The next morning as Kelly came in for breakfast her embarrassment was clear. Li, Stella, Kaz, Az, Mahmoud and Donny were sitting together as usual.
“Hey Slugger,” Az called out in English to Kelly, “Come and join us.”
Kelly winced and blushed as titters and gasps went through the room. She collected her breakfast and courageously walked over with all the dignity she could manage and sat beside Az. She stared at her breakfast and began to eat the usual goop and fish fritters.
“We hope to leave in a day or so. Kaz and I have to do some shopping and finish our checks. Is that enough time for you to pack up? You can be trained as an officer by the time we get there.” The others held their breath, hoping.
“How long is the trip?”
“I don’t know. About two or three months. I don’t know how fast the ship will go.”
“Are you sure you can fly it?”
“We’ll be struggling a bit for crew. And we need a doctor. Kaz doesn’t feel well.”
“Are you being manipulative?”
“Yes. Am I succeeding? Kelly we need you on so many levels, doctor, Mum, another crew member. That’s another reason I’d like you to come. Usual crew for these is 25 absolute minimum. That’s cargo only and short trips. This is not a short trip. We have so far 11 coming, three won’t be able to help though. Another ship is going to Terra as soon as they can, with a second one following in a sort of tow but we won’t be able to tow because I don’t feel confident enough to try. Just flying this one will do me.”
“Is this safe?”
“Yes Kelly. As we get near to Petislay, I’ll take a pilot on board to help me dock. Landing is the trickiest bit. For some reason, they don’t want people landing spaceships around cities unless they are qualified to do so.”
“How confident are the other pilots?”
“We have three experienced enough to confidently fly these starships and land them. All the pilots know how to navigate. On Oberterk you had to know. Mathew decided to send the two Niseyen medics with the ships going to Terra. If anyone gets sick he said it’s a bit too far for an ambulance. Our ship needs a doctor. He said to try to talk you into coming with us.”
“Are the Niseyen slaves safe to go?”
“Oh yes. Mahmoud came up with the solution. Kaz and I between us know all these pilots. Their names, their planet, usually their city of origin.”
Kelly looked blank.
“Blackmail. Kaz and I got them all together and told them they would be going to Terra, we would be going to Petislay, and if those ships don’t make it to Terra and back, all Niseyen worlds will know where they have been and what they have done. Their families will be shamed, there will be no Niseyen world or world known to the Niseyen that they can go to. Interplanetary arrest warrants will be out for them. They are very rare but in this case are appropriate and would be honoured. The consequence of that is a huge reward if they are turned in dead or alive. By any Person anywhere or any police or military force. Think about it. But if they complete this trip, and teach us how to fly the ships, we will drop them off on a Niseyen world, clothed. They all promised to be loyal and I think they will be. Anything else would be idiotic. This is a lot more than they deserve! At nine pilots on the lead ship and two in the towed one, they will be much better crewed than us.
“What about the other ships?”
“We forgot a small problem. We have only 80 odd fit people left. We don’t have enough to crew the ships. We also need some people here. There is so much to do and so few to do it. There are survivors who need finding. But before we do anything else, we need people. Our instructions are to return with as many as we can persuade to come. And Niseyen military if possible to take over the prisoners. We also had another problem. No one knew where Terra was. We found Paswalda’s ship. We boarded and found his log and the location of Terra.
“How?”
“How what?”
“How did you find his ship?”
“The kids of course. Tasha and Harsha this time. Both saw the ship at Christchurch. Both went exploring and saw it again in the spaceport in the city where you landed. I flew there and Harsha took me to it. It was unlocked. Someone must have been on board when the city was attacked or maybe some were living on board to save costs. Crews often do, especially during a long layover. Hotels are expensive.
We also did a quick detour and picked up some Zeobani that we found when stealing the planes. I wanted to take them with us as crew. Mathew and I are still discussing that. The Cats now know what Zeobani look like and are searching for more and for any Okme or Niseyen. I’m trying to persuade Mathew to let the Zeobani fly some planes around and pick up survivors. Even if they all go to another Island. Or at the very least drop off some supplies. I do see his point though. There are so few of us and so much to do. And we are so very vulnerable.” He sighed.