airam arrives…” said Delche.

“That’s nice… Give her my regards…”

“Thank you…”

“Why don’t you have your guards following you around any longer? Like in the good old days?” asked Delche.

“I was told not to. In case they were taken over by the big robots. I think it was Ukasnek who warned me and asked me to dock them permanently; for as long as I’m here.”

“Do you remember the time when you and Ori came to my restaurant? I think it was your first time and you introduced your robot guards as your girlfriends… Glory and Morning if I remember correctly…”

“I do. Those were good times…”

“I think I’ll spend the night here too.”

“Okay…”

The long march

The next thing I heard was Ukasnek’s voice. “It stinks in here. What are you doing still sleeping? The Captain is looking for you.”

“How did you get in here?” I asked.

“I walked in. The hatch was open…”

The three of us had fallen asleep in our chairs.

“Where does the Captain want us to go?”

“Outside the facilities main entrance, over there... It’s time to take the soldiers out for their exercise.”

“Can you get hold of a good camera and record our march today. I’ll attempt to do some new maneuvers and I want them recorded. I want to send the recording to Ostikon to show them what we’re doing here.”

“There are some good cameras in the research lab. I’ll ask Enai to lend me one.”

“Good, now go get it and start recording the moment you’re out.”

“I will,” he said and ran off.

“Do we get to eat breakfast today?” asked Ori.

“No. No breakfast today. We ate enough last night. I see all my reserves are gone.”

We left my ship immediately. We didn’t change, brush our teeth or even wash our faces…

“We need to look rugged for the camera… The Whites hate rugged…” joked Delche.

We met the Captain and the others in front of the big door. Before I put the transmitter on my head I asked Enai to turn off the remote transmitter. Having both on at the same time might cause confusion for the soldiers. Enai told me that the remote transmitter was already off.

When I saw Ukasnek pointing the camera at us I said, “Here we go!”

Moments later fully armed soldiers wearing their battle gear began to pour out of every door.

“Why are they armed?” asked Enai.

“We’re recording this march and we want them to look like soldiers, not gorillas.”

“Won’t they be hot with their masks on?” asked Ori.

“The masks are part of their battle gear.”

“Formation: Squares 100 by 100, face me,” I yelled.

“Don’t tell me they can hear you all the way there and they understand when you speak to them in Macedonian?” asked Delche.

I laughed and said, “I’m telling you what I’m going to do. I send them mental images and they do what they see.”

“How do they know what to do?” asked Ori.

“I don’t know? They just do… keep your questions for later. I need to concentrate.”

It took some time for all of them to come out but when every soldier was out of the facility they formed almost 100 squares.

“One of these days we should time them and see how long it takes for them all to come out…” I said.

“I can tell you that from the recording…” remarked Enai.

“Watch this…” I said. “I’ll form perfect squares.”

I could hear the spectators whispering as the lines in the squares began to straighten.

“Rifles on shoulders!” There was a loud “aaaaah” from the crowd as every soldier placed their rifle on their shoulder at exactly the same time and at the exact angle.

“I don’t believe that… Even though I saw it with my own eyes… What I saw is impossible,” cried Delche.

“Watch this: Turn counterclockwise 180 degrees,” I yelled. Every soldier turned counterclockwise at the same time in perfect formation.

“That’s truly impossible… I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t see it with my own eyes,” cried Delche.

“Forward march!” The soldiers began to march in perfect step, in unison.

“That is remarkable… Can they fire their rifles in unison too?” asked Ori.

“I guess so? I’ve never had them fire their rifles. Maybe we can try it… We’ll have them point into the sky and focus on that big planet over there? Would that be okay, Enai?”

“I guess so.”

“Ready: Halt. Ready to fire, aim at that planet. Ready: FIRE!”

Suddenly there was a huge blinding flash; up there in outer space. It lasted about three seconds. It scared the hell out of everyone.

“What the hell was that? Did you record it?” I asked Ukasnek.

“Yes I did! All of it! I had the camera pointing at the planet.”

“I know what the flash was,” said Ori. “Thanks to Mother Nature it happened in outer space.”

“Well, what was it?” I asked.

“The plasma strands from the rifles must have combined at a focal point somewhere in outer space to form a thick, tight plasma rope, like the one your four cannons formed when you simultaneously fired them at the Karon ships, remember?”

“Yes, I remember but how do you explain the flash? Only an explosion could have caused such a flash.”

“Yes, you’re right. The plasma must have hit a large hard object, like a meteor or perhaps some space debris,” explained Ori.