LIGHT STAR

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS

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A Science Fiction Story

by

A J Kemp

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© A.J.Kemp – 2016  Edition 8E Dec 2018

Introduction

Like life everywhere, “Light Star” is all to do with money and power, so when the only interstellar servicing planet between the old empire and the new expanding frontier suddenly exploded, the economic collapse of the old empire was imminent.

This story is about people just like us, trying to get along and make the best of what happens, most of which they cannot control.

 This is not in a galaxy far away or long ago, this is the next bit of our galaxy a few stars to the left.

Here life spins out in its own web of intrigue, uncertainty and paranoia. People try to do the best they can with the small part of their galaxy they have been allotted. Lives play out like ours only on a somewhat larger playing field.

Here people also want a quiet life and a good job but sometimes fate has other plans. Thus it was that the hand of fate settled down on the head of a data manager called John Harris.

It started with a red flashing mail message on his computer screen.

Chapter 1 - The Journey Begins

Lieutenant Major John Harris was sitting at his desk on the twenty-third floor of the Astor Central Processing Building. He was busy classifying documents for levels of security clearance before entering them into the main archives.

 On his computer screen flashed the mail icon. Normally you have to open the icon to see your mail; high priority mail, however, flashes up instantly in red. The message flashed up in red.

Messenger arriving

 Harris was still looking at the message wondering what it meant when the doors at the far end of the large office opened with a rattle. A courier entered, followed by two of the station’s security guards. It seemed to take forever for the three men to walk the whole length of the room to where Harris was sitting.  

 Naturally, all activity in the room stopped as everyone watched the three men to see where they were going. Eventually, the men came to a halt by Harris's desk. They stood in silence towering over Harris. Not that they were particularly tall, it was just that Harris was still sitting.

“Lieutenant Major John Harris,” said the courier.

“That’s me,” said Harris.

“Identity,” said the courier.

 Harris fumbled out his identity card from his jacket, which was hanging from the back of his chair. He gave it to the courier, who showed it to each of the guards in turn to confirm the identity. The courier handed back the card, opened a small pouch he was carrying and pulled out a yellow envelope with two red stripes around it.

 Up to this point, you could have heard a pin drop in the office, suddenly a whisper went around the room. Messages did not come any more important than yellow with two red stripes. The courier handed Harris the envelope. Harris took the envelope and turned it over in his hand. On the back was an electronic seal. Harris found his identity card again and placed the gold corner of it in a small slot in the seal. It immediately snapped open.

 Harris slid out the single piece of paper. Another whisper started to run around the room as a few people nearby saw the logo at the top of the communication: ‘Grand Council Central Command.'

Harris read the message on the paper, then read it again. It was rather strange.

“Do you know what this means?” said Harris looking up at the elder of the two security people.

“All I know is that arrangements have been made and we are to accompany you to Flight,” said the guard.

Harris looked down at the message again. For starters it did not make sense. The message read:

Message to: Lieutenant Major John Harris

 You are requested by the Chairman of the Central Command Grand Council to attend a special meeting of the Security Council on the 15th of Saganon 29870.

You are to personally bring all information in the data file JHPDF8888

J. C. Batan, chairman of the Grand Central Council.

 Harris stared at the message. The 15th was only five days away and Harris knew you cannot get to Morstan, where the Grand Central Council meet, in five days. A normal trip would take thirty days, if you were very, very lucky and all connections were good you might just make it in fifteen.

“There must be some mistake,” said Harris half to himself and half to the security men, the older one of whom, Harris had already noticed, was one of their most senior officers.

 Then there was the request for file JHPDF888. Now, this was not a public information file, this was a personal file. Something Harris had been working on privately in his spare time. How had central control got to know about it? More strangely, how had they found it?

Harris’s thoughts as he stared at the communication were interrupted by the senior security officer.

“We'll have to go, sir, there was stress on urgency,” said the officer.

“It only says request,” said Harris waving the paper about in his hand.

The senior security officer gave a broad grin and Harris smiled back. They both knew a request from the Grand Council was as good as, if not more important than, a direct order.

“Do I get to go home to pick up a case and get things?” asked Harris.

“We can take you to your Ready Room for a few things but that is all,” said the officer.

All senior officers had what was known as a Ready Room, this was personal quarters where they could sleep if they had to stay overnight and where they kept spare uniforms so they could change if an important meeting cropped up unexpectedly.

The security officers accompanied Harris down five floors in the express elevator to the accommodation floor.

“You wish to communicate with anybody?” suggested the security officer.

“I’m a Bachelor,” said Harris. "So not really and everyone here will know where I’ve gone if I’m needed.”

With the security officer carrying an over-full holdall bag which Harris had thrown as much as he could find into, they all went back to the lift.

The lift doors closed.

So began an adventure Lieutenant Major John Harris could have never imagined in his wildest dreams, or for that matter, his worst nightmares.

Chapter 2 - Morstan

 Harris felt that slight nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach as the ferry shuttle rapidly descended through the atmosphere toward the main space port on Morstan. With a massive reverse thrust from its engines the shuttle came to a stop at the end of the long runway, where it stood silently for fifteen minutes while it cooled down.

In was quiet in the passenger compartment as everyone began to relax after the descent.  

Harris absent mindedly stared out the side window. Through the heat haze rising from the underside of the ship he saw a massive yellow support tractor waiting for the shuttle to cool down enough to be towed.

 His thoughts drifted back over the past few days, he couldn't believe he had been brought here in less than five days. Astor was remote, chosen as a data planet because it was difficult to get to. Normally half the trip was always on a cargo delivery ship which stopped everywhere before getting to Astor itself. On any travel from Astor a you had to allow an extra ten days for missed connections and delays.

 None of that happened this time. A military express courier ship was waiting at Astor's space port for Harris. This took him to Eloin where a postal transport had been held up for two days, waiting for him. The postal craft arrived at Duran one day later where he was transferred in orbit to an empty Hyper Star Liner. This flew at maximum speed to Lux 5 the gateway planet to Morstan. Harris was taken straight to the waiting ferry shuttle for the last hop to Morstan.

A sudden lurch  indicated the support tractor had latched onto the shuttle and it started to move. The shuttle was slowly towed from the runway to the terminal parking apron. The terminal building was simple and plain with none of the flashing lights or gaudy colours of some space ports. This building stated quality and status, befitting the political centre of the Eastern Empire. A waiting passenger tunnel reached out from the building to automatically connect with the ferry shuttles doors.

 Although Morstan was known as the hub of the Eastern Empire, the term Eastern makes it sound as if there are other sectors around it. In fact once there were, these had all been mapped out during two millennia of expansion. A time of optimism, hope and greed which all fuelled the search for new planets. Land and materials were needed to supply an ever expanding and consuming economy.

 New sectors set themselves up and claimed planets and drew boundaries. Slowly, however, the realisation came that it was not that easy. Mining companies paid fortunes buying mining rights to a planet only to find the mineral they wanted was bound up with another element they could not identify, separate or use. Settlers found green planets and cleared forests to farm the land only to find the rains stopped and the planet died. The cost of space travel was also still horrendous and none of these ventures ever made enough money to pay their own costs let alone make a profit.

 All this is well documented in the historical archives on data planets like Astor. Sadly, they were one of the least accessed parts of the archives. Gradually everything retreated back to what was then called the old empire, as it slowly dawned upon everyone that they needed to work together to survive and grow.

 Eventually Central Command was set up on a desolate grey planet called Morstan, near the middle of the inhabited part of the empire. They kept the name Eastern Empire to remind everyone why Central Command was set up.

 The few passengers that were on the shuttle made their way into the waiting lounge for final security and paperwork checks. Harris put his bag down and prepared to sit down for a long wait. Before he had a chance to sit down, however, a large gentleman in a dark blue uniform made his way across the lounge towards him. Although his uniform had no insignia of any kind on it everything about this man said security guard big time.

“Mr Harris, sir, if you will kindly follow me,” said the big fellow without any hesitation or asking if he was Harris.

Harris bent down to pick up his bag but the guard had snatched it up before Harris could put his hand on it. The over-stuffed bag which Harris had been struggling with since leaving Astor was now being carried as if it were a paper bag with a balloon in it.

“You're making light work of that,” said Harris. The big security guard said nothing.

 A very large grey speeder was waiting outside the main entrance of the terminus building. It was parked squarely in the no parking zone. The guard opened a door and Harris got into the spacious rear seat, the guard then put the bag into a stowage compartment, slid into the driving seat and the speeder silently accelerated away.

 Harris had forgotten how fast speeders could go as he felt the big machine gather speed when it turned onto the main highway after leaving the grounds of the space port.

“Are we going to a hotel where I can clean up?” he asked the driver.

“I have orders to take you straight to the Central Command Headquarters, sir,” said the driver.

Harris was somewhat taken aback.

“Who's pressed the panic button,” said Harris jokingly. No response from the driver. "I can see we are not going to have much of a conversation but you could at least tell me how long it will take to get there,” said Harris.

“Two and one quarter hours,” said the driver in a tone that sounded more like an answering machine than a person.

 Central Command was the nerve centre of the Eastern Empire, which consisted of all thirty-two independent regions. These formed the greatest block of manufacturing, trading, banking and businesses ever known in the history of the whole empire. Trading and shipping were their economic backbone and they relied on expansion in to a new frontier opening up beyond the barren area known as the fifth sector.

  Suddenly, however, the route to the frontier planets was cut off and the economic downturn was causing political, social and domestic unrest.

 To try to stabilise the situation Central Command took control and provided the administration and communication services for nearly the whole empire. This was all controlled by the Democratic Council of Leaders.

 The Central Command Headquarters was the main government building on Morstan where all the top brass from the planetary councils had their staff and consulates. Because of its importance it was also the control centre for the military command. At this moment in history it was the most important place in the whole empire.

 Harris looked around the inside of the speeder, he pressed the remote selector of the Vidicon unit, a small remote-control gadget slid into the palm of his hand. He pressed a sequence of buttons flipping through the channels, images flashed across the Vidicon screen, there was nothing worth watching. He switched the Vidicon off and settled back in the deep comfortable seat. Harris looked at the view outside the window as the barren landscape of Morstan slid by. Although they were travelling extremely fast, probably in excess of three hundred miles an hour in old money, the landscape, because of the vast distances, seemed to be travelling by very slowly.

 Little vegetation grew on Morstan and what did blended in with the grey and brown colour of the rocks. Two of Morstan’s moons were beginning to show in the sky, which meant they were heading to the dark side of the planet. As the light grew dim Harris again reflected on what he was doing here, rather not what but why he was here. He had been brought half way across the galaxy at what must have been a great cost, and even now he had not the faintest idea why.

 Harris had been born on the small planet of Darron Hafla the tenth planet of the Paric51 system. It was a planet where not much happened apart from a bit of mining, so it was every young man's ambition to become a space pilot and leave Darron for good. Well, the second part he had achieved. As to the first part, he had passed the exams to the Academy for cadet training on Buron, the largest and most important planet in the Paric51 system.

 In his first year there he did average in his exams and training but much to his surprise he found himself missing Darron. He was not one for sport as Darron had not been that sort of planet. So to keep himself occupied in his spare time, of which there seemed to be rather a lot, he began to organise the academy’s electronic filing and library system. These systems seemed to have been in something of a mess for the past two hundred years.

 His second year in the academy he might have gone as unnoticed as he had in the first, he was only of average ability and kept a very low profile. This situation, however, was to change as people in high places began to notice he had been fiddling the filing and library system.

 Harris found himself in front of the academy principal and its full board of governors explaining what he had done. He had been working on the library and filing systems without any authority and getting access to places in the system he should not have had access to. He explained simply and in not too much detail what he had done, but still he could see by the expression on the faces of his audience, all but two, had not the faintest idea what he was talking about.

 On finishing his explanation Harris expected to be thrown out of the Academy. After some conferring the Academy principal began to speak saying how for the first time in his many years at the Academy he had never known the library and record system function so remarkably well. The principal continued saying that for this work done completely in his own time Harris was to be awarded the medal of honour. The highest award the Academy could offer

 Not only that but he had been requested to go the to the Strauus Academy on Trune to sort their administration systems out. This was the most prestigious cadet academy in their sector. With a generous financial package and permission to continue his pilot training at Trune, things suddenly looked very bright for Harris.

 The light was fading outside the speeder. The rocky landscape was giving way to a shadowy patchwork of moonlit mountain edges and dark long shadows. A point of light here and there indicated where a small settlement or prospector was trying to scratch a living in the barren wilderness.

 Harris passed his pilot’s training at Trune, only just, in his third year. It seemed, however, his ability as a systems organiser were more valuable than his slightly below average ability as a pilot. This was why he found himself on board the Star Transit Eller Rose, heading toward a very well-paid job as a systems organiser on Deta Centureen. A journey he was destined never to complete..

 Harris’s thoughts were interrupted as the speeder suddenly slowed down. They were approaching what looked like a wall placed across the road in front of them. As they got closer an electronic sign with red lettering flickered on saying 'slow access control point Alpha'. The driver pushed a switch on the dashboard of the car. A small control panel lit up, he touched a sequence of numbers on the dimly lit screen.

 A large door of a similar colour to the wall and full width of the road slid slowly back. This revealed that the structure was not a wall but a building with the road going through the middle of it. Cameras eyed the speeder from all directions. The driver slowed down to walking pace as they entered the entrance of the access control area. He pulled to a halt near a glass fronted office. Opening his window the driver handed some documents to a uniformed guard. A few moments later an inner gate of the building opened and the speeder accelerated again into open country.

 Once they were past the control building Harris could see the Central Command Headquarters in the distance, it did not look very impressive. This was the headquarters for the entire Eastern Empire, some two hundred and twenty sector governments representing over nine thousand inhabited industrial planets.

 Harris had not known what he had been expecting but whatever it was, it was more than this. Although it was almost dark outside the whole place was so well lit he was not missing much. The building consisted of three round accommodation towers each slightly taller than the next, these surrounded what looked like an upturned pudding basin. Apart from a huge communications tower stretching up into the blackness of the sky, there was nothing particularly unusual about the building.

 Having made this initial assessment of the building Harris was rather surprised when the speeder began to accelerate again, picking up speed rapidly. Harris had not realised when he caught that first sight of the building just how far away it was.

 It took another twenty minutes travelling at some speed before they were approached the large entrance portal of the building that was now towering over them like a small mountain. The speeder gave a slight lurch as it went through an air curtain into a large cavernous arrival bay. It stopped by a huge glass wall where an attendant opened the speeder door. Harris stepped out as pair of glass doors silently opened. Harris was ushered into the main reception hall by the attendant, the driver followed with his bag.

 As Harris walked into the foyer of the building he mentally turned back the pages of his memory so he could delete the phrase, 'not a very impressive building', he was impressed. Stunned was probably a better word, whatever superlatives Harris could come up with this was it. What you would simply call amazing.

 Suddenly a surge of excitement ran through his body. He was here at the very hub of the Empire, somewhere he thought he would never actually see for real, only hear about on his distant archive planet.

 The foyer was very large and completely circular, all the activity and passageways were arranged around the outer curved wall of the foyer. In the centre of the foyer was a circular opening. This took up about half the area of the floor and was surrounded by a glass and steel balustrade. Harris walked across to this but as he did so his gaze was attracted by some lights above. Looking up towards the ceiling he saw there was a similar round opening in the ceiling. Through this, he could see the circular opening running through several floors above to where it stopped at a glass roof. This roof Harris realised must be the top of the pudding basin structure. Through it he could see the lights of one of the three round towers reaching upwards to the night sky.

 Harris at this point should have stepped back, or at least looked across the foyer to adjust his eyes before dropping his gaze down through the opening in the floor.

Where the circular opening in the ceiling above stopped several floors above him at the glass roof, the openings in the floors below just did not stop. They simply went down and down and down until they disappeared in a dot. Harris was beginning to get a little bit giddy at the height when he felt a firm hand being placed on his shoulder. This brought his senses and feet firmly back to the floor.

 Harris turned to face a rather well dressed young man in dark trousers and light blue jacket, he had clean features and close cropped black hair. On the top pocket above his identity tag was a modest amount of gold braid.

"Don’t think of jumping,” he said.

"I bet it would cause quite a mess falling that far,” said Harris.

 " Oh it is not that, as soon as anything falls over the edge of the rail safety nets shoot across. You would fall about three metres. It’s just the amount of paperwork you have to fill in afterwards. I am glad you were able to get here in time, Mr Harris,” said the young man.

“ Well somebody did some incredible organising to achieve it,” said Harris. “Was that you.”

"I think there is a special department for that.” said the young man. “My name is Peters Groszomaydu by the way but everyone calls me Peters as my second name is almost unpronounceable unless you are from Gradus 9. I am your personal liaison officer for the time you are in Central. I am afraid now I will have to whisk you straight off to a very important meeting which is just about to start,”

“It's the middle of the night,” Harris protested.

“A porter will take your bag to the room where you will be staying, if you will follow me we will go to the meeting,” said Peters.

It seems Central Control people don’t listen to what you say, thought Harris.

“I am sorry it is such a rush,” said Peters marching off around the foyer. "But the people at the top think it is important you should attend this meeting. You will not have to say anything yourself but what is said there will be significant to what you will be possibly doing."

“Do I get any hints as to what this is all about?” said Harris jokingly as the turbo lift descended for what seemed like forever into the depths of the planet.

Peters did not reply.

 The doors of the turbo lift opened onto a circular landing area with passages leading off in various directions. Harris followed Peters a short way down one of the passages then through a pair of double doors. They entered a round room with a round table in the middle of it. These guys at central loved round.

 The room was surrounded with cupboards and alcoves. Peters opened a pair of doors on the opposite wall: they opened into a wash room. He told Harris to wash and shave while he got a fresh uniform for him. Harris told Peters his other uniform was in his bag somewhere at the other end of the building and probably rather crumpled.

 As Harris stripped to have a wash, Peters simply announced that they had made a new one for him. In the mirror, Harris saw Peters open a cupboard and take out a hanger with a brand-new uniform still in its paper dust cover. As Harris dried his face he picked up a new clean shirt that had been put on the table. They even knew his size. Harris started to put on the shirt as Peters ripped the paper cover off the new uniform. Harris gave a little smile as he saw they had even stitched his name on the pocket, just underneath the small row of medal ribbons. Medal ribbons! Harris looked at the rest of the coat and his jaw dropped wide open. Harris stood for a moment unable to speak, he looked at Peters.

“You've brought the wrong man half way across the galaxy,” said Harris.

 The uniform was for an Admiral Fleet Commander.

 Feeling rather conspicuous in the new uniform, Harris followed Peters back down the passage and into another passage then into a large council chamber.

 The room was again almost perfectly round with a low ceiling and doors spaced at intervals around the sides. From these doors were coming groups of people who were making their way to large comfortable chairs placed at a large round table in the centre of the room. This table formed a huge ring around a central space, where a glass floor glittered with a star map of the Eastern Sector of the galaxy. As each delegation sat down in its allotted position at the table, a light on the star map illuminated where their home planets were.

Above the star map, about half its size and just above head height, was a black circular steel framework full of shapes and lenses. It was hard to see any of the shapes individually as no light fell on this object, it was obvious, however, that nothing was said or done in this chamber without it being recorded photographed and videoed for the records.

 Peters ushered Harris to a chair, which was set back from the table as a kind of offset second row. Harris recognised some of the people who were beginning to take their places at the table. Faces from old news telecasts, report papers and biographies from the files in central records. Some were important leaders, some successful military commanders, some respected politicians, a few were elders and what you would call clan chiefs. Even in his commander’s uniform, Harris was probably the lowest ranking person in the room, even the secretaries putting out the electronic pens probably out ranked him, thought Harris.

 A hush fell over the room as the chairwoman opened the meeting. The usual pleasantries and formal opening were dealt with and the members registered one by one as the well-practised routine was entered into. Harris paid little attention to this, preferring to look at the curious mixture of races and people sitting around this table, many of which Harris had never actually seen before.

 As some international treaty was being discussed Peters nudged Harris and quietly pointed to the translator unit hanging on a hook just below the arm of the chair. Harris unhooked the unit and placed it behind his right ear where it sat quite comfortably. There was a small tingle as it switched itself on and the electrical nodes made contact with his inner ear. The speech being made by one of the delegates came through into Harris’s thoughts crystal clear.

The translator units were interesting affairs, they were completely computerised and fairly accurate but not one hundred percent. Harris spoke about thirteen languages and had used translator units since his school days, somehow they seemed to be selective. If you knew the language your own hearing took precedence over the sound from the translator, if you did not know the language spoken the translator sound came to the fore. It was probably nothing to do the unit, just habit from long use, your brain knowing which sound to give the most importance, like listening to someone talking in a crowded room.

Another tap on Harris’s arm and Peters nodded to a person five chairs away to the right.

“As you are aware gentleman,” the voice started. Although the person talking was only five spaces away the sound damping in the room was so effective that it was only through the translator unit that Harris heard his voice.

"The sudden destruction of the planet Rigadoon has cost us dearly and it is not only the economy of the Eastern Sector that depends on re-establishing a trade link with the new frontier worlds, the unity of the empire depends on it. To do this we need to re-establish, as we all know, a staging planet capable of servicing trading fleets and liners. I know most of you are equipping survey fleets to send into sector five to try and find such a planet. I do not think that any of us doubt what a huge task that will be or the enormous odds of finding such a planet. Especially in time to prevent recession and the subsequent collapse and break-up of the Eastern Federation.”

 The speaker paused. This was all background knowledge as everyone around the table knew the odds, but also the profits to be gained by being the first to find such a planet. They were all expecting something. The speaker continued.

“Today the Central Committee requests the cooperation of all members to commit support to the search we intend to undertake with the Light Star Project.”

An almost embarrassing silence fell on the members around the table, some were grinning others shaking their heads.

“I am not asking for your money gentleman,” the speaker went on. "Simply your commitment to send your fleets to any such planets that we find using the Light Star.”

A light went on across the table, and a large serious looking man spoke slowly in Yeshnees; the translator kicked in.

“If this was not the central forum of the grand council I would suggest you were joking.”

Another light went on.

“I was under the impression that project was dead in the water along with the crews you sacrificed.”

“The project—” said the original speaker.

 “The project was a disaster,” shouted someone without pressing their communications button.

“The project has been rescheduled,” said the original speaker, starting again in the measured tone of someone who was expecting opposition but determined to continue. "Successfully and with a volunteer crew.”

“You say successfully.” The measured voice came from a light at the far end of the table. "Are you saying the system has been successfully operated?”

"Is it true the rumour that Raftos has been put in charge?” a Turlean chipped in.

The debate was suddenly beginning to get interesting; Harris had heard of Raftos.

“If that is the case how can any of us support it,” said another voice.

“I am not interested who is in charge.” The measured voice that came from the far end of the table spoke again “Are you saying the project is successful, for if you are, we all know the what implications of that mean.”

“I can confirm there has been a success with Light Star, not yet as far as the fifth sector but there seems no reason to think that goal is beyond its capabilities.”

A light went on half way down the table. A Durian spoke. "Why bring in someone like Raftos? The man is a pirate so who is to say he will not sell the information he gets to the highest bidder?”

“We will have our man with him the whole time,” said the original spokeswoman “Perhaps Mr Peters Groszomaydu will explain.”

Peters later explained to Harris she pronounced his name perfectly.

 Peters leant slightly forward and pressed one of the buttons on the table in front of him. A microphone embedded in the table picked up his words.

“There are two aspects to this project,” stated Peters. "Firstly, as is well known the project was abandoned. It was Raftos who approached us to resurrect the project. He has assembled an interesting team and has it seems met with some success where we had failed. He is aware that the advantages for us are enormous. His price for any success is, well, amnesty and a fat pension, a small cost for us. He has agreed for our man to be with him to report all that is happening.”

"I hope you have a good man,” said the Yeshnee

 “I think we have,” said Peters,looking around at Harris and smiling a smile of complete confidence.

“And what do you think of Raftos,” said the deep voice from the far end of the table. The question was obviously aimed at Harris.

 Harris had to think quickly; Peters had told him he would not have to say anything but he could not just sit there and pretend to be dumb.

“I can only say I have every confidence in the arrangements that have been made and do not doubt the successful outcome of the project,” said Harris.

“A good soldier,” said the deep voice. "Dumb, but a good soldier,”

“Have you met Raftos?” said the Yeshnee

“No but I have heard of his reputation of course,” replied Harris.

 “We lose nothing,” said the original speaker just down the table “The reward for success is enormous, the price of failure: we lose an outlaw and nuisance. Can I simply say at this stage you confirm acquiescence of support for the project? If a successful outcome were to find us the elusive planet…”

 The dark gantry overhead sprang to life, panels lit up showing how the voting was going as each delegate leant forward and entered his vote at their personal keypad on the table. The figures on the screens stabilised and a mechanical voice announced that the result and been logged and recorded, the motion had been passed with only two against. It appeared that there were always two against.

 As everyone left the council chamber Peters congratulated Harris on the answer that he had given to the question asked about the project. Harris told him that he thought he was owed some kind of explanation – to be thrust into a meeting of the grand council and then be asked to comment on something he knew nothing about was a bit out of order.

“Even as a military man,” said Harris, “I am required by regulation to get some kind of explanation.”

Peters put up his hand. "Tomorrow,” he said. "You are tired, it has been a long day, all will be explained.”

 It seemed to Harris no one was going to listen to him whatever he said. However, Peters was right and somehow he had this air of calm that completely defused the resentment that had boiled up inside him.

 Harris followed an attendant to the rooms where he was to stay. He ordered some supper and got out of the uncomfortable uniform.

 Harris sat in a rather comfortable easy chair waiting for his supper and looked out through a large window at the strange landscape. The third moon was rising, the largest of the five surrounding Morstan. Its light was giving a bright white glow to the distant plain, its silvery light was reflecting off a lake or river somewhere near the horizon.

Any excitement about being at Central had now turned into tiredness and fatigue. There was only one thought drifting through his head.

What in the universe was he doing here?

Chapter 3 - Admiral Bainbridge

 Harris slept well and late, and by the time he went down to breakfast in the large dining room there were very few people around. He ate leisurely and slowly while he read through the morning news on one of the electronic readers placed on every table.

"I hope you slept well.” Harris looked up, it was Peters who was just putting a cup of coffee down on the table. Peters pulled out a chair and sat down. "I suppose you want some serious explanations today,” said Peters.

 Harris deliberately took his time spreading the marmalade on his Mallory bread; he cut a small piece off and slowly ate it. Peters sat patiently and sipped his coffee. What Harris wanted, he complained to Peters, was a quiet life, he did not want to know what was going on, as he had the feeling it was going to get very complicated, very political and possibly dangerous.

 Peters told him they were going to meet the Admiral in Chief of Central Command the top man. He would then be taken to see the infamous Raftos. After that, they would discuss Harris's future. Peters also confirmed that since entering the complex Harris's rank had been upgraded to Admiral Fleet Commander, with according pay and privileges.

 Peters handed Harris a pass with his name, photo and new rank on it. Harris had never been promoted over breakfast before. Peters also said that Harris's remaining a commander depended on how things went today. Harris just knew there was bound to be a catch.

 The office Harris was left in was large and filled with expensive furniture, there were two star charts filling one of the walls. Harris sat in a comfortable armchair near the large window which formed the entire wall opposite the star charts. The chair was one of those rotating types and Harris had to resist the temptation to spin round fast and go WEEE EEE. The admiral had gone into an outer office to give a secretary some papers. This had left Harris on his own for a while, making the temptation to go WEEE EEE almost irresistible.

 The Admiral came back into the room and sat in one of the other whizzy chairs near the window. He was in his shirt sleeves and in the morning sunlight he looked like a very kindly old uncle possibly in his early sixties. He was cleanly shaven, had short grey hair and a face that showed he had a great deal of experience and possibly troubles in his life.

"If I was you I would be shouting and screaming protests at being dragged half way across the galaxy without any by your leave or explanation what so ever,” said the Admiral. "But you are not me, which is why you have been selected for what could be one of the most impotent missions ever undertaken by the Eastern Federation. You must have guessed that this was important when you were taken into the General Security Council meeting, but what you will not know is the political background to what we are proposing.” The Admiral paused.

Harris did not think he had to say anything at this point so just sat back and listened.

"You have a very good reputation in the Archive Directorate as someone with their finger on the pulse of history. The reports in your personnel file also tell me you have a sharp mind and are not flustered by odd or strange situations, and that you have a broad knowledge of things. I am afraid at Central Command here we have too many specialists, very good men but face them with a situation outside their particular field of study and they are lost.” The Admiral, who had been looking out of the window while he was talking, swung his chair round to look at Harris.

"Your Academy reports say you are good at solving and fixing problems, and last but not least you have the Imperial Medal. That is what is in your file. However, I am sure you of all people undoubtedly know what is in a file is not necessarily correct. So I have to ask if you concur with that assessment your yourself.”

 Harris thought for a moment before speaking. "I think I would have to, Admiral, which is why I suppose I am in central archives rather than the ranger squadron. However, if this is an exploration mission as was said at the council meeting, would not one of the dare devils of the elite pilot section be better suited?”

"Have you heard of the Light Star project?” said the Admiral.

 Harris said that he had come across some papers on a project of that name. Although he was under the impression it was a transport beaming system that had, in fact, failed to work. That was some years ago and that the project had been abandoned.

 The admiral after another long pause confirmed that the report Harris had read was the official story and was in part correct. What had not been let out, however, was the resurrection of the project. Also that it was one of the biggest secret projects ever undertaken by Central Command.

 The admiral went on to outline the project, all of which was completely new to Harris. It seemed this scientific genius on molecular energy patterns had produced a theory that you could move solid objects through space by causing changes in the molecular pattern of that object. He was given a small grant and set up a lab to prove the idea. Well, it seemed to work. The prospect of being able to beam up from the planet's surface into a space ship seemed about to become a reality. Power was the problem, however, and in the labs they could not generate enough power to move anything the distance needed to get into orbit.

 It is still a fact that the cost of putting anything into orbit is still very high so the economics of even an energy hungry machine looked good. Money was approved by the Central Finance Committee for a full-scale pilot project capable of putting an object into space.

 Well, the costs escalated as they always do on these projects, but the cost of this project seemed to be getting out of control. There were arguments and the usual accusations as the money kept being poured in with no results.

 Eventually, the device was ready for its first testing. It was a fairly big thing and had been built in special assembly hangers at a military base less than a thousand kilometres from where they were sitting. The Admiral nodded towards a distant collection of buildings. The Admiral’s predecessor and a few politicians were there to watch the first test. The drain on the planet’s power grid was noticeable when the device was switched on, and several main generating stations blew fuses.

 The Admiral could remember the day well; everything was battened down for security. The Admiral, a sergeant commander then, had spent a very boring day with a troupe of fifty soldiers at a security post on the road leading to the base, stopping all traffic from entering the region. Because of the maximum security surrounding the project, it was not thought unusual that nothing had been heard from the hangar where the test was taking place. Not until much later that evening did someone of a high enough rank start to ask questions.

 The Admiral was part of the group that finally broke into the building, they found it empty. There was nothing there except for several piles of twisted rubber strips. A machine weighing several hundred tonnes, everyone and everything in the building had just vanished. The robot target station in orbit had recorded nothing, no transmission signal, no activity, nothing. Not one single clue about what had happened remained, there was a lot of speculation but nobody knew for certain what happened. That was when the project was abandoned.

 About two years later, Admiral Bainbridge, a fleet captain now, was in charge of a survey ship in the Tran B18 solar system. They were moving toward the third moon of the fifth planet when their sensors registered signs of organic matter. This was odd because the whole system had been surveyed before and declared void of life and so suitable for mining. The traces of organic matter were followed.

 As they approached the third moon, they found a body in civilian clothing drifting in orbit around the moon. This was a shock. If it had been anywhere near passenger traffic routes or any other inhabited planets it might not have been so unusual, but the Tran system was light years away from anywhere. They managed to get the frozen body on board and sent images back to command control. Two days later they got a reply: the body was one of the people who had been in attendance at the testing of the Light Star Project. Code Alpha One security was imposed and their mission was changed. They were to look for any other evidence of Light Star material.

 Of course, neither Admiral Bainbridge nor any of the crew knew what they were supposed to be looking for. They started scanning for organic material, or as all the crew put it bluntly, looking for bodies. They scanned the moons of the fifth planet and the planet itself, then they moved to the sixth planet – still nothing. They were getting bored of the whole thing when one of the Astro observers noticed an asteroid behaving in an odd fashion just beyond the sixth planet. The asteroid was moving in an ellipse, and flashing some shiny surface every now and then. They went to investigate.

 Stopping within several hundred metres of the asteroid they turned all their telescopes and scanners onto the small hunk of rock. There seemed nothing odd about it, then as it rotated in front of them there was a flash as the sun caught the edge of something on the surface. As the telescopes on board the survey ship were brought to bear on the object, they were amazed to see a large machine half embedded in the surface of the asteroid. As no one on the survey ship had ever seen pictures of the secret project, they did not know that the machine they were looking at was, in fact, the Light Star.

 Somehow it had travelled across the Galaxy. When it was investigated at ground level it was found that it had not crashed into the asteroid. It had somehow fused into the surface, half of it was locked inside the rock a bit like some ancient fossil. There was no sign of other bodies or any of the other missing equipment, cabins, generators or anything from the hanger, only half the big green doughnut of the generating ring. The really odd thing, and the first clue as to what had gone wrong, was that all the rubber seals were missing.

 The Admiral stopped talking as a door opened. A young girl tottered in from the outer office. Her shoes clip clopped on the floor; she was wearing a tight-silk dress and very high-heeled shoes, neither of which conformed to regulation apparel. She was carrying a tray and Harris looked at her as she put the tray down on a low table. She poured two cups of coffee from an insulated pot. She asked Harris if he wanted milk and sugar, and Harris confirmed milk only. The young girl tottered back into the outer office.

"One of the perks of rank,” said the Admiral smiling at Harris. "Do have one of the cakes.” Harris looked at the small plate of cream cakes the girl had put on the table. The Admiral picked one up and put it on a plate. "All artificial but taste wonderful and only ten calories in them.” Harris bent down to take one. "Now, where was I,” continued the Admiral.

 “Well to cut a long story short, it seems the boffins decided the Light Star was not so much a teleportation machine as a jump engine. Something that could jump a space ship across the universe in an instant, although they were not quite sure why. As this was during the affluent times, before the disaster of Rigadoon and subsequent economic collapse, there was money around for strange and secret projects. So the go ahead was given to produce a small experimental craft. A small robot craft was built and made to work. You can imagine the implications.

 “Under maximum security, a full-scale project was started. There was some urgency about the project as there is only a limited time one can keep any project totally secret. Even  top secrets get out eventually. One of this magnitude even more so. Three craft were planned so there would be no hold ups – if one failed for technical reasons another could be ready.

 This was a complex project and although the Admiral had been promoted and was now in overall charge of the military at Central Command, he was not directly in charge of the Light Star project. Costs again went shooting up, so Central Security put an expert team of managers in charge of the project. The aim was to get the project finished and keep costs down. A big argument blew up between the management team and the originator of the project, one Micckleton Jones.

 “Jones was not military and was from the fifth sector so he had no security clearance. That's why he was not in the hanger when the first trial was run. The managers looked at him with great suspicion. He was popular with the scientists who knew what he was talking about, but he was asking for equipment the managers could not pronounce let alone understand. He was accused of deliberately causing unnecessary delays and was subsequently kicked off the project.

 The management thought they had got all they needed from Jones and were confident about their work. Eventually, a crew went aboard the first ship and it was switched on. Just as expected the ship and all attached equipment vanished. Unfortunately, it never came back, all communication was lost and it was never heard of again.

“Well to say all hell broke loose would be putting it mildly, people were fired, arguments and accusations were flying everywhere. Suddenly in the middle of all this arguing about the Light Star project, Rigadoon exploded.

“As I am sure you know all too well that disaster stopped all trade between the Eastern sectors and the new frontier beyond sector five. The following recession caused many problems of survival let alone profit. Projects like Light Star were simply abandoned.

 As this was going on, a group of the boffins from the project thought they knew what had happened to the first ship. They had done a lot more work and were prepared to take the second ship with a volunteer crew on a test flight. If that was successful they would try to find the first ship. No one at Central would even talk about the project let alone give the green light to go ahead.

 “Everyone, however, was curious; something had happened to those first ships. No one would take the responsibility to say that they could go, permission was refused.  Everyone still wanted to know what happened to the first ship so the keys were sort of left under the door mat, so to speak. Without official sanction, the crew started the second Light Star.”

The Admiral stopped his story. He was no longer looking at Harris; the Admiral’s gaze was directed out of the window, not looking at the view but into some distant memory.

After a somewhat long pause that started to go on a little too long, Harris had to ask what had happened, had the second ship vanished? The Admiral, as if woken from a daydream, looked at Harris. Slowly he spoke.

"There were some good men on that ship, good friends.”

Harris did not interrupt again, he just let the Admiral have his time of reflection on what was obviously a painful memory. The second ship, it would seem, did vanish like the first. Harris sipped his coffee slowly, it was very good coffee.

 At length, the Admiral continued to explain how the project was then totally abandoned. The facility where the Light Star ships had been built, a small high-security base on one of the furthest moons of Morstan, was sealed off. The whole unit is out of bounds to all except essential personnel. A small group were kept there to maintain a low level watching brief just in case any contact with the lost ships was made. That was over three months ago and nothing has ever been heard from either of the ships, the project was almost forgotten. The third and last ship, although completed, was sealed and abandoned.

 The Admiral stood up out of his chair and took a couple of paces to the large window. He looked out at the vast desert stretching uninterrupted to the distant horizon. Far off in the sky just above the horizon, there were two disks of light, one a pale green the other an orange; these were two of Morstan's moons just setting. These Harris knew to be Tallowine and Seffon, both inhabited so neither were the place the Admiral had been talking about.

The Admiral did not seem to be in a hurry and the morning was beginning to drag so Harris thought he should perhaps prompt the Admiral again.

"I don't quite understand,” said Harris. "From what you say the project was a total failure, yet the General Committee seems to think we were about to send a Light Star out to the fifth sector to look for a new staging planet. There seemed to be some debate about the prudence of this,” Harris said this to the back of the Admiral, who for several moments seemed not to have heard Harris at all.

The admiral turned and looked straight at Harris. "My daughter was aboard the second Light Star.”

The Admiral marched over to his desk and picked up a thick folder then came back to where Harris was still sitting. The Admiral opened the folder at a large photograph, he gave the folder to Harris. "Recognise the face?” said the Admiral.

It was hard not to, the white untidy goatee beard, the untidy sticky out hair, the wrinkled features, the malformed left ear, and the penetrating blue eyes. If anyone had tried to make themselves recognisable anywhere in the universe they could not have done a better job than this. This was the famous, or should it be infamous, Quinlar Serrotos Haptron Raftos.

 Quinlar Serrotos Haptron Raftos had a reputation that was  half legend half fact. His reputation was one of a free-wheeling Buccaneer. Robbing the rich and being generous to the poor, a quick opportunist who would make a profit out of anything from mining deals to small wars. Always seemingly on the wrong side of the law, he was a stateless renegade. There were news stories, Vidicon serials and sound bite stories about him. However, anyone who had bothered to read the public files would quickly realise that most of the things written about him were fiction.

 A petty crook and gun runner, he leapt into the big time by buying a string of mining planets and selling the mining rights. The fact that he did not have the money to buy the planets in the first place was not technically illegal. He moved on, however, to run a protection racket for mining cargo ships crossing near his sector. He now had far more money than he knew what to do with, most of it could not be put in any bank. He started using it to buy up other crooks’ rackets. Gambling, drugs, smuggling, hideout planets. It was these activities that had built his reputation.

 At heart, Raftos was however an adventurer; the money meant nothing to him – he would often jump into a hot spot, a small war, a disaster just to sort it out.

 The Admiral sat down again on the easy chair looking out the window, he leant over the table, picked up the coffee pot and asked Harris if he wanted another coffee.

 The Admiral started talking again, this time with more clarity and urgency, for the events he now described had happened less than eight days ago. Raftos, with a party of armed rebels, landed on Petra, the moon where the Light Star base was. Raftos took over the Light Star installation.

 Alarms bells went off all over the Central Command Security. The moon was surrounded by Star Cruisers, Raftos was going nowhere. But he did not intend to.

 Raftos established contact with the Supreme Command and stated his intention to start the last remaining Light Star. Admiral Bainbridge was in command and filled with mixed emotions.

 Raftos was holding hostages, he could not escape and was unlikely to want a ransom. Why did he want Light Star? And more to the point, how had he found out about the most secret base in the universe? The last question was the easiest to answer. With connections even in central command, with his kind of money top secrets were a tradeable commodity. But again, Light Star was a failed project – surely even Raftos must have known that.

 Then it struck the Central Command that perhaps he did not. Perhaps he thought he was going to steal the most advanced space ship in the universe, that was more like something Raftos would do. The question was, should they tell him.

 They transmitted all the files and data to Raftos on Petra for him to see what had happened to the two previous Light Stars. There was a two-day stand-off while Raftos studied the data, then much to Central Command’s surprise, Raftos put the camera network back on line. From inside Light Star, he signalled his intention to take the last Light Star on its maiden voyage. With a big smile, he pushed the generators into action.

 As expected, the Light Star disappeared from view as the cameras in the construction hanger recorded each moment of the event. Admiral Bainbridge wondered what Raftos was thinking – was he just curious to know where the other two ships had gone? The Admiral had to hold back a tear as he wondered if Raftos would find his daughter.

 Time seemed to move slowly for all those who were waiting, you could almost feel the silence and the emotions. Everyone who was watching and waiting were thinking of friends or family lost on the other two ships. It seemed again that all was lost, then a small static signal seemed to be coming through the speakers. Although it seemed forever, the wait was in fact exactly two hours forty-three minutes, fifteen seconds two hundred and twenty-eight microseconds.

 With a sudden rise in pressure, Light Star Three reappeared in the hanger.

The communication Vidicon monitors flickered online again and there, in the middle of the screens, was the smiling face of Raftos. With that big grin on his face.

Despite themselves and all the circumstances that had unfolded, the hostages at the research lab and the people at Command Control Centre could not help but give a cheer.

"Now,” said Raftos over the communication link, "we can negotiate.”

Chapter 4 - Raftos

 Harris was in the main canteen again, this time enjoying a very large lunch, much to surprised looks from other diners who were enjoying a leisurely afternoon tea.

 Harris had been with the Admiral for over five hours and was starving. He was halfway through a double helping of treacle pudding when he saw Peters coming across the canteen towards him. Was it a habit of Peters to spoil people’s meals? Peters sat down at the table and asked how it went with the Admiral.

Harris did not want to spoil his meal by talking, but saw this as an opportunity to get some answers from Peters, who was effectively his captive until Harris had finished his pudding, coffee and two cheese biscuits. Harris told Peters the meeting had gone well and he knew what was going on, but still did not know why he had been selected. Harris looked at Peters directly. "Why me?” he said.

Peters leant back in his chair and smiled "OK,” he said "You realise we have not had much time to look for anyone. We had a whole galaxy of personnel we could call on. We needed someone who would be best suited to go on a stupidly dangerous mission and still be relied upon to come back with the information we wanted. We had to make quick choices, officers, none specialist but widely read, preferably pilots.

 Yours was one of about a hundred or so names that popped out of the computer. You were close enough in distance and your file record was excellent. It seems you were also the hero of the Eller Rose incident, for which I saw you got the Imperial Medal.

 I have to say it is an honour to meet someone with that, it is one of the highest honours there is and I would love to know the full story behind it.”

“Well not from me.” said Harris. ” I spent two years in therapy recovering from that incident and that is why I chose to have archive job with my feet firmly planted on the ground. And before you try and look all the files about it are classified.”

“ Point taken.” said Peters.

 A girl came across the canteen and gave Peters a coffee and a small message pad with a note on it. Peters read the note, keyed in his acknowledgement and handed the pad back to the girl who then went off.

"Where was I,” Peters continued.

Harris had finished his treacle pudding and now started slowly on the cheese and biscuits.

"The Admiral pruned the list down to about twenty, we were given instructions to call all the candidates in for final selection. Four we could not get in contact with for various reasons. One had died, so it came down to a selection of fifteen.

"So the choice came down to being available and not dead,” said Harris half jokingly.

 "Not quite,” said Peters “I was not a party to the final choice. I only know certain people must regard you highly. It is a privilege to be selected for such a prestigious mission.”

 Harris looked at Peters. There was nothing he had heard so far that indicated anything but a rather dubious mission, with a rather dubious outlaw, leading a band of who knows what, in a ship that had shown itself as reliable as a broken bread knife.

 Harris felt Peters was not telling him the whole truth. He had not mentioned the file he had been told to bring, nor the enormous dash across the galaxy. Harris had not been close. There seemed to be no other candidates. Perhaps Peters did not know the whole truth, that would seem likely. He was very much one of the diplomats, he did as he was told and was nice to everybody.

 As Harris slowly stirred his coffee, Peters let his guard drop slightly, and told Harris that he would like to have gone on this mission himself, only he was never in the running. If the mission was successful, the crew on board would go down in history. Harris asked about the crews that had died. Peters said, rather cynically but truthfully, that only successful missions were remembered.

 Harris finished his lunch and Peters asked Harris if he was ready to meet Raftos. Harris expected to be taken to the moon of Petra where the Light Star base was. Much to Harris's surprise, Peters told him Raftos was, in fact, at this moment waiting for him twenty floors up in this very building.

 Harris doubted if there were many people in the building who knew that.

 Harris stood looking out of the large office window. The room was exactly like the Admiral’s office overlooking the wide sweep of the desert, or would have been if one of the large round tower buildings had not been in the way.

"Couldn't they have given you a room with a view?” said Harris.

"They are being nice to me but they don't like me,” said Raftos.

 Harris turned to face Raftos. The face was exactly as the one on the photograph. The clothes were untidy and baggy, regulation flying boots on his feet with non-regulation trousers bunched up and tucked into their tops. This was not a man who cared much for his appearance. He wore a long grey-green roughly knitted jacket that went down to his knees concealing some kind of weapon on his side.

"So,” said Raftos at length,sitting on the edge of a large desk near the rear wall.

 The two men were eyeing each other up like boxers waiting to see who was going to make the first move. Knowing Raftos was a natural attacker, Harris decided to get in the first move.

 Harris asked how Raftos had managed to get the Light Star to fly when the first two had failed. Raftos parried saying it was a good question but that Harris was not the first to ask that. Raftos then shot a question that shook Harris completely. He asked Harris what he had been thinking when he started to prise the latch open in the engine duct on the Eller Rose.

Harris looked straight into Raftos's blue eyes,then rather crossly asked if Central had given Raftos his file.

 Raftos got off the desk and went over to an automat machine and selected two long measures of Sluggit, a rather strong alcoholic drink favoured by maintenance crews. He put one of the drinks down on the desk and then walked round to the big swivel chair behind it and sat down He waved his hand indicating that Harris should take the drink and the chair opposite.

 Raftos swivelled from side to side in his chair, saying you could not help wanting to do that when you sit in these swivel chairs. They both smiled and Harris relaxed.

 Raftos told Harris that he had not been given his personnel file. They did not in fact have to. For despite what that twit Peters may have told him, it was Raftos who had requested Harris to be Central's representative. He had also been prepared to wait the five days for him to arrive here. Harris now understood why he had been given first class passage and a Hyper Star Liner been delayed to wait for him.

 Raftos said there were three reasons why he wanted Harris as Central's representative on the voyage, all of them, he added, selfish.

 Firstly, Harris was the king of data with a reputation wider than he probably realised. He ran one of the archive planets and knew all about data systems. There was a vast pool of information out there if you knew how to find it, Harris knew how to find it and also had the keys.

 The second reason was that he knew Harris was a neutral character, he worked for Central but he was not, as they say, a company man. Loyal but not with the unquestioning loyalty of say, Peters, who would put Central's orders above everything else. You, Raftos continued, work away quietly within the system, subverting it to your own ends when needed.

 Harris was going to protest at this suggestion, but Raftos put up his hand. Raftos smiled and told Harris he had in fact taken a keen interest in his career.

 Raftos saw in Harris's face there was puzzlement at this statement. He anticipated what Harris was thinking and put his thoughts into words.

"Why should an infamous bandit, cavalier of the solar system, be interested in a library clerk tucked away on an archive planet behind a third-class sun. That, dear chap,” said Raftos “That is the third reason I want you on this mission.”

Raftos paused and took a long drink from his glass, and Harris had finished his drink. Raftos asked Harris if he wanted another. Harris certainly did – this interview was not what Harris had expected.

Raftos was enjoying talking, and Harris was wondering what he was going to say next.

 It seemed that a long time ago they had met, although only briefly. Raftos was apparently, like Harris, from Darron Hafa. They both had gone to the same school but Raftos was four years older than Harris. The lower students did not have much to do with the older boys. Raftos had, however, noticed Harris, a quiet shy boy who seemed to be bullied quite a lot. It was an incident in the local town, however, that had brought them into contact.

 A travelling show was in the town and this was a big event in a place like Piccard. Everyone had come to town. Raftos was in town near the main store picking up supplies when he noticed some six or seven drunken miners picking on some youth, the youth was Harris.

 Harris had tried to avoid the men and started to run away from them. Everyone on Darron knew that miners can get very rough when they are drunk. Harris was cornered and shouted something at the miners who jeered and closed in on Harris. Harris threw something he was carrying at one of the miners, and the miners rushed at him.

 Raftos saw the flash of a knife in the hand of one of the miners and without stopping to think, Raftos leapt across the street and laid into the miners. Raftos was out numbered but had the element of surprise and the miners, in their drunken state, were no match for a young man in his prime.

 Although Raftos took a beating, the miners took the worst of it and it was not long before they were scurrying away with black eyes, broken fingers and bleeding noses. They dragged off two of their number who had been knocked out.

 Raftos was smiling broadly from ear to ear as he picked Harris off the floor. Harris also had taken a beating but had given as much as he took. Harris, wiping the blood from his mouth, thanked the stranger without whose intervention Harris would probably have been killed.

 Harris forgot to ask the name of his saviour and never saw him again. Harris’s father, however, did make an effort to find out and discovered the youth was from a farm at the far end of the valley. He also found out that the family was about to be evicted from their farm; a bad harvest meant they could not afford seed for the next year’s crop. Harris's father sent them the seed with a small thank you note. Raftos had never forgotten that generous gesture and had kept an eye on Harris's career ever since.

Harris sat back in his chair, forgotten memories flooding back; it was all a long time ago. Looking at Raftos across the desk, who was still smiling, he could see the same smile as the young man picking him up off the ground in that dusty street many, many years ago.

 Harris was lost for words, all he could do was thank Raftos again for the intervention all those years ago, for he certainly would have been killed. Darron was a rough planet and the odd murder after a drunken brawl was not uncommon. Harris had not known about his father's gift to the Raftos family.

Raftos did not exactly say he was paying Harris back for that generous gesture of his father all those years ago. He was, though, giving Harris the opportunity to join the most exciting mission of the century. Not only to find a new gateway planet in the fifth sector, but also to be in on the launch of the Light Star. One way or the other this was the cross roads of history, and Raftos was offering him a part of it.

Harris did not have to go, Raftos was simply giving him the opportunity. Raftos said he would understand if he did not want to go; there were great risks still with the Light Star. Two had been lost so far and Harris had no reason to think the third might not go the same way. The fifth sector was a dangerous and unknown place. Even Central Command was not ordering him to go, this was a completely voluntary mission.

He did not have to go: the words rang round in Harris's head. He did not have to go, he did not have to go......

 Like hell, he didn't.  

Harris could not sleep. He could not decide if it was just worry about going on this Light Star trip, or excitement about it. There again, it could have been that second helping of treacle pudding he had for his supper. After tossing and turning in bed for a while, Harris put on some slacks and a roll neck jumper and went down to the canteen.

 Harris sat at a table drinking a black coffee. Nothing closed in Central – it was truly a twenty-four-hour place, but at half past three in the morning it was about as quiet as it would ever get. There were a few other people in the canteen eating meals, probably people working the night shift. The canteen still had the full menu available.

 Harris took out his small memo pad. He glanced at the entries to see if there was anything he should do before going off on the Light Star. Scanning through the entries Harris realised what a dull life he had been leading. A depressing feeling magnified by a factor of ten when it struck you in the middle of the night. One of the few small entries reminded him about the birthday of his brother's daughter Emily. Harris looked up at the service shops surrounding the canteen to see what was open; much to Harris's surprise they all were.

 Harris walked over to a gift-type shop where the only assistant, obviously glad of some company, came over to ask if she could be of help.

 The girl's name was Sharon and she was from Saffon, the second moon of Morstan. She was studying to be an archaeologist and worked the night shift as it gave her plenty of time to study. She had to admit, however, that sometimes she did find it a bit lonely. Harris found out all about her family and her boyfriend, who wanted to get into the diplomatic service.

 Harris did not mind listening; it took his mind off his forthcoming journey. With Sharon's help, Harris bought a very special Morstan hat for Emily – with his new rank he could get one of the special edition ones – he paid for it to be gift wrapped and posted back to Darron Hafa.

Harris then went back to his room to try and get a few hours’ sleep. He had a feeling that tomorrow, or rather today, was going to be a very long one indeed.

Chapter 5 - Light Star

 The shuttle circled the first moon of Morstan and headed toward Petra, the furthest and smallest of the Morstan moons. As the dark side crescent of the third moon looped beneath the nose of the shuttle, the small barren moon of Petra appeared in view.

 It was a dark and uninviting place, with no life except the very secret base where the Light Star project and assembly hangers were. The shuttle lurched as it gave a short burn to reach the high outer orbit of the moon. Morstan, far below, shrank rapidly smaller as the darkness of space enveloped the shuttle.

 Harris felt a hollowness run through his body. It had been a long time since he had been in space in this way, aboard a small very basic military craft. Here you felt part of space, not insulated from it as in the big cruise liners, passenger shuttles or space stations. Here space felt close, so close you could almost touch it. The hollowness in the pit of his stomach started to make Harris feel woozy; he had not felt that for a long time, not since the Eller Rose.

 Harris had, in fact, turned his back on this side of space since that incident. He had been quite happy to settle for surface-based life. That incident had certainly left its mark. He began to wonder if he had made the right decision saying he would come on this mission.

 Harris tried to focus his mind on the mission ahead, but somehow, somewhere, it felt bad. What it was, Harris did not know; perhaps it was fear of confronting space again. Perhaps there was something too odd about this whole project. Raftos, the loss of two ships that no one seemed to talk about. A project kept so secret even someone with his high security rating on a major archive planet had not heard of. Something, Harris felt, was definitely wrong.

 He looked across at Raftos sitting in a seat on the opposite side of the shuttle craft. Raftos was watching the pilot. He turned to look at Harris, smiling of course. That smile was becoming annoying.

"It is a while since you have been into space.” It was a moment or two before Harris realised Raftos was talking to him.

"Space, no! I have just come half way across the galaxy, remember, but it has been a long time since I have been in this type of craft, somewhat raw and basic,” said Harris. "On passenger ships, of course, it is not the same; you can almost forget you are in space at all.”

"Tell me what you know of the fifth sector,” said Raftos.

 Harris did not feel much like talking, but it was the first time since arriving on Morstan that someone sounded as if they might listen to what he had to say. Harris, in fact, knew quite a lot about the fifth sector and had assumed that was one of the reasons he was wanted on this mission.

 Harris's posting at one of the main central record archives meant it was possible to see all the available information there was about sector five. He and been studying and collecting all available data, mostly in his spare time, knowing it would be needed if ever the Eastern empire and new frontier were to get together. Harris had never imagined for one minute that he himself would be needing that vital data.

 Harris told Raftos about the general shape of sector five and about areas that had begun to be explored. Raftos was truly impressed by Harris's knowledge of the area and gave the impression he thought this was an added bonus for his team. As Harris and Raftos were talking it began to dawn on Harris that Raftos knew nothing about the electronic data file JHPDF888. The one file he had been ordered to bring with him. If Raftos did not know about it, who then had asked him to bring it and why?  

 Suddenly, through the cockpit window, the moon of Petra rose. The small shuttle cabin was filled with the cold clear light of the sun reflecting from its grey dusty surface. The massive surface had appeared so quickly suddenly out of the darkness because the shuttle was performing its roll over landing manoeuvre.

 As Harris saw the beautiful sight he realised that the sickening feeling in his stomach had gone. He looked at Raftos. Raftos was smiling broadly. Raftos had obviously seen the anxiety in Harris's face as the shuttle left the second moon, and had made Harris concentrate on something else. Raftos was certainly a strange person.

 Raftos and Harris walked from the shuttle docking bay down a long passage to the construction hangers. This gave Harris chance to get used to walking in low gravity again.

 Harris had not formed any kind of picture in his mind about what the Light Star was or what it would look like. This lack of any preconceived idea did not stop the shock, however, that went through Harris when they finally entered the hanger. Pushing open the final pressure door Harris followed Raftos through into the hangar. It was a massive building that seemed empty, then at the far end he saw the Light Star for the first time.

 Space ships had for a long time followed a pattern of sleekness in design, colour and shape, that satisfied people’s inner need for things that looked both safe and well engineered for their purpose.

 Design engineering for the structure of a vehicle made for space travel meant there was absolutely no need for sleek well-proportioned craft. People, however, felt much more comfortable with a ship that looked as if it knew what it was doing. It needed a pointy bit up front in the direction of travel and a bulky end where the engines should be. Pilots liked to sit at the front looking forward, but there was no reason for this – they could be at the bottom of the cargo bay looking sideways, but pilots did not like that.

 So when Harris first saw Light Star, his reaction was to ask where it was. The thing standing at the end of the large hanger did not look in any way shape or form like a space ship.

 Between where Raftos and Harris were standing and the ship were construction supports where the first two Light Stars had been built. These were now empty. Raftos and Harris had to walk past these reminders of the other ships, all the way across the cavernous hanger to reach the machine they were to use.

 It was all very quiet in the hanger and the sound of their boots on the terramatting was all they could hear. In the distance, there was a bright flash as someone on the ship made contact with some welding operation. The flash subsided but Harris could not make out where it had come from.

 The one advantage of walking to the craft was that it gave Harris a good look at the machine. He did have to confirm with Raftos that what they were looking at was, in fact, Light Star and not just its launch pad.

 The strange thing about it was the that it was painted green, and not a very nice green at that. Some bits that seemed to have been added recently were yellow, blue and silver, but the main bulk of the thing was slime green.

 Harris was hard put to find words to describe this thing they were approaching. The dominant feature was a large tube some seven to eight metres in diameter, several hundred metres across, forming a huge doughnut-shaped ring. Strapped to the outside of this were some massive ion generators.  Within this ring, the rest of the structure was formed from a collection of cabins pods and energy cells.

 These pods, cabins, telescopes and long-range scanners were supported and joined together with a collection of tube shaped shafts, which did not seem to have any particular pattern. This central cluster was supported by slightly smaller tubes radiating out to the large doughnut ring, like the spokes of a wheel.  

 High up in this lattice work of tubes, groups of people were adding new parts to the structure. Some quite major work was being done to several of the pods; they seemed to be adding long siding booms and fitting new air lock doors.

 All the new work was being carried out in a slightly more rough and ready way compared to the rest of the main structure, which seemed to have been very well built.

 The new bits stood out because they were not green. Harris could not help wondering if they had just run out of green paint.

 As they walked closer to the machine it seemed to grow larger and larger, towering into the roof of the assembly hanger. They walked under the flange of the tubular doughnut ring, which was held some four metres above the floor on solid rubber covered steel buttresses. They stood for a moment underneath the thing looking up. From here it looked like a solid mass of random crossing girders, tubes and lattice beams all threading in out and through various oddly shaped steel clad pods.

"All very basic stuff,” said Raftos as they looked up at the machine disappearing into the darkness above. For that is what it was, not a space ship, it was a gigantic machine. "No lifts I'm afraid,” said Raftos as he reached the foot of a vertical ladder.

 Harris looked up the ladder and saw it seemed to go up and up forever.

"I did not think we were climbing to the next galaxy,” said Harris by way of a joke.

Harris did realise the climb was not as daunting as it looked. The very low gravity on the moon meant that the height they had to climb would not be much of an effort. A turbo lift would have been nice though.

 As they climbed into the heart of Light Star, Harris could see how experimental this thing really was. All the components were bits and pieces from other ships or mobile surface craft. These were bolted and welded together using the lattice work of tubes and beams.

 Harris noted that some of these connections were held on welded flanges, whereas some were fixed in a loose hole with a substance known as goo glue. These were in positions where normally you would have used a rubber or silicone gasket. This must be something that related back to the original machine, which seemed to have left all its rubber gaskets behind.

 As they got closer to the centre of the machine the number of cabins and connecting passages grew in complexity until it was almost a solid mass of steel and beams. There was an open hatch at the top of the ladder, Harris climbed in closely followed by Raftos.

 The hatch opened into a passage, narrow and not very high. Harris had to duck every now and then to avoid bumping his head on a bulkhead or cable crossing the passage. At the end of the passage was a large room – large compared to the passage, that is. If you were to rent this room in a motel you would think you were being robbed if you were charged six cents a night for it.

 In the centre of the room was a wooden table and some wooden chairs. On the table were scattered papers books and a bottle of Surgon Sluggit.

"Welcome,” said Raftos arriving in the room behind Harris. "To Light Star.”

 "Light Star three," said Harris “And please tell me this is the junior engineer's mess room.”

"This,” said Raftos with obvious relish. "Is the command centre.”

Harris was not quite sure if this was a joke or not. Raftos was smiling, but he was always smiling. There were no computers, no navigation centre, no communications equipment. It was an empty room.

"You have yet to put the equipment in.” said Harris.

 "Come," said Raftos crossing the room to one of two bulkhead doors on the opposite side of the room. He opened the door and went through.

"There is someone I want you to meet.”

 Harris followed Raftos down a short narrow tubular passage and stooped down through the open pressure door at the other end. This door opened into a much larger room, although you would not have noticed as it was packed with all kinds of equipment.

 Some of it Harris recognised from his piloting days but most of it was completely strange to him. It was all exposed and connected with open cables and wires running all over as if a giant spider had been at work.

 The equipment was packed from floor to ceiling, leaving only small passage spaces running between panels packed with switches gauges and rheostats. Half way down the room was an untidy looking youth with ginger hair soldering some wires together with what looked like an old fashioned weld gun.

 Harris followed as Raftos picked his way through the cables and rubbish on the floor to where the young man was working.

"I want you to meet someone,” said Raftos to the young lad. "This is John Harris.” Raftos half turned and lifted his arm towards Harris. The young lad looked up. Close up, the lad looked older than he had appeared from the way he was dressed.

"Spy from the sky eh,” said the lad looking up at Harris. Harris looked at Raftos.

"Spy from central control,” translated Raftos. "Guys so high up they are in the sky.”

"John, this is Micckleton Jones the man who made this all possible,” said Raftos.

The lad held out a dirty hand and Harris shook it. This was the chap Admiral Bainbridge had briefed Harris about. This small thin lad was the one who came up with the whole idea for this machine. As they shook hands Harris found himself trying to think why the name and face were familiar, something other than this project.

 "Everyone calls me Mick or Wire, I prefer Mick,” said Mick.

"That's why you could get this ship to work when others failed,” said Harris looking at Raftos “You've got the inventor on board.”

Mick pushed the plug he had been working on into the panel in front of him. All the lights went out and the panel went dead.

 "Oh slices,” said Mick. "Must be time for a snack, let's raid the larder.”

 The emergency light slowly flickered on, although very dimly. Mick lead the way across the room to another pressure door on the opposite wall. Harris was a bit perturbed by the fact Mick had to use considerable force to open the door. Perturbed not because of force he had to use but because it meant that it did not fit very well. Harris began wondering how much of this ship did not fit very well.

 They went along another little tubular link passage, this one rising upward, it led into a small sleeping chamber, then turning left and down another passage, they entered what looked like a standard space storage module. This, it would turn out, would be their main dining and gathering area.

 It was a long round chamber laying on its side, with storage boxes lining all the walls around its circumference. These places were fine in space but were rather difficult to use in gravity, even if only slight.

 The doors to the lockers on what was now the floor side were covered in terramatting, which prevented damage as you walked on them. Mick went over to some open lockers at the furthest end and pulled out some packages, throwing some to Harris and Raftos.

 "It's nice to have good food for a change,” said Mick pulling out a straw from one of the packs and sucking on it.

Harris looked at what he had been thrown “They are basic rations,” said Harris looking at the labels.

 "Yeah but they're fresh basic rations, not old out of date stuff being sold off cheap, they even have the correct labels,” said Mick

"Where have you been living?” said Harris.

"On the edge,” said Raftos. "Like a lot of people out there, more people than you can imagine, living off the dregs of civilisation, which is why we are here. If the Eastern sector economy continues its nose dive a lot of people will suffer, and suffer greatly.”

"That's not a sentiment I associate with you,” said Harris to Raftos. "You are not noted for being a friend of the people. I assumed you were only in this for the money and possibly a pardon.”

 Raftos shifted a large box across the terramatting and sat on it, then tore open one of the food packs and took a bite of its contents. Mick climbed up the lockers a short way and lay half prone next to an open locker full of food packs. Harris, taking his cue from the others, turned a long box onto its side and sat down on it, then had a look at which food pack would be the least horrible.

"You're a hero,” said Mick, looking at Harris.

Raftos took another bite from the food bar and looked at Harris delicately unwrapping a drink pack. Harris pulled out the straw and took a drink.

"It's an important mission,” said Raftos. "If we succeed we'll all be famous.”

" You are famous,” said Harris. "But if we fail, I'm a natural optimist.”

“If that happens this flight never took place”,” said Raftos. “We have stolen a secret spacecraft and this is a secret mission. We are to seek out new worlds, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

"I assume everyone on this trip is slightly loony,” said Harris.

"Prime qualification,” said Mick.

"I smell food and hear talking, is it private party or can anyone join in?”

 A shaggy mop of ginger hair followed by a brightly coloured shirt put its head around the access door at the far end of the module. Without waiting for an answer, a pair of bright green trousers followed the psychedelic shirt and climbed into the storage module.

"Throw us some goo Mick,” said the newcomer.

 Mick tossed him some packets which were caught very deftly in one hand. The newcomer walked down the module and sat at the other end of the long box next to Harris. He stretched out his free hand and introduced himself.

"Packet Gee C D Looms is my name,” he said with a very strong twang to his voice that suggested his origins were in Skylon system.

"Thought I had better join in before people start telling strange stories about me. They are all true but I do like to be here to protest my innocence.”

 Harris opened his mouth to introduce himself but Packet did not give him a chance.

"We know who you are, old boy, you've been discussed at length, but I'm sure deep down you’re a very nice guy,” said Packet

"Take no notice of Packet,” said Raftos. "As you might guess by the amount he talks, he is in scanning communications, all the additions you see going on outside are mainly at his request. I don't like to say it in front of him but he does know what he's doing when it comes to that kind of stuff.”

"You see,” said Packet. "You can fool all of the people all of the time.”

 There was a noise outside in the passage at the far end of the module; something was coming down the passage and making a lot of noise about it. There appeared at the door two very strange shapes with hard brown leathery bodies and shiny heads with big starry black eyes. There was a pause in the conversation while the beings stood in the doorway.

 Then the first took off his goggles and steel reinforced safety helmet, then his thick heavy gloves. These must have been the people doing the welding on the outside. With a gasp for fresh air, the first chap removed the rest of his protective gear.

 A man half the size now stood just inside the module door. He was a well-built man, not young but not old, and looked very fit. He wore a simple rust coloured tabard over a tight fitting green jerkin, brown leggings, and on his feet he had strange very stubby brown boots. He could have been taken for a Foyd but a lot smaller; his eyes were blue clear and bright, his hair blond. Harris could not quite place where he was from. The second chap had now taken off his protective clothing. He was much larger with deep set brows, but dressed much the same.

"Kimlon and Predling ,” said Raftos to Harris. “Part of my crew from the Monitor, there is not much about space ships they do not know. They are here for the adventure, excitement and curiosity about the Light Star. They do not see this trip as at all risky, even though I've explained it to them enough times.”

 "If he goes, we go,” said Predling the smaller one, pointing a finger toward Raftos . “Raftos, not a daft man, he wants we want. Did we smell food?” He talked in a way that suggested this was not his preferred language.

Mick started throwing some packets in the direction of the two newcomers. They read the labels, kept some and threw some back.

"All fixed outside,” said Kimlon opening a drink pack. “We go maybe six hours.”  

"Well,” said Raftos. “We jump in six hours”

"Jump?” queried Harris

 "Well this thing does not fly in a conventional way,” said Raftos. “So we've got say it does something, and jumping is the nearest word we can come up with to suggest what it does. It jumps from one part of the galaxy to the other.”

Raftos held up his drink pack. “Gentleman, to sector five.”

Everyone held up their packs and toasted Sector Five.

"Well,” said Raftos. “One last meeting with the support guys down below, then bang, we're out of here.”

"I don't like the way you use the word bang,” said Harris.

 Harris and Raftos retraced their steps from the storage module back out of Light Star and down to the hangar floor.

 A group of tables and chairs had been set up to form a briefing area, but nobody sat down. There were charts, files and manuals on the tables, and much to Harris's surprise orange military code files were also there.

 After a short while Packet joined Raftos and Harris to talk to the ground crew. Amongst the various technical members of the ground team, Harris was surprised to see Admiral Bainbridge. He must have come up from Central Command on Morstan just for this last meeting.

 The Admiral shook hands with Raftos and they exchanged pleasantries, then everyone got down to the serious business of the flight briefing. It seemed the Admiral had been personally pulling a lot of strings to try and make this mission a success. There were things on the table that only his direct authority would have allowed outside a military battle cruiser.

 As the charts on the table were unfolded, Harris saw they were, in fact, military charts with much more detail than normally available. These charts had communication satellite positions marked, as well as surveillance satellites and military bases, not only Central's bases but everyone else's they knew about. Harris was slightly surprised to see hideouts and pirate bases marked as emergency landing places. That explained why some of the more dubious colonies in the universe were never raided.

 Some of the technical support team who were with the Admiral started to explain the detail. This was high-level detail, positions of surveillance satellites, communication beacons, patrol positions, what they did and how. Harris was impressed by how candid the experts were at answering Raftos and Packet’s questions – they were holding nothing back.

 Central, it seemed, had been sending high-speed communication relay stations into sector five for some while, this would set up a communications network deep into sector five. This network consisted of relay satellites stationed at set distances apart that could route a signal back to central control almost instantaneously.

 These were military relay stations on military frequencies. Unlike commercial satellites they did not transmit a carrier wave, so could not be detected unless actually relaying a signal, which was always compressed and very short. The coverage was not total as yet, for the system was still being set up. The deep penetration satellites had not yet reached their destinations in sector five, but it was better than nothing. Light Star was to use the top military codes for transmitting data.

 When the briefing was over Admiral Bainbridge again shook Raftos's hand and wished him luck. A sight unimaginable a few weeks ago. The chief crook in the universe shaking hands with the chief law enforcer. The admiral then came over to Harris and shook his hand. There was not much to say apart from good luck and take care. Before the Admiral let go of Harris's hand, however, he took him slightly to one side and whispered in a very low voice.

"My daughter's name is Jasmine Hallow.”

Raftos, Packet and Harris took all the charts, files and communications equipment and placed them on the table in the so-called control room of Light Star. Well over four hours had passed since the generators had been started, so everything was set for the second flight of Light Star Three. The first flight for John Harris, on the still somewhat experimental Light Star.

 Although he tried not to show it Harris was more than slightly concerned. This was all way beyond anything he had been trained for at Trune cadet academy. His pilot's training meant nothing here, they were flying literally on hope, luck and the ability of a ginger haired guy who could be readily certified as a nut case.

 Packet told Raftos he was off to the communications room and then disappeared down a passage. Raftos then led the way into the switch room where Mick was watching the equipment. Everything in the room was now operational, lights flickered and the needles on dials rose and fell. Apart from a low background hum, it was strangely silent.

 The air in the small room was charged with the high voltage electricity from the equipment all around them, this made the atmosphere seem very tense and on edge. This was a purely physical reaction, as no one in the room was particularly excited except for Harris, whose heart rate was certainly higher than normal.

Harris looked at Raftos; he was still and calm, his cool blue eyes fixed on a group of dials on one of the main panels.

Harris took slow deep breaths.

Chapter 6 - The Jump

 Harris stood waiting in the small switch room, waiting for what he did not know. Raftos was standing next to Harris, Mick was sitting on the floor in the corner watching the large panel on the main part of the wall. A small tinny sounding intercom speaker suddenly came to life and a voice came over cool and quite calm.

"Command base control to Light Star, all personnel clear of the ground hanger, you may proceed to launch at your own time.”

Raftos leant forward and pushed a switch near the intercom.

"Light Star to base control,” said Raftos. “All systems are steady, we are ready to make the jump.” Raftos let go of the switch.

The speaker sounded for one last time.

"Base control, good luck.”

Raftos looked down to Mick.

 Mick said,"You can do the honours any time.”

 Raftos moved forward slightly; there was a small square metal cover in the centre of the panel he was standing beside, it had a lock with a key sticking out of it. Raftos turned the key and opened the cover. Behind the cover was a large red button. Raftos stared at the button.

"Here goes nothing,” he said, and pushed the red button with his thumb.

 There was a small tingle in the air as the electrical charge in the room dropped slightly. Then nothing, no bang, no whiz, no flash, no wobble, nothing. It hadn't worked.

"Is that it?” said Harris.

"It's not very impressive is it,=.” said Raftos

"Has it not worked?” said Harris.

"I think it should have,” said Raftos. "It's not easy to tell.”

He stepped over the wires and junk on the floor to a small port in the wall covered by a lock down blast cover. He checked the pressure gauge on it to make sure the outer glass was still intact and then unscrewed the latch. As the cover swung back, Harris could see a mass of stars. Raftos looked out.

"Guess it worked,” he said.

Harris moved over to the port and looked out. The hanger, the fifth moon, Morstan itself, all were gone. A million stars blinked in the velvet blackness of deep space.

 Raftos went over to the main panel and locked the control button but left the key in. Then he pressed the internal intercom button.

"Jump made,” he announced. "Eight hours rest period.” He then turned to Harris. "It's been a long day, let’s get some sleep. I'll show you where you're bunked.”

 Raftos led the way out from the switch room along some passages until they came to one that was widened out in one section to form an alcove. A small bunk had been fixed half way up the wall. Harris’s bag was on the bunk. A small modesty curtain was pulled back at one end.

"Things are very basic on this ship,” said Raftos. "But hopefully, we won't be on it very long.”

Raftos left Harris, who stood in the passage looking at his bunk for a while. Even though it was a basic military steel bunk, Harris was tired enough to sleep almost anywhere.

 He put his bag under the bunk then took his boots off, then  his jacket. The jacket was a plain grey thing he had borrowed from Peters. Harris had decided not to bring his military uniform, especially not that hideous admiral fleet commander one he had been given. As all the crew were civilians, he thought he might be treated with suspicion if he looked official. In fact, the only military issue he was wearing were his socks and underpants. Hanging the coat on a hook by the top of the bunk, Harris climbed in and lay a while on top of the covers.

 The bunk consisted of a folded piece of perforated metal with a few utility covers on it. Harris lay on his bunk a while, he was tired but sleep would not come, partly because he had never been in such an uncomfortable place, but mostly because his mind would not rest.

 Strange noises echoed around the passages like some nightmarish orchestra. Noises unlike anything Harris had ever heard before and nothing he could name. He tried to put the noises down to metal stress as the ship moved and twisted in the cold of deep space. There was no soft padding or acoustic damping, it was like being inside an oil drum. He had never been anywhere so basic since he went camping in the forest as a teenager back on Darron. At least back then he knew where he was.

 Harris rolled over on his back and stared at the bulkhead just above him. He had turned his personal light off, but with the bulkhead lights that ran along the length of the passage, there was enough reflected light to see everything, even with the small curtain closed. The ship’s power system was giving them a small amount of gravity and his restraint straps were quite comfortable, so Harris just started counting rivets.

 He noticed just above his head something he had not seen before: a very simple Vidicon unit fixed in the corner just above his head. He reached up and pushed the on button. Much to his surprise it flickered into life, so he pulled the ear piece down – it was an old unit and the ear piece was attached to a wire. He listened as he flicked through some of the basic channels. Some were too faint, some were broken up, and the clearest was speaking in Surdo – a language Harris had never learnt. He found a channel with nice landscapes being shown to music.

Suddenly, Harris pulled the ear piece out. As it slowly retracted into the Vidicon unit he reached up and stabbed at the off button. Harris sat up, snapped open the retaining straps and let them fall to the floor. He spun round to sit on the edge of the bunk, leaning forward so as not to bang his head. Harris had just realised that if they had made the jump into sector five they would not be receiving any Vidicon signals from anywhere.

 Harris was puzzled – he did not know what to think now. Stuck on a poxy ship miles from who knows where, with a crew who were just one step away from bandits, some of them not even one step. His hand caught his jacket which was hanging on the hook near his bunk, and there was a sharp knock. Wondering what had made the noise, he felt in the pockets. He found the two bars of Hershey he had bought at the central headquarters gift shop. He let one slip back into the pocket and took the other one out. Opening the wrapper, he snapped a piece off and put it in his mouth.

 The mixture slowly melted on his tongue, it was a warm, comforting feeling. If the manufacturers knew how comforting that was at this moment, thought Harris, they would have their advertising campaign sorted for the next hundred years. Harris slowly, very slowly, munched his way through the bar.

 Having finished his Hershey bar, he got back onto his bunk and tried to go to sleep. There were too many things going round in his head for rest to come. After tossing and turning for some time he finally gave up. Swinging his body around and putting his feet over the side of his bunk, he jumped down into the passage.

 He decided to wander around the ship to see what was going on anywhere or see if anyone else was having a problem sleeping. He padded about in his stocking feet so as not to wake any one up by stomping around in boots. This ship was pretty good at echoing any sound around all the corridors. Avoiding any passages with snoring sound coming from them, Harris eventually found himself in the so called control centre. From there he could hear someone was humming and talking in the switch room module. Harris walked up the passage connecting the two rooms. He put his head round the part open door and was surprised to find only Mick in there. Mick was, in fact, talking to himself.

"Do you want some company,” said Harris.

"Oh hi,” said Mick. "Come in, do I take it you couldn't sleep either? Bit of a noisy place this ship,”

"It wasn't the noise, well partly the noise, but mainly the old brain box would not stop working,” said Harris

"Hmmm,” hummed Mick who was only half listening to Harris.

Mick was fiddling with the insides of an instrument panel, he pushed some wires into a connection block and tightened the cover. He stood up, closed the panel and locked the cover down. Mick then went over to a corner where the only small space for movement remained. He sat down on one end of a long box. The rest of the box was covered with packets of food and drink in various stages of being eaten or discarded. Mick picked up a bar of Kloo and tossed it to Harris.

"Thought you'd be getting some rest,” said Harris. "You've been working in here since I came aboard.”

"Had years of rest,” said Mick. "This is the culmination of all those years, rest I don't need.” he paused. "That's a lie, I'd sleep if I could, I'll get a few hours in a bit. It's this thing.”

He waved a hand holding a bar of Kloo in a large ark indicating the whole ship.

"It won't let me sleep, it's got problems. They went for the cheap option when building it, not the good option,” he paused again this time to take a bite of Kloo. "Well to be fair,” he continued, "they spent the good money on the power rings and the tripping generators which were unique and very expensive. What they did do was save on control gear, this stuff.” Mick kicked a panel.

"Good stuff taken from basic military ships but not designed for this kind of ship. Most of the stuff works well but not good enough, and not designed for the kind of navigation this ship requires.”

"Is that why they lost the other ships?" asked Harris, pulling the seal strip off his bar of Kloo. Harris did not want the bar but took a small bite to be sociable.

 Kloo was like a soft fudge with straw mixed in it and it tasted like sweet peaches. If you are interested, you can get different flavours and with twenty-five wrappers a tee shirt with Kloo written on it.

"I don't think the ships were lost because of the control systems,” said Mick. “They were lost because of ignorance”

"Ignorance,” said Harris. "Ignorance of what?”

"Ignorance of how complex the control of this machine is.” Mick popped open a carton of Scuzzy Rice and started eating it with his finger.

"They had the principles,” continued Mick. "I had set those down at the beginning, the principles which of course worked on the test model. However, as we started building these for real I began to realise we were missing something, something important and I could not put my finger on it.”

Mick was talking in small jerks between mouthfuls of Scuzzy Rice.

"I started asking for more and more control systems, I didn't know why at that stage but I had a feeling at the back of my mind we needed them. By this time the cost was spiralling out of control. Men in grey had been brought in to manage the project.

The trouble was I could not explain why I wanted some of this stuff. At that time I had not worked it all out, I wanted to. They were rushing, I wanted delays. They wanted results, I wanted the project halted. I wanted to bottom out this problem, I needed time and space.” Mick paused and even stopped eating.

"Do you know we're not in sector five?” said Harris.

"Oh yes,” said Mick. "We're in a sector just outside Parranadoor, an open bit of space with nothing in it.”

"That's less than three days from Morstan,” said Harris. "I thought we were jumping across the universe. I could have taken a bus here.”

"There lies the trick," said Mick. "Central control probably think we are across the universe.”

"Is this all a con by Raftos?” said Harris.

"Oh no,” said Mick. "We're doing what the other ships did not do, we are being very careful.”

Mick stopped to open another packet of food and take a drink of Koko-Kolo, a sweet kids’drink which is not terribly good for you. There was a long silence. Mick seemed to have lost the thread of what he was talking about.

"You were saying you were being careful," prompted Harris.

"Sorry,” said Mick. “I was just watching the dial to your left – it's going up to the orange band which is about forty-eight thousand megahertz, which is too high.” Mick got up and came over to the panel, he adjusted some control knobs and watched as the dial settled back to an acceptable position.

"That's what I mean about the control systems,” said Mick. "They work but need continuous supervision, they should be all linked back to a central computer system.”

"You mean they are not?” said Harris. "I don't believe it, what kind of ship is this?”

"Experimental,” said Mick, looking up at Harris with a big smile.

This conversation was not doing a great deal for even the small bit confidence Harris had in the project. The whole thing seemed to revolve around this one obviously slightly strange lad.

Having got the wavering dial to drop to an acceptable reading, Mick sat down again and continued eating.

"What's a hero like you doing on this ship?” said Mick quite out of the blue. "Most of this crew are misfits, pirates or Raftos’s old crew. You a hero, medal of honour, good job. I doubt they ordered you to come, not on a stupid mission like this.”

"Raftos requested I come,” said Harris. "He seemed to think he owed me a favour for something my father did for his family when we were young. Although how much of a favour coming on this trip is I am not sure.”

“That sounds like Raftos. His heart’s in the right place most of the time. He saved me from certain death,” said Mick. "That still does not explain why you came, you must know it is a very risky mission. You've got a safe job.”

"I suppose I have not had much time to think about it since arriving on Morstan and meeting Raftos,” said Harris. "Then, suddenly I'm here. As you say I had a safe job. Perhaps Raftos is brighter than I had thought, perhaps deep inside the librarian is still that young cadet entering pilot school. Full of hope, dreams and ambition, still wanting to boldly go where no man has gone before. Who knows. Either that or I'm an idiot for being talked into this.”

"Think I'd stick with the idiot image if I were you,” said Mick. "Less complicated and you can blame everyone else when it all goes bottom up.”

 Harris had to laugh. Mick was right, you could drive yourself daft trying to find a motive for your actions. Mick asked if Harris if he knew how the Light Star worked. Harris told him that up until fourteen hundred hours the previous afternoon all he knew was that Light Star was some failed teleport project, long since dead. After all, it was the most secret project in the universe. As to how it worked, Harris had not even begun to think about it.

 Mick picked up a big marker from the rubbish on the floor near his feet and started marking the wall in the corner where he was sitting. Harris joined him in the corner and sat down on the box. Mick started talking about sub molecular wave harmonics, but Harris stopped him explaining he was a pilot, not a physicist. Mick munched a bar of Kloo and started again.

 Mick drew a rectangle on the wall, saying it was a magnet, he drew the lines of the magnetic field around it explaining that these were stellar harmonics, forming the lines of force around the magnet, these lines of force he explained were created by sub-molecular particles reacting with the matter at the core of the magnet. Harris so far could follow that.

 Any object sitting within the lines of force were affected by the force and remained in place by aligning its molecular structure with that force. If the body moved around the lines of force, the alignment of the atomic structure within the body changed in alignment to reflect this new position, all relative to the lines of magnetic force. Mick paused again until Harris, looking at the diagram on the wall nodded his head.

"If by some means you could make the particles of atomic structure in an object change their orientation,” said Mick, "other than by moving it through the field of force, it would cease to exist in its original place but would exist in the place matching its new molecular orientation.”

 Harris stared at the wall where Mick had been scribbling. He sort of understood, but could not believe it. Light Star changed the molecular orientation of the object, namely Light Star itself and anyone or anything in it. Mick put a cross in the middle of the drawing where he had drawn the magnet, simply saying that for magnet, read universe.

 Harris asked why they had lost the first two Light Stars. Mick looked serious, for the reason lay in the feeling that had been nagging at him during the construction.

 Why he had wanted the project halted. It was not till much later, after Mick had been thrown off the project, and they had lost the first two ships, that he worked it out.

 When finally Mick had that vital time to think, he eventually worked out what the problem was, that nagging feeling at the back of his mind, the problem was not with the Light Star. Mick went back to his Scuzzy Rice and stuck his finger in, pulling it out again he held the finger covered in runny gloopy rice in front of Harris's face.

"The universe,” said Mick. "Is not a magnet, it is lumpy with runny bits and thick bits, bits moving and dripping.”

 A lump of rice fell onto Harris’s trousers. Harris looked at where the rice had dropped. In a soft voice, Harris said the obvious, what Mick had been getting at.

"Those ships could be anywhere.”

A few moments of silence followed. Then Mick suddenly became animated and jumped up off the box where they were sitting. The box was not balanced so Harris found himself slipping onto the floor.

"One of the crew will be here soon to relieve me on watch,” said Mick. "I want to show you this before he comes.”

Harris got up off the floor and followed Mick to the main control panel.

"This, you know," said Mick. Indicating the button Raftos had pressed to make the jump, he continued, “the key’s always in there, no one is going to press it just for fun.” Mick opened the door then shut it again. "This dial is the one to watch.”

Mick pointed to a large dial above and to the left of the jump button. This was round with an arc of numbers on the face. Inside the glass cover, a needle was vibrating slightly and pointing to the numbers halfway up the scale. The bottom few numbers were in an area marked in purple, the top few marked in red, the rest were in a green area.

"This,” continued Mick, getting hold of a big knob under the dial, "controls the input flow.” He turned the knob slightly and the needle in the dial above responded. “All you need to remember is green, we can jump. Purple, the power is too low, red, well if you press the button when it's in red don't forget to wave good bye, we'll be torn apart.”

"Why are you telling me this?” said Harris.

 Mick ignored the question and just pushed Harris a little further down the panel. Mick put his hand on a large black control wheel with ridges around the edge so your fingers could get a grip. It filled Mick's hand, he could only just reach it. It was above and to the right of the jump button. It had a serrated flange like a bicycle chain sprocket against the panel surface, on this flange was an arrow pointing to numbers painted on the panel. These numbers ran around the wheel from number one to number twenty-four. The number twenty-four had been crossed out with a marker pen. The name under the wheel was 'Modular Damper 24'. A loud click sounded as Mick moved the wheel from number two to the number three.

"This is the important one,” said Mick. "It is not like the others.” Mick looked across at the panel opposite where there were several similar wheels marked Modular Damper with a number. "This,” continued Mick, "records all the settings on each jump we make, after each jump this is moved to the next number. To go back to any place we have previously been, we just reset it to a lower number. Anywhere except number one.”

"Why not number one?” asked Harris

"That's the hanger on the moon at Morstan, and it's moved since we left, it won't be there. Nobody knows about this control except you and me,” said Mick, tapping the knob as he let go of it.

"Why are you telling me this?” asked Harris again. "I am an old-fashioned pilot and have not flown any ship for a long time. I don't even really know what I'm doing here.”

"I am not sure why I'm telling you,” said Mick. "Just say I've got this gut feeling that somehow you're the most important member of this crew. If I figure it out I'll tell you, in the meantime don't tell anyone else about the jump back switch.”

"All this is making me hungry,” said Harris.

"Now you're talking,” said Mick and went over to the pile of food in the corner.

Mick threw Harris a bar. Harris told Mick he did not really like Kloo and threw it back and asked if there was any Hershey. Mick rummaged around and the threw a Hershey bar to Harris. Harris caught it just as Predling appeared at the door saying it was time Mick got some rest.

 A few words exchanged, and Mick went out through the far door of the switch room. Harris said good night to Predling and wandered back to his own bunk.

He lay on top of the covers thinking about the conversation with Mick. Harris knew he would not get much sleep tonight.

Chapter 7 - Packets Story

 Harris felt a sudden trembling run through his entire body.

He opened his eyes; Predling was shaking him by the arm.

"Time for the morning briefing,” said Predling.

 Harris sat up suddenly. Thump – he banged his head against the bulkhead. Holding his head down, Harris swung his legs over the side of his bunk. Much to his surprise, Harris found he was dressed. Then he remembered he had not got undressed. He must have just fallen asleep on top of his bunk.

 Harris jumped down into the passageway and stretched, put his boots on, then followed the direction Predling had gone, which led to the control room. Raftos and the others were gathered around the large table looking at the star charts of the sector they were now in.

Packet had done some calculations and Raftos was marking these on the charts. Mick, who was sitting between Raftos and Packet, was scribbling down numbers and working with a small hand computer.

As Harris entered the room, Raftos looked up and nodded to a chair. As Harris sat down he noticed an additional bit of equipment had been added to the room, a three dimensional Navigon unit. This, however, sat in the corner, silent and off, its twin screens blank.

 The scene at the table was rather like being back at pilot academy trying to work out navigation positions by hand on old paper charts. Harris noticed the charts were of an area bordering the fifth sector.

Raftos made a few final marks on one of the maps and drew a line between them. He then explained how they were now going to proceed. They would select a likely area in the direction they wanted to go. Packet would use the long-range scanners to survey the area and then Mick would make the necessary calculations. If the area was deemed to be within the safety factors, they would jump.

 The area selected for a jump would have to be fairly empty, for the calculations needed to make the ship move could never be totally accurate, part of it would always rely on luck. Their main safety factor was the precaution that they were not going to jump further than they could scan; however, that was still quite a long way.

 Raftos said he intended to make two jumps from their current position, here on the edge of sector five, to a point deep into sector five. Their aim was to get to the area where the planet of Rigadoon had once been before it blew up. Raftos moved his finger along the line he had drawn on the map indicating two jump points, and the last point on the map marked as Rigadoon.

 Harris suggested that perhaps it would be too dangerous to go to the actual system where Rigadoon had been destroyed. He pointed out that it would be full of small and uncharted debris from the destruction of the planet. Everyone at the table agreed this was a very pertinent point and Raftos redrew the final line on the chart to end just outside the Rigadoon system.

 Finishing the session, Raftos announced they would make the jump to sector five after breakfast then start to scan for the next jump point. Raftos poured a drink from the bottle of Surgon Sluggit into some glasses for himself Harris and Packet. Mick, it seemed, did not drink.

"To success,” said Raftos.

 They toasted to success. It was a bit early for drinking, thought Harris, but he toasted anyway. Harris did notice the bottle was quite a bit emptier than it had been yesterday.

 They made their way to the food storage area. This was now in part of the ship that did not have any gravity and it was much easier to move around. Harris decided to read the inventory to see what food there was on offer rather than using Mick's random method of opening the first locker he came to. Harris got some breakfast to his liking and anchored himself to the wall near a hydration point. Packet came and locked himself nearby.

"After we have made the first jump,” said Packet heating up a box of food in the micro oven, "I'll take you to the communication pod where we'll scan the next sector. You'll like some of the kit we've got there.”

Harris said he'd look forward to that.

 Harris Packet and Mick watched the dials in the small switch room and waited for the generators to reach operating power.

 Mick had made all the adjustments and they were ready for the next jump. Raftos had disappeared. Harris looked up at the jump switch. It was now on the number four. When the generator power indicator was three-quarters of the way over the green area, Mick unlocked the jump button and opened the little door. He gave one last quick look round at all the dials and the pushed the big red button. There was a small tingle as the power levels in the small room dropped.

 Harris tried to look out of the small porthole as they made the jump but it was all too quick, and he could not tell if he saw the stars jump or not.

Packet pulled Harris's arm.

"Time for us to get to work,” he said. "Follow me.”

 Harris followed Packet through an array of link passage tubes, and as they went he began to realise the ship was far larger than he had been imagining. It would be unlikely he could find his way back on his own.

 They arrived in a large room with thirty percent gravity. This was more like something Harris had been used to. There were computers and screens lining the walls. Standard navigation systems, scanning detectors and communication equipment all looking very modern and ready for action.

 Harris asked why, with all this equipment on board, were they controlling the ship through an ancient switch room. Packet explained this was part of the new equipment he had put on board. There was absolutely no connection with the original ship’s control system, they were totally separate. Nearly all the modifications Harris had seen being done to the machine in the past few days were so Packet could provide Mick with enough correct data to calculate the jump position.

 After Harris had spent some time inspecting the equipment, Packet opened a pressure door at the side of the room.

"Let's go look at the stars,” said Packet pointing through the opening.

 Harris ducked his head through the small door. The door led to a small semi-round chamber. There were two seats and a large instrument panel, behind the seats were the sensing instruments and transmitters. More spectacular, however, was the view in front of the seats. From the top of the control panel in front of them, right over the seats and down to the side access door, was a single dome of plastiglass.

 Harris sat down in the seat furthest from the door. Packet climbed in and sat down. He shut the outer door and then the inner pressure door. Packet touched a switch and with a hiss, the pressure in the cabin was reduced.

 Harris looked around. Nice as the glass dome was, they could not see much, only the dark shadows of the Light Star’s superstructure surrounding them. Packet dimmed the internal light and pressed a button. With a low throbbing sound, the pod began to move away from the main structure of the craft.

 Packet explained this was one of the main modifications; the pod was fixed onto the ship by a long hydraulic arm. This was needed to get the sensing and communications equipment away from the distorting effect of the magnetic jump ring. If you did not scan away from all interference, the readings would be inaccurate. It would also limit the distance the scanners could penetrate.

 Slowly, the pod crept out into the vastness of open space. The stars began to shine like diamonds in the blackness of deep space. It was always surprising the amount you could see with the naked eye when confronted with open space. To the right side of the pod, the stars streaked across the sky in a dense mass which was the Eastern sector of the empire. To the left were fewer stars, fewer points shining into the dark night; there were some dust clouds illuminated from the inside giving an eerie glow like a fog: this was sector five.

As Harris looked at the vastness above him, he could not help feeling that the chances of ever finding a single habitable planet out there were almost nil.

There was a slight judder as the extending arm reached its full limit and locked into position.

"It's almost mesmerising,” said Packet, who was himself looking at the array of stars. "We're isolated here from the main ship. If you want to send a message back to central command, you can.”

"Is that why you invited me along?” said Harris.

"Not really,” said Packet. "I just wanted to get to know you and thought you might be interested in this stuff, I think it is more in your field. We've all got to work together on this trip, the chances of success of slim even at best; if we start arguing they will be zero.”

"I suppose I could tell central we’re alive and about to jump to sector five,” said Harris.

 Harris adjusted his chair to sit closer to the control panel; it was all standard equipment. Harris entered a code and transmitted a ping, a small signal to see if the line was connected. The satellite system was working well, and within seconds a ping returned. Harris entered the short-coded signal and received acknowledgement.

 Packet began to scan the skies towards the position they were to jump to next. Harris used a narrow beam scanner to look for organic life forms. It was always remote that you would find anything this way but there is always a chance.

 The work they were doing was fairly routine so they could chat while they were working. Harris asked how Packet had got involved with Raftos on this mission, as he did not think Packet was the sort of person who would normally hang out with someone like Raftos.

 Packet then told Harris the strange story that had led him to be linked up with Raftos on this mission.

 It seemed Packet had been chief communications officer on a fleet of survey ships operating from a small planet in the Draftor system. A very rich system. The chairman of the committee who ran the survey fleet was a man called Quadoor De Endafelt. A very rich and very influential person who was elected leader of Femmon, the main planet in the system, he was also one of the serving members of the central committee of the Drafdor system.

A distress call was received on Femmon from one of the mining colonies in the outlying systems. Their reactors were failing as the supply of Iridium Fullerite they had been supplied with was contaminated and was burning out too fast. They had only a few weeks’ supply.

 Without the reactors, the colony could not survive. Iridium Fullerite was a valuable material and was usually shipped by a military fleet. However, there were no military fleets within two weeks’ flying time of Femmon, so the survey fleet Packet was on was ordered to take the cargo. Security was tight and the fleet took off on an uncharted route; there should have been no problems.

 Three days out they were attacked by pirates. The five small outlying ships were attacked by guided missiles, the sixth ship, the largest, the SV Kimble and the one carrying the cargo, was spared. Survey ships carry limited weapons and they were no match for the fully armed pirate vessel when it closed to board. Some resistance was put up but mostly it was slaughter as the pirates swarmed aboard. They took the cargo and took the few surviving crew members prisoner, to interrogate. Packet was one of those prisoners. They all knew their fate, prisoners were not kept – they were witnesses, but worse from the pirate's point of view, prisoners needed feeding.

 They were split into groups, and Packet was kept with a group of the very badly injured, probably because the pressure suit he was wearing was covered in blood. Perhaps only he knew it was not his. Suddenly there was a commotion and the prisoners were pushed down a passage. Packet saw a pressure door in front of them, and knew what was going to happen. He decided it would be better to go fighting than like this; he would make a dash for one of the guards and grab his weapon.

 Just as he was thinking this he felt a stab on the back of his neck; he had been struck by something hard – the butt of some kind of weapon. Packet stumbled and fell to the floor. He was dragged to his feet half dazed. They were pushing him through the pressure door. Packet grabbed the side of the door. He felt another blow as something else hit him in his stomach. He doubled over clutching his stomach, falling backwards into the air lock. Packet looked up to see who had hit him. As he did so, he found himself looking into the face of a girl. Apart from the dirty face and scruffy hair, it was a very beautiful looking girl.

 The pressure door was slammed shut. At least, thought Packet, I die thinking about a beautiful girl, how very appropriate that was.

 In the moment before the outer pressure door opened, Packet realised he was still holding the hard object that had been so forcefully banged into his stomach. He looked down and was somewhat shocked to see he was holding an emergency pressure hood. Instinctively he felt at the back of his neck. The seal at the back of his pressure suit had been closed. Something that can only be done with a special tool or, a sharp blow. There was a loud click as the seven latches on the outer hatch withdrew. Packet jammed on the hood as the door slid open and the pressure threw everyone into open space. In a way, it was fortunate that Packet’s companions were so badly injured – they knew nothing of what was happening. As he drifted away, Packet saw the engines on the pirate vessel fire and the large ship quickly disappeared.

 It was some time before Packet’s senses came back to him and he started thinking again. He then realised that the pirate ship must have been frightened off, possibly by a battle fleet approaching, as they had not stopped to destroy the SV Kimble. The ship stood hanging dead in space, its pressure doors open, its hazard lights flashing.

 Packet reached into the pocket of his pressure suit and pulled out a small flat container that just fitted into the palm of his gloved hand,  a small emergency jetter. Shifting his body to align the mass of his weight with the SV Kimble, which looked further away than it was, Packet gave a quick press on the button of the jetter. A high-pressure jet of helium dissipated into space as the reaction took him towards the crippled space ship. Three bursts on the jetter placed Packet at one of the open air locks. He closed and locked the door. There was no air or gravity on the ship but the emergency lights were working.

Packet made his way through the ship to the control centre. The emergency control panel showed there was enough oxygen on board and enough battery power to kick start the main generators. It also showed five pressure doors were open. He pressed the auto seal button. Four of the doors closed but one remained open. Something must be jamming it so Packet decided to go and have a look. He could not re-pressurise the ship until all the pressure doors were closed. He looked down at his oxygen gauge on the hood, he still had more than an hour left. The door in question was in the kitchen supply area; the pirates had obviously taken all the food.

 When he arrived in the galley area, Packet saw what the trouble was: a body was lying across the threshold of the pressure door. Packet picked up the body and was just about to push it into space when he heard a noise behind him. It was unusual to hear noises in a vacuum, so he realised it must have vibrated through the deck of the ship. Packet turned around to see a door opening.

 Through the door came a man, also in a pressure hood. Packet recognised the pressure suit, it was one of the crew. The crew member started saying something but Packet could not hear him as emergency pressure hoods do not contain any communication equipment.

 Packet pulled the pirate body inside the room, having decided perhaps they could keep the body for identification. He closed the pressure door and signalled the crew member to follow. They went back to the bridge. Packet re-pressurised the ship, took his helmet off and sat down with a big sigh of relief.

It appeared the pirate ship had been spooked by a battle cruiser that just happened to be in the area. Packet acknowledged their call and said they were in need of assistance. About thirty members of the crew had hidden like the cook, but that was not many out of two hundred.

 As Packet sat waiting for rescue he unstrapped the chest pack of the emergency respirator. This pack contains the carbon dioxide scrubber and oxygen cylinder. As Packet pulled the self-sealing strap away from his uniform, the two cylinders fell to the floor; the pack had not been properly laced together. Then, between the two cylinders, Packet noticed a third item – a small thin rod-like object. Packet picked it up from the floor. It was a data storage file, and it had data in it. The little red letters simply said 'USE THIS'. Packet put the small data rod in his pocket; he was too tired to think any more about it.

 The incident was officially put down to one of those unfortunate things that happen in space. Everything would have been forgotten if sometime later Packet had not found the data storage file in his old uniform. He decided to read the file; it was extensive and interesting. It contained evidence that the raid on the survey ships had been planned and that man behind the raid and many other so-called pirate raids had been Quadoor De Endafelt. He was behind a mass of corruption stretching down from the highest office.

 Packet, ’whose mind was increasingly filled with the memories of his fallen comrades, chose his moment of revenge well. At a public conference, Packet shot Endafelt through the head; although not a fully rational move at the time, he knew the file he held would exonerate him. Unfortunately, the files were deemed inadmissible evidence as they were of an unknown origin. The security forces did, however, take them seriously and made a lot of arrests. Many top people disappeared suddenly on their luxury space liners. This did not stop Packet, however, being sent to a prison colony for life.

 While in the prison colony, a particularly rough one, the second odd event in Packet’s life happened, the one that would take him to Raftos. After a couple of months in the prison colony, Packet was put with another prisoner named Shako, and although they were like chalk and cheese they got on well enough.

 Shako, for some reason, took quite an interest in Packet’s story and told Packet that he had friends on the outside who could help prove his case against the Endafelt corruption ring. They could show that his trial was rigged to allow certain people in the government to escape. Packet did not know whether to believe this, but he knew he could not do anything on his own stuck on a prison planet. Packet would do anything to clear his name; whatever strings were attached to the deal Shako's friend was offering, Packet would go along.

 Now the two of them were being transferred to a work camp by a transport speeder. When they arrived at the camp, however, there were no guards to take care of them. Muck ups like that were not uncommon at prison colonies. The two prisoners were left at the camp on their own while the driver went back to check out what the situation was. Prisoners were often left like that as there was absolutely nowhere to go.

As Packet and Shako wandered around the empty work camp, they found an old abandoned space shuttle. This was quite unusual, as only surface craft are used for travel on the prison planets as they have a matrix grid in the atmosphere to prevent any craft landing or taking off, except at the official spaceport. The shuttle looked very old and probably did not have any power, but Shako wanted to look at it for old time’s sake as he used to be a pilot. The shuttle looked much more modern inside than out, which was odd. The two convicts sat in the two pilot seats. As they did so the control panel sprang into life, and a Vissi screen came on in front of them.

"You took your time finding it didn't you,” said the face on the screen. "If you want to get out, follow me.”

 Packet was dumbfounded. The face on the screen was the same face he had seen pushing the emergency escape hood into his stomach on the pirate ship. It was cleaner, with tidier hair, but the very same face.

"Who are you?” Packet shouted at the screen, but the Vissi screen had flickered off. Packet looked at Shako but he had no idea who she was, he had never seen the woman before in his life.

 Slowly, from around a small hill near the camp, there came another shuttle, its lights flashing. It stopped just in front of them then turned and started to move away.

"You don't need to ask me to a party twice,” said Shako, fastening his seat straps and slamming the thruster arm forward.

 Far from being old shuttle, the vehicle responded as if this was its first outing. They followed the lead ship flying close to the ground under the security grid, then suddenly the lead ship turned skyward. Shako followed and they both accelerated toward the grid. The lead ship fired something and the electrical field in front of it seemed to shatter into an electrical shower. The grid was open. The lead ship went through the shower and was out; you could visibly see the grid closing up again.

 "I don't think we've got one of those things she fired,” said Shako. "Hang on.” He pushed the thrusters to full boost, a position you have to hold the levers into very firmly. The shuttle leapt into the closing hole. There was a flash as the grid caught the rear part of the shuttle. They were also out.

 They followed the mysterious woman in the shuttle for two days, and neither Shako or Packet had any idea where they were. Suddenly the Vissi screen switched on again. The woman told them that there was a base on the far side of the moon they were approaching and that they were expected.

 The Vissi screen went blank and the shuttle they were following shot away ten times faster than their ship could go. They were low on fuel and they still had no idea where they were or what moon it was, but they had no choice but to land at the mysterious base.

Waiting there with a big smile was Raftos.

"It seemed,” said Packet finishing his story, "he wanted the best communications person in the business and I was on top of his list. Whatever it took to get me he was prepared to pay or do, including anything he could do in clearing my name. There was no question he had the contacts to do it. It was this mission he wanted me for.” Packet paused. "All I hope for is that if we are successful I will be able to clear myself and my name.”

Harris had stopped scanning the sky. He was thinking. Something about this mission did not add up. Someone was not telling everything there was to know, and that somebody was Raftos.

 Suddenly there was a long beep. Packet and Harris jumped slightly, taken by surprise. Packet looked down at the receiver counsel.

"Incoming signal from Central Control and it is for you, a long one,” said Packet.

Harris put the message through the decoder, and the displayed result slowly scanned up one of the screens.

"Looks like an error somewhere in translation,” said Packet looking at the screen full of jumbled up letters.

"On the contrary,” said Harris. "It is in Arolloan, the old language used by the ancestors of Rigadoon. It is a dead language which very few people now know. I only learnt the language so I could translate some very old records in the archives. It looks like somebody did not want anyone else reading this message. What is somewhat odd,” continued Harris, "is how would anyone at Central Control would know I could read it. I only studied it as a hobby, so that information is not on my military file, most odd.”

"Who sent the message, perhaps there is a clue in there,” ask Packet.

"There's no name,” said Harris starting to read the file. "Point of origin, central command. But who in central command knows me that well?”

“What’s in the message, perhaps it’s very personal, for your eyes only, so to speak,” said Packet.

 Harris studied the message. “I wish I knew what was going on,” said Harris. "This message is a complete deployment plan of all the survey ships and all the battle fleets heading anywhere near sector five. All of them, not just central command’s – there seems to be information here not even Central would know.” Harris paused. "Why send this to me coded this way? Why should we need to know where the other fleets are, unless . . .” Harris paused again.

"Unless what,” said Packet.

"Unless we are in some danger,” said Harris.

Chapter 8 - Kimlon's Story

 For the moment, Light Star did not seem to be in any danger. They were sitting in the middle of nowhere and their scanners had picked up no signs of any other ships in that area of space.

 After the pod had retracted Harris decided it was time to see Raftos and ask him some pertinent questions. Packet stayed in the communications room compiling the data they had gathered. Harris left and went in search of Raftos.

 After twenty minutes, Harris wished he had waited for Packet. Tramping up and down the connecting tubes, in and out of storage units and conditioning plants, Harris was completely lost. There seemed to be no logic behind the way the passages were laid out. After opening one hatch he found himself in part of the power coil rings. Trying to stop himself from screaming out loud Harris went down another passage and opened another hatch; the ship was not so very big, he thought. The hatch opened onto a large accommodation chamber, this room had gravity and a table in the centre. Sitting at the table were five people, and they all looked up as Harris entered. One of them was Kimlon.

"If you're here,” said Kimlon. "You must be lost.”

 "I'm lost,” said Harris. "I had a feeling I was going to be wandering around these passages for ever. I normally have a very good sense of direction.”

"The power rings upset your direction balance,” said Kimlon. "Have some tea.”

 Kimlon poured a hot liquid into what passed for a proper cup. It was Zilon, a very pleasant sweet tea made from Terfomoss. One of the other people at the table passed Harris a plate with a proper looking piece of cake on it.

 Harris looked around at the others sitting at the table. Kimlon apologised and introduced the other people, Meyat, Keso, Freerom, and Craso. Kimlon then pointed up at the wall where there were a series of bunks, and introduced three more people: Truman, Ottam and Predling, whom he had seen before.

 Kimlon explained that even a ship as small as Light Star needed a crew bigger than four; there were, in fact, fifteen people on board, the Captain, Raftos, the pilot, Micckleton Jones, scanning and communications man Packet Looms, the archivist Harris himself, and the rest were made up of crew members from Raftos's ship the Monitor. Kimlon explained that all the crew were from the Monitor were Timmeron, except for himself and Ottam,

 Harris had heard of the Timmeron but had never met any before. The Tremos system  had been destroyed when their sun exploded, and the entire population took off into space and simply made it their home. They now account for sixty percent of all crews in all space ships now flying, and they very seldom give any trouble, unlike the Foyd.

 Harris asked Kimlon how well he knew Raftos. Kimlon said that he had been with Raftos since the early days and knew him better than anybody. Harris decided to take a chance, he somehow trusted Kimlon.

Harris took a sip of the sweet tea, put the cup down, then asked if Kimlon knew why Raftos was going to the place where Rigadoon had been destroyed. It was the last place to look for a new planet, a million ships had passed through that part of sector five. If there were any useful planets with in a billion miles of where Rigadoon had been, they would have been found a long time before now.

Kimlon tapped the table for quite some time; the silence in the room was almost audible. Harris had the feeling everyone else was listening very carefully, as they had not been given any answers themselves. Timmerons do not ask questions.

"Raftos is a curious fellow,” started Kimlon. "We did not know about the Light Star. We had been flying about in sector five for some years looking for the elusive old planet where the original Arolloan people came from. As you know, since the destruction of Rigadoon more and more Federation systems have been sending out survey fleets on the same mission – looking for a new staging planet. They think the old Arolloan home world will be it. We, however, have an advantage over everyone else, we know it exists. You see we have been there.”

 Harris stopped chewing the piece of cake he had just put into his mouth. He swallowed the cake and took a sip of tea before exclaiming.

"There is another Rigadoon? You know where it is?" said Harris

"Unfortunately,” said Kimlon, "we do not know where it is. Raftos and the crew with the Monitor were on Rigadoon when the rumours that something dreadful was about to happen started. People could not believe such stories were true. Then massive geothermic movements began to happen all over the planet. Confirmation came that the planet was unstable and hasty evacuation plans were made.”

Every available ship on or near Rigadoon was pressed into service. Including Raftos and his ship the Monitor. The other old Arolloan planet is small and called Sigadon. It is the place where their civilisation had begun long ago, however the population outgrew the planet so they began to colonise what we all knew as Rigadoon. The old Sigadon is small but it was the only place close enough for a mass evacuation – time by this stage was running out for Rigadoon.

It was calculated that four trips could be made to Sigadon by each of the ships, the Monitor being faster than anything else could just manage eight. Sigadon, however, was in a very secret location and very few knew of its whereabouts or even of its existence. The few that did were the men of an old priesthood known generally as the Star Knights. Old Sigadon was not marked on any star map. The Arolloans did not want its whereabouts to be known – if Rigadoon was destroyed the last thing they wanted was the same fate to fall upon their last place of refuge.

 This was the first time Harris had heard that the destruction of the planet could be anything other than a natural event. Perhaps this was just panic talk.

 To get to the new planet, each ship took on board a Star Knight who acted as navigator. They gave instructions by a series of dead reckoning headings. Not something you should try in space. They did not use star maps or instruments and they were always right on the button. At the end of the operation, they wiped all records from all the ship’s navigation logs then disappeared themselves. The evacuation was not widely reported; no one involved wanted to talk about it, we could not save everyone.” Kimlon paused. "Rigadoon and its remaining population just disappeared in a massive explosion.”

"The Monitor was the last ship out, we knew there was no time for that last trip but you can't leave people, can you. As we left the planet we were caught by something we all assumed was debris from the exploding surface of the planet. The whole ship had been stripped of all protection to make more room for passengers; we were jammed to overflowing. The blast damaged one of our engines, but we made it away.”

 All this was news to Harris, who along with everyone else had thought the entire population of Rigadoon had been wiped out. The only reference Harris had ever heard to another Arolloan planet had been in a very old document written in Arolloan. It was in his file about sector five. At the time he had ignored the reference as one of the many legends handed down and corrupted over time.

 Kimlon continued his story. “The Star Knight on board the Monitor wiped our navigation files and left in his own shuttle, simply to disappear. The rescue fleet was mainly passenger and cargo ships who after the rescue were taken by the Star Knights to a safe area outside sector five, from where they could find their own way to their respective planets.

 The fleet of ships hung around for a few days to rest and repair what they could, no one had slept for many days. The captains did not say much to each other and the crews were pretty subdued. Almost everyone had lost friends or partners in the disaster. The Star Knights had said they would let us know who had survived when they could sort things out. It would take time, however, as the whole evacuation had been chaos.

 The ships went off one by one, not knowing what to say or do but to go home.

Kimlon paused again, remembering the painful episode. Raftos and the Monitor were the last ship to leave the zone. Raftos ticked off and logged each ship as it left.”

 Kimlon poured some more tea for himself and Harris.

"After that,” continued Kimlon, "all Raftos wanted to do was find the old Arolloan home world. You see, in the first wave of evacuees Raftos had his wife and daughter on board the Monitor; they were left on Sigadon for safety to be picked up on the last trip.

 In the confusion, during the final drop of passengers from dozens of ships, no one could find where any one person was on the surface of the planet. None of the crews were allowed to leave their ships as they had to be moved from orbit as soon as their refugees had been taken off, so the next ship could park in orbit.

 Although we had no location for Sigadon, we had done the trip nine times. Enough for Raftos to remember the instructions the Star Knight had given. Raftos knew he could find the way back there.

 We sat there a few days but we had to get the damaged engine fixed before we could do anything else. We went to a mining planet that could fix the engine and waited there while resting up. There was no reason to believe the Arolloans would not keep their word about providing a list of survivors or to hide their position once they had the situation under control.”

 Harris was fascinated by this story, as was the rest of the crew sitting or lying around, which was slightly odd, Harris thought, because they must have lived through it. Then Harris realised that like any crew, they went through the battles but were never party to the why and how of events.

 Harris also realised he had eaten half the cake that was on the table, it was greedy of him, but it did taste better than the rations he had been having.

"After a month, Raftos got tired of waiting and retraced the flight path,” continued Kimlon. "The word for word instructions were spot on the nose. But Sigadon was not there. The one consolation was that we did not find any debris, the planet had not been destroyed or anything. The area, in fact, was so empty it was almost absurd, it was almost too empty. There was nothing we could do. Raftos started going downhill. He was a wanted man, his family were gone, he felt he had no place anymore. Then we met Micckleton Jones.”

 "That meeting changed everything,” continued Kimlon. "We knew the Arolloans must have done something to hide their world, but what they had done we did not know. Here was something that might provide the answer. There were risks – Micckleton told us about the first two ships that had disappeared; he said, however, he also knew how to reduce the risks, but at that point, Raftos did not care.”

 Kimlon smiled as he remembered the event when they met Micckleton Jones.

Raftos and Kimlon were getting drunk in a gaming house on one of the moons of Tron.

The gaming house was an unsavoury place called Sennor Core. It was a kind of gambling and brothel station located on the back side of the fifth moon of Tron. Tron was a muddy mining planet where they extract Scolomone, a mineral used in the hulls of most space ships. The miners have money and not much to do, so a lot of these pleasure stations had set up near there.

 Raftos and Kimlon were sat in an alcove getting gradually drunk and watching the gambling tables. Suddenly, a commotion started at one of the tables in the centre of the room. Raftos and Kimlon were attracted to the commotion; they were naturally attracted to any kind of trouble. They got up and went to find out what was happening. Usually, the fuss is about some burly miner who had lost all his money and accused the dealer of cheating,something that has become particularly difficult since the invention of the game Stroon Sevens, the favourite gambling card game in these places.

 Raftos and Kimlon, who were both on the large size, easily pushed their way through the crowd gathering around the table where the fuss was coming from. Much to the surprise of both of them, it was not a burly miner accusing the house of robbing him, quite the reverse.

 The centre of attention was a rather scruffy youth with dirty clothes and a wild mop of untidy unwashed ginger hair, wearing cracked, taped together spectacles. He was sitting very quietly. This young man was looking across the table at a very dapper gentleman standing on the other side of the table, and this man was shouting and getting very angry. The young man was very calm, it was almost as if he did not realise he was the one being shouted at.

 Raftos could not see what the fuss was about until he got closer and saw that the young man had in front of him a huge pile of credit chips, nearly all of them gold; there was millions there. The man was shouting and accusing the young man of every kind of cheating imaginable. Raftos guessed he must be the owner. He thought this because the only people in the place who were clean worked there, and secondly the owner probably could not pay out the winnings. It was unusual, however, for anyone to be able to win that amount of money in a place like this.

 Raftos was curious – a cheat would have been spotted long before he built up that amount of money, and as was just said, it was almost impossible to cheat at Stroon Sevens for either a punter or the house. The young man simply stated that he had not been cheating and that he would like to cash in his chips.

 The owner made a signal and was joined by three very large men, well dressed but obviously ex-storm troopers. As these men appeared, the crowd around the table gradually disappeared into the furthest corners of the room, not wanting to be involved but curious as to the outcome. Time for you to go, said the owner. The youth looked up, he was still not showing any signs of worry, which slightly unnerved the owner. The owner, still staring at the youth, told his guards to throw the youth out. One of the guards slowly drew a weapon from a holster fixed inside his jacket. None of the guards had paid any attention to Raftos and Kimlon who were now standing behind the young man.

 With a well-practiced move, Raftos had already pulled his weapon and it was now resting just over the left shoulder of the youth. The youth must have heard the hum as the weapon charged for it was almost touching his left ear, but he did not move or look up. The trooper who had pulled his weapon had been looking at the youth but then noticed the weapon pointing at him over the shoulder of the youth. The trooper looked up and saw Raftos's smiling face.

 The trooper slowly put his weapon down on the table.

"What's the matter?” shouted the owner.

The three troupers said nothing, they all knew something the owner obviously did not. None of them recognised Raftos, they had never seen him before, but what they did recognise was the weapon and they knew what sort of person would carry it.

 By now, Kimlon had drawn his weapon and was covering Raftos's back.

 The advantage of being a gun runner is that you get to have the pick of some of the latest weaponry. The ex-storm trooper knew a disrupter when they saw one and knew what it could do; they also had some fear of the sort of person who would carry such a thing casually around under their coat.

 As the troopers stood motionless, the owner suddenly realised that the situation had changed. A silence blanketed everything, all eyes were on the few remaining figures standing at the table.

 Raftos looked at the owner, saying that he thought he owed the young man something. Very slowly, the owner reached into the inside pocket of his jacket; very slowly he pulled out an oblong piece of plastic, and tossed it onto the table. The three-dimensional lettering on the plastic glinted in the reflected light above the table. A million santon credit chip.

 Raftos told the youth to pick it up, the young lad started to protest that he had won more than that, but Raftos put his right hand around the youth's neck and gripped his throat so tight it hurt; the youth stopped talking. Pick it up, growled Raftos, and the young lad obeyed. Raftos knew it was not the full amount, but it was enough to hurt the owner and probably all he could pay. Without letting go of his neck, Raftos pulled the youth out of his seat. They made their way to the exit, Kimlon covering their backs. Knowing the old troopers would not follow, they slipped into the darkness of the streets outside.

 Safe in a bar four blocks away, Raftos sat down with the young stranger to find out why he was facing down so much danger and how he had managed to cheat the card tables. The youth turned out to be Micckleton Jones.

 It seems Mick had not realised that he was in any danger, he simply thought the management should pay him what he had won. He said he had not been cheating at all, simply calculating the odds using a system of five-dimensional mathematical streaming. It was a system he had developed for the navigation of the Light Star.

 Raftos took interest, not in the mathematical detail, which was way beyond him, but in the lad’s reference to the Light Star. Raftos had heard fragments of gossip about a project called Light Star, but had never been able to find out what it was. Here was somebody who was just throwing the name in casually at the end of a sentence.  

 Over the course of dinner, which the youth ate as if he had not eaten in days, Raftos heard the curious story of Micckleton Jones. How he had invented this revolutionary type of space ship. Been given billions by central command to build it, then kicked out by the very management who were supposed to be building the machine for him.

 It seemed that during construction of the ship, Micckleton Jones had started to get worried about the speed everyone was pushing the project. He tried to warn everyone about the need to delay for some years so he could work out the navigation system for the machine. But the cost of the project was continuing to spiral upward uncontrollably, and political pressure mounted to get the thing finished.

 Micckleton went over the heads of the men controlling the project to the fleet commander. The commander, however, did not know what he was talking about and reported directly back to the people running the project. The managers resented him going over their heads so kicked him off the project. They thought they had everything they needed from him and that now he had finally gone crazy.

 After that, Mick drifted into the fringe worlds just keeping alive by gambling and continuing with his work on the navigation calculations. He was not too good at looking after himself, but he kept going as he wanted the Light Star to be a success.

 Raftos wondered why the lad had suddenly gone for the big pot at the gambling tables when he had obviously been playing and winning quietly for some years. Mick told him that he had heard about the disasters with the first two Light Stars. Although he had been out of the project, he still had a few friends working there who kept him informed about what was going on. Now he wanted a lot of money to get back and buy the last remaining ship, as he had now finished his calculations for the navigation system. He thought he could make the last ship work.

 Raftos knew that even with all the money in the universe, Mick was unlikely ever to get the ship again. It was so secret few people knew it existed, and those that did would deny it after the disasters.

 In a strange way, it was a lucky meeting for Mick. Raftos was probably the only person in the Western sector of the galaxy who could help the lad get his hands on the third machine, even a secret machine, from under the very noses of Central Command.

 Taking over the base had been quite easy for Raftos and his men, as Mick knew the layout of the base and still had secret access codes to all the command computers. It was also a dead project – nobody was expecting any kind of attack on the base. Getting out would be another matter, but Raftos was gambling that Mick could, in fact, make the Light Star fly. If he could, this would be the biggest coup of Raftos’s life. Now that was attractive to Raftos.

 Raftos never did tell Central Command about Micckleton Jones, so they were still puzzled as to why and how he could get the Light Star to work when they had failed. It seemed that the people remaining at Central Command had forgotten about Micckleton Jones; he had never been in the military so did not have a record file to indicate his importance to the project. Those scientists who had known him were all lying dead somewhere across the galaxy in Light Star 2.

"The rest you already know,” said Kimlon finishing the story.

Harris sat for a while thinking about the story Kimlon had just told. Kimlon was telling the truth, Harris was sure of that. It put Raftos in a new light; the real reason for the mission was simple and straight forward: he was looking for his family.

Harris wondered why Raftos would think he would have any more success with Light Star than with his own ship. Harris was doubtful if it held any real advantage except it could cover a lot more ground very quickly. Harris could understand why Raftos would want to try.

The more Harris understood about the crew, the more he realised that the only person who did not have good reason to be on the ship was himself. Yet Raftos, Mick and the Admiral, seemed to think his position was vital to the mission.

What keys was he holding that he knew nothing about? What was in file JHPDF8888 that he was unaware of?

Chapter 9 - Old Sigadon

 Kimlon took Harris back to the control centre himself so he would not get lost again; he also pointed out some not very well painted marks that helped point the way around.

 It was all very quiet and everyone was engaged in preparations for the next jump, so Harris went back to his bunk to have a rest. As he stared at the bulkhead, many thoughts were running around his mind. What was he missing? He rolled over and got out the small metal case containing the data files he had brought with him. He flipped open the small silver case to show the three small data rods. On each, illuminated letters indicated the contents. The first was a personal log file with encryption programs, the second the master index of Central's data files, and then there was JHPDF8888 – an unlisted file and the only file he had specifically been asked to bring. Odd, very odd.

 Harris was half dozing when he felt a slight tingling sensation. He got up and found his way to the so-called control room. Light Star had made a jump and was now just on the edge of the area where Rigadoon had been destroyed. Gathered there were Raftos, Mick and Packet, sitting around the table looking at the star maps. Raftos was tracing a line on one of the maps showing the area they were now in. Raftos looked up as Harris and then Kimlon entered.

 Mick and Packet were looking at some of the scanner readings obtained that morning. Raftos looked up from the chart at Harris.

"I've been to the old Arolloan planet but it is not there." He stabbed the paper with the end of his pencil, which broke off and skidded across the table. “Did I imagine it, was it all some hallucination, some fancy trick?”

"If it was we were all suffering from it,” said Kimlon.

"That has happened before,” said Raftos.” We all know such things happen, but if it was an illusion, where are my wife and daughter?”

"Do you always navigate this way?” said Harris looking at the  rather thick pencil line Raftos had drawn on the chart. "Somewhat crudely, on charts with lines?”

"And what is that supposed to mean?” retorted Raftos, almost shouting, somewhat miffed at the questioning of his competence.

 Raftos told Harris he had done a lot more navigation in space than Harris had ever done and he had never had any problems. He had learnt by the seat of his pants and had not been to fancy pilot school like Harris.

 Harris suggested, equally aggressively, that perhaps he should have done.

 Harris then got up and went over to the Navigon Unit still sitting in the corner of the room, still switched well and truly off. Harris switched it on, then waited while the system triggered into life. Harris typed at the keyboard, quickly moving the star maps around on the twin screens until he found the area of space they were sitting in.

 Harris ask Raftos for the coordinates he was using to find the Old Rigadoon; Raftos gave him the numbers and Harris fed them into the machine. The star charts in the twin monitors rotated as the machine followed the flight of Raftos's space ship the Monitor, from the position of Rigadoon to where they had found the old Arolloan planet, Sigadon.

 As the Navigon reached the end of the simulated flight, everyone's eyes were on the twin screens. The star charts stopped at the point where the rescue flights had ended.

 There was nothing there.

 Raftos looked at the coordinates over Harris's shoulder.

"See,” said Raftos with some slight satisfaction. "That's within a few cenrons of where I had calculated. I've already been there, seen it got the tee shirt, there's nothing. Nothing for light years.”

 Raftos turned away from the screens, grabbed the bottle of Surgon Sluggit from the table, and poured himself a large glass full. He downed the drink in one gulp.

"When exactly did you make that rescue mission?” asked Harris.

It was Kimlon who answered. He gave Harris the time and date.

"This is something you can't do on your paper charts," said Harris, and pressed a few keys on the keyboard. The star charts started rotating backwards, winding back time to the date of the original rescue from Rigadoon. Harris began to retrace Raftos's flight plan.

"Now,” said Harris with a tone of superiority in his voice, “we have something.”

 Everyone gathered around the Navigon screens. Harris explained that the Arolloan Star Knights were much better navigators than Raftos was giving them credit for. As the flight path of the Monitor was traced within the memory banks of the machine, Harris realised that the Star Knights had used solar dynamics to hide the true path of their flight.

 The first leg took the Monitor close to the second moon of Rigadoon, where the gravity of the moon had affected the flight path. The flight path between Raftos's navigation points were not straight lines, they all had a bend in them. Each leg of the journey took it near a planet, not too close but close enough to deflect the flight path.

 The last leg had been near a large planet that had accelerated the ship to twice its normal speed. As Harris adjusted all these calculations, the projected flight path changed direction after each move to end millions of miles away from Raftos's original calculation.

"That is where you really went," said Harris in triumph, pointing to the spot on the screen. Raftos was amazed and congratulated Harris and apologised for being uppity. The only trouble was, there was still nothing there.

 Harris said that just because there was nothing on the star chart it did not mean that there was not anything there. The data on sector five was patchy, old and incomplete. Harris took out the data case containing the file JHPDF8888. He took the file out and held it up to show everyone, saying it contained all the information there was in the archives about sector five, including the most up to date star charts. He posed the question, was this why he had been asked to bring this file with him from Central Archives? He told them that the file contained a wider selection of star data than usually stored in Navigon units, because nobody goes this deep into the fifth sector.

 As the data was downloaded, more information appeared on the screen. At the end of Raftos's flight path was now a code marker. Harris punched up the code. On the text screen below the main monitors, a single phrase came up. 'Qerri von Vevidon' which literally translated meant 'here be dragons'. It was an old phrase used by survey ships to describe an area that had something in it, but where the surveyors thought it too dangerous to go. One could only hope, that in this case, whoever made the entry was wrong about the danger.

 It was decided to they would go to the area because, basically, they had no better options. They would only jump to the very edge of the area Harris had found, then proceed slowly and with great caution.

 While Harris was still sitting at the Navigon, he remembered the secret signal sent from Central and told Raftos about the strange message. Harris inserted the message pad and downloaded the information into the machine.

 The star chart jumped as it displayed more of the sector, and bright points were highlighted as the Navigon began to show the positions of other survey craft and military battle fleets. When the machine had finished displaying all the information, Harris studied the chart. He studied it for rather a long time.

"Is there something in there we should know about?” said Raftos at length.

"There are a lot of ships out there,” said Harris. "And rather too many of them are heading to the exact point we're going.”

"How can that be?” said Mick.

"Well I'm sure Raftos here is not the only captain to who has a good memory,” said Harris. "And they probably know how to use Navigon units, enough at least to do exactly what I did. They have been heading in that direction for a while and some are very close.”

"Well I suppose it's not important if we're not the first to arrive,” said Raftos.

"On the contrary,” said Harris,”I have a feeling it is very important we are the first.”

"From what I recall,” said Raftos, "it was quite a small planet and not big enough to take the place of Rigadoon as a transit station. The other captains must know that as well.”

"Precisely,” said Harris. "So why the big interest? Why the big rush to that point – did they all leave wives there?”

"That is very unlikely,” said Raftos. "I suggest we jump as soon as possible to the edge of that place, then access the situation as we scan that final point.”

 A certain sense of urgency filled the air as they moved to prepare for the jump.

 The jump was made and the Light Star was now sitting stationary on the very edge of the area where the old Arolloan planet Sigadon should be. Packet set the sensors to scan the area for any signs of life; if there was any life out there, he would find it.

 Raftos had called a meeting for everyone in the control centre. He decided all the crew should be there except those on essential duty, so it was pretty crowded around the long wooden table.

 Raftos had wanted his crew to be there as they had considerable experience, especially two of the older members, Mayat and Craso, both of them well over two hundred years old. The Timmeron can live a long time, and do not seem to age much.

"We're now moving into unknown waters,” said Raftos by means of an introduction. "As most of you know, we've been in tricky situations before, we've boldly gone as they say, but suddenly something in the pit of my stomach tells me the waters have got a lot murkier.

 During the wars and battles, all the situations we got ourselves into were a calculated risk, we knew what we were doing, most of the time anyway. Suddenly stuck out here I feel we are being used as a pawn in a game we did not know we were playing.” Raftos paused then simply said, "Harris.”

 Harris started by saying that he was not quite sure what Raftos wanted him to say. That he had been roller coasted into this trip, he knew nothing of the Light Star till a couple of days ago. He knew there would be a search for a new Rigadoon type planet in the fifth sector, but a lot of people knew that. Harris was a librarian from an archive planet buried on the edge of the eastern sector; nobody knew him apart from a few friends, then suddenly he gets a call, from the Grand Council no less, ordering him half way across the galaxy with no explanation.

 Harris continued, turning his head toward Raftos. "It turns out the biggest outlaw in the galaxy knows me." There was a small ripple of laughter around the tightly packed room.

 "Somebody knows more about what we are doing out here than we do,” Harris took out the little silver case, flipped it open and held up the data file. He told how he had been ordered to bring this data file in person, this particular data file, number JHPDF8888, and that no one on this mission had yet spoken about it. Harris looked around the table.

"Did any of you know what this contained before I came aboard?” Harris looked directly at Raftos.

"Should we have?” said Mick.

"No,” said Harris. “There are no listings of this file on any index or any catalogue anywhere, it is a personal, private log. To even find it you would need the highest security clearance at Archives and to bypass the access codes. Even then you would have to know where to look – it would be looking for a pebble in an asteroid belt.”

"What's on it that is so important?” asked Packet.

 "I don't know,” said Harris. "But there must be something that is crucial to our mission apart from the star charts, which others must have if they have bothered to look in the archives. It is all in the public files. There must be something critical to this mission, and someone somewhere must know what that is.”

 Packet then told the group that he had been thinking of late that his breakout from the prison planet, thinking now it was rather too easy. He said that Light Star was an odd ship – it did not travel it just arrived, and this gave a lot of time for thinking.

 Packet knew he should not have been convicted, although he had shot somebody, the evidence he had been given was so strong any proper court would have thrown out the case. He was set up, by persons unknown. Packet said he had never heard of a break out like the one he had made. Although money can buy many things, even on a prison planet, it was all a bit slick. He asked Raftos what he had paid. Raftos had to admit only about half what he thought he would have to pay.

 One of the Timmerons then suggested that stealing the Light Star itself was a bit too easy. Even if Raftos had told Central Command he could make it work, such a secret project could not be let out. For all Central knew, Raftos was just going to sell it to the highest bidder. Such a thing could change the balance of power in the whole sector. By rights, Central Command should have blown them all up in the hanger.

“Everything points to the Admiral”,” said Raftos at length. “Perhaps we have all been set up, and the only person with enough authority to do that is the Admiral. If he has done it I think that he has put himself out on a limb, risking everything on the one very slender chance that somehow, we might find his daughter,”

"That is one very big gamble,” said Packet.

"Perhaps a gamble is right,” said Raftos. "Because it is the only game in town, perhaps his only chance ever, wouldn't you take it?” said Raftos. "I'm only here to look for my wife and family, nothing else matters. I don't want to find Sigadon, I don't give a damn. Good luck to the Arolloans for disappearing, all I want is my wife and daughter and if I have to break their silence to find her, so be it.”

"If the Admiral is behind everything, it begs the question of why we have the Admiral’s spy onboard,” said Packet to Harris. "I saw the Admiral take you to one side after the briefing, what did he whisper in your ear?”

 "All he whispered,” replied Harris, "is 'my daughter's name is Jasmine Hallow’.”

"That was an odd thing for him to say,” said Mick. “Remember, I worked with her on the project. I knew her quite well, everyone called her Rachael, even the Admiral called her that. Why would he give you that name?”

"Was that her real name?” asked Harris.

"Yes, it was,” replied Mick. "But I can tell you she would sock you in the mouth if you called her that to her face, she absolutely hated it.”

"Well it makes some kind of sense if the Admiral is behind all this trip,” said Raftos. "I can understand where he's coming from.”

"I think,” said Predling, "we should finish our mission before questioning our motives too much. I have seen too many missions end suddenly when anything except the obvious motives are questioned. We are all adrift on an empty sea – let’s not rock the boat.”

 Suddenly, as Predling finished speaking, there was a long low growl. Harris said he hoped that was not the alarm signal he thought it was. Packet looked across the room at a monitor flickering in the corner of the room; a series of numbers were flashing red.

"It is,” shouted Packet. "Incoming missiles!”

Chapter 10 - The Gate

 Raftos shouted orders: Predling, Craso and Kimlon were to man the shuttle, Harris and Packet were to join Raftos in communications, while Mick was to go to the switch room and get ready to make a jump.

 As they watched a small screen in the communications room, they could see the track of the missiles. They were heading straight for Light Star. Raftos shouted through the intercom at Mick asking how long to jump. Mick shouted a number, Packet did a mental calculation and shook his head. Raftos shouted through the intercom and told Predling to launch the shuttle and try to intercept the missiles. Which, as they could see from the screen, were closing rapidly.

 Just as Raftos was giving the order to Predling to launch the shuttle, a small Vissi screen over the main scanner in front of them flashed on.

“Incoming message,” shouted Packet. A face appeared on the Vissi screen.

 "Take no action do not move your ship.” The words spoken by the face that appeared on the screen were crisp and sharp.

"That's the same girl!” shouted Packet at the screen. He pressed the transmit button.

"Who are you?" he called. But by the time he had got the words out, the screen had gone blank.

"What now?" asked Harris, but there was no time to answer as the whole ship began to vibrate with the thunderous pressure of Military Streak engines. Less than half a second later another craft followed. Packet tracked the ships as they raced over Light Star, very close and at very high speed.

 The Streaks intercepted and obliterated the missiles, then moved away in the direction the missiles had come from. There was no indication on any of Light Stars instruments as to where the Military Streaks or the missiles had come from.

 The Streaks were not deep-space craft, so must have come from a mother ship but they could see no sign of it on their screens. They tracked the Military Streaks into the distance on the small screen. The small control room was silent.

 They saw a large image appear just in front of the Streaks; the image flared and disappeared. The Streaks turned ninety degrees away from each other, then boosted to top speed and simply disappeared.

"Now they're trying to kill us,” said Harris.

Raftos got on the intercom. “Predling, stand down. Mick, are you ready to jump to the last set of coordinates I gave you?”

 When Mick answered, Raftos simply leant over and said quietly, whenever you are ready, Mick. They all felt a slight jar as the ship jumped to its final location – just off what should be Sigadon.

 Raftos looked at Packet and asked him how far they had gone from the last jump point. Packet, understanding his meaning, simply said that it would take anything, even at high speed, at least five days to catch up with them. Raftos's face relaxed a little. Raftos told Packet to set the scanners to continuously search for other ships, although it had not done much good last time.

 The intercom crackled into life and Mick's voice came on.

"Is there something you guys aren't telling me?”

 Raftos, Packet and Harris met up with Mick in the food store cum galley, where Mick was already tucking in. He had changed his trousers. Everyone grabbed some of their favourite food – it was comfort eating time.

 Light Star was now in high orbit around a small green planet. The large high-resolution telescope was scanning down across the surface. A large flat screen had been set up at the end of the module so everyone could watch what the telescope was seeing.

 Raftos stared fixated by the images on the screen as the telescope showed mile after mile of desolate landscape.

 Packet, also looking at the screen, asked Raftos if this really was the planet he remembered. The planet he evacuated the Arolloans to. Raftos, still staring at the monitor, whispered almost inaudibly, as much to himself as anyone else.

"Where are the snow-tipped mountains, the golden cities, the beautiful emerald-green seas, the clouds, the yellow sky? Where have all the people gone?”

 Mick suggested that perhaps this was a kind of bus stop, a dropping point before moving on. Raftos dismissed that idea. He had seen the planet, he had been down there, he had walked in the fields, seen the cities.

 Harris said he thought it had been a bit too easy just retracing their flight path. If the Arolloans had been so careful that they took the trouble to wipe everyone's computer flight logs, they must have also guessed someone could retrace the flight by memory.

 Mick thought they perhaps erased the crew's memory as well. Raftos continued to look at the screen. Somehow, he had thought the Light Star would give him the edge, the key to finding the lost planet. Now he did not know what to do.

 After a long silence, Mick put a voice to what they were all thinking.

"Why were they shooting at us?” he said.

“You don’t often find that out”,” Raftos said, looking away from the screen at last and facing Mick. "You just have to be thankful you're still alive enough to ask the question.” Raftos stood up and stretched.

 Raftos suggested six hours’ rest, after which himself, Kimlon and Harris would take the shuttle and inspect that planet. It was just possible that someone might have left a forwarding address.

 Packet suggested he look for a promising place to land before he turned in.

 Harris returned to his bunk for his six hours’ rest period. There were still a lot of questions running around in his mind, but with all the day's events and the final attack, Harris was sure nothing was going to stop him going to sleep.

 Harris opened his eyes. Kimlon was standing at the side of Harris's bunk, shaking his arm. Time to get up said Kimlon. Harris looked round. He sat up in his bunk, bang, again he bumped his head on the bulkhead over the bunk. He flopped back on his bunk as Kimlon disappeared down the passage. He had been  dreaming but couldn't quite remember what about. Harris had never dreamt like that before, it was all so vivid, green mounds and doors leading to the inside. Then remembered they had all been watching all those images of the green planet before going to sleep but why the doors ?.

 Harris leant forward and swung down from his bunk stretching and trying to shake the sleep from his head. He pulled out a wash wipe from a small container clipped in a rack by his bunk. He rubbed the cloth over his face, and the tingling freshness made him feel a little better. Harris decided to go and get something to eat and drink, so he headed off to the food locker area. To get there from his bunk he had to go through the control centre. As he pushed the door the open he saw Raftos sitting at the table, slumped over the star charts, obviously asleep.

 Harris went over to him and shook him. Raftos did not respond. He shook a bit harder, and Raftos's head flipped over sideways. For a moment Harris thought Raftos was dead, then he smelt the Sluggit. There were two empty Surgon Sluggit bottles on the table and a broken beaker on the floor. Harris lifted his head and felt for a pulse. It was strong and he was breathing heavily. Rather disgusted Harris, slammed Raftos's head down on the table. Harris went off to get some breakfast.

 In the food store, Harris met Kimlon and told him about finding Raftos drunk. Kimlon said that they would still go down to the planet but they would take Packet. Harris was not very happy.

 Harris held his breath as the shuttle touched down on the surface of the planet. It did not sink into soft ground it landed on firm rock. The atmosphere was good so they did not need space suits. Standing by the open hatch they looked around. They had landed near some of the more interesting features on the surface, which did not say much for the rest of the planet. The landscape was mostly greeny brown with no sharp features at all, just gentle rolling slopes and wide plains.

 The feature they had landed nearest to was one of the few objects that broke the smoothness of the planet. They could not see any detail on the objects so decided to walk toward the area. Before they set off, Kimlon opened a locker just inside the door of the shuttle, took out an object and handed it to Harris. Harris took it, then Kimlon offered one to Packet, who put up his hands up saying he would not know how to use one. Kimlon pulled out a strap and threw the object over his shoulder, Harris did the same. Although Harris had never fired a disruptor, he knew how to.

 The ground was not as solid as they had first thought; it was covered with a kind of moss. This moss covered everything and if you pulled at it there were no roots to speak of, it simply sat on a hard, dense rock. When touched, the moss gave a pungent acidic smell. The moss even covered the objects they had landed near. These objects they had thought may be signs of old buildings, but up close they were far from regular, just large pieces of the same rock. They pulled some of the moss off but found nothing. Suddenly Harris saw something that almost stopped his heart beating.

 Not far away from the rock was a small, gentle sloping mound just like the one in the dream.

 "If there is a door on the other side of that,” said Harris, “I'm going to scream.”

 They made their way over to the mound, but it was just a mound, no doors, nothing. They climbed on top of it, and at the top there was a circular object covered with the moss. It was only the width of a stride and a hand width high, just enough to see its outline as if someone had put it there. They scraped the moss from its surface. It was not an object as much as a raised core, as if the mound had been worn away around it. Its flat top had some markings, but nothing recognisable –  they could have been caused by the wind or the etching of the moss.

 Suddenly, as they were examining the rock, Harris felt faint and sank to his knees. He started to fall forward and had to put his arm out to stop himself falling flat onto the rock.

"Damnation!” shouted Kimlon. "How stupid can you get. Packet, grab his other arm and pull him away from where we have cut the moss.”

 They pulled Harris away and he began to recover slightly.

"It's the moss,” said Kimlon. "It gives off a narcotic gas. We have got to get away from here as fast as we can.”

 Travelling as fast as they could, the three made their way back to the shuttle. All three were struggling for breath by the time they made it inside. Kimlon opened a hatch and passed out oxygen masks. The three of them slumped on the shuttle floor for quite a while breathing heavily into the masks. Kimlon then took the controls of the shuttle and with great difficulty managed to get the shuttle away from the extremely strong pull of the planet and into low orbit.

 The three put on emergency space suits and Kimlon purged the shuttle of the air from the planet, then re-pressurised the ship and they removed the space suits.

"What was that?” said Harris, still not feeling at all well.

 Kimlon apologised, saying it was not till Harris had fallen ill that he had remembered where he had come across that pungent acidic smell before. Many years ago, he had come across that moss on a planet in the Gerrifon system. He was a young cadet in a survey squadron, they were setting up a survey camp when it started to rain, if the moss gets wet or is disturbed it gives off this narcotic gas.

 Over seventy-five were killed; Kimlon only survived because he and a few others were close enough to their shuttle to get inside and don protective suits. It was so long ago Kimlon had almost forgotten about the incident.

 When the shuttle arrived back at Light Star, Raftos was a little more sober but in a bad mood. He had a headache and a large bump on his forehead where Harris had slammed his head down on the table. Harris kept quiet about that; it served him right for getting drunk.

 Kimlon instructed Packet to select a new place to jump – it did not matter where, but away from where they were. He told Mick to jump as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Raftos was moaning and following Kimlon about asking what they had found. Eventually, Kimlon turned on Raftos and said that they had not found the old Arolloan planet but they did have to get out of there fast and Raftos should shut up.

Light Star sat motionless a billion miles away from her last position. The space around them was so empty it was almost as it had been swept clean. Packet had chosen this position for that very reason; setting the scanners to a general scan, no one could creep up on them unnoticed here, even something with a blanking device.

 Raftos slightly soberer, Harris, Mick, Packet and Kimlon were sitting around the table in the command centre. There were a few more computers in there now and Harris was sitting in front of one of them.

 Kimlon started to explain the rush from the little planet. He was a young boy just starting out as a space cadet. It was all a very long time ago, some hundred and twenty years in fact, and he was a junior in a survey ship moving in the north part of the fifth sector.

 They had found this strange featureless planet that had air and vegetation, so they had put a survey party onto the surface to do a detailed inspection. The standard procedure was followed: a small group went down to check it out then a larger party followed to set up a survey camp.

 Kimlon, being a junior, was assigned to humping equipment and stores out of the landing craft shuttle, stacking them ready for transport to the camp site. Everything was proceeding well, until it started to get misty then it started to rain. Suddenly people were falling down everywhere. Kimlon and a few others near the landing craft started having difficulty breathing, so rushed into the ship and put on space suits. This saved them; outside they could only watch as the landing party suffocated.

 As quickly as they could they went out in their space suits to look for survivors, but there weren't any. They were ordered to abandon everything and return to the orbiting mother ship. With some difficulty they managed to take off and rendezvous with one of three ships in the small survey fleet orbiting the strange planet.

 The survey was abandoned and the lead ship fired its engines to leave orbit, fifteen and one-third seconds later, the supply ship with Kimlon on board fired its engine to follow. As it did so the lead ship exploded directly in front of them. All the pilot could do to avoid smashing into the exploding ship was to use full boost and rise above the explosion. The explosion in fact propelled the supply ship rapidly out of orbit. Damaged and under almost no control they were hurled deep into space.

 As the supply ship moved away, another explosion was seen as the third ship tried to leave orbit. Hundreds of good men had been killed.

 The supply ship, mostly filled with cadets, eventually made it back to base. No rescue attempt was ever made. No one ever went back to that part of the galaxy.

 As is the way of youth, Kimlon's career in space moved on, and he had eventually forgotten about the incident. Having been through many wars and seen many men die, it was just another memory to be forgotten. He had only remembered the event while on the planet’s surface, when he saw Harris collapse. On that original mission he had not been on the surface long enough to take any interest in the vegetation, it was only the smell that seemed familiar.

"You think that planet we have just visited was the same one?” asked Packet.

"Definitely not,” said Kimlon. "It was a similar shape and size but in the wrong place.”

"Unless it's moved,” said Mick.

"Any conclusion about why the ships exploded?” asked Raftos. “This is the first time you've told me this story. Do you think the planet shot at you?”

"The best guess was that the gas which killed the landing party was highly flammable, and leached to the upper atmosphere. When the engines were ignited it simply exploded around the ship,” said Kimlon. "Our ship was saved by being so close to the other one and literally thrown out the way.”

"Why did our ship not explode?” said Packet.

"Our motive power does not eject any flammable products,” said Mick.

"And we did not hit a rain storm,” said Kimlon. "We only disturbed the vegetation a little giving off a small quantity of gas.”

"Why would two planets so far apart have the same toxic vegetation?" said Raftos.

"Protection," said Harris who was sitting playing with the computer.

 While the others had all been talking, Harris had pieced together all the images they had taken through the telescope while orbiting the planet. Harris had a display of the rotating blue green planet on the computer screen. Harris then turned the image into a contour map of the surface.

 The image continued to rotate as Harris separated the image into two halves. Like two halves of an orange top and bottom, the two halves continued to rotate; he then separated the two halves into quarters, then separated the quarters. Suddenly, as everyone watched this process on the computer screen, they realised something very odd was happening. Each segment of the planet had a mound and a group of standing rocks, each right in the centre of its segment.

"Now that,” said Harris. "Did not happen by chance. Someone has constructed or reshaped that planet to a distinct pattern, one must suppose for a purpose. That vegetation is a way of stopping people looking too hard at the surface.”

"A very effective way,” said Raftos.

"These numbers at the top left of the screen,” said Mick. "What do they indicate?”

"The circumference of the planet and gravitational pull at the surface,” replied Harris.

"That is spooky,” said Mick. "Both are exactly in ratio to the size of this ship by ten to the power ten. That gravity is also too high for the size of the planet,”

"That would explain why we struggled to take off,” said Kimlon.

 "Let's suppose,” said Mick rather hesitantly, "that this Arolloan civilisation is as old as we are led to believe. It is quite possible, in fact quite likely, that they discovered the principles of stellar jumps a long time before I ever thought of it. A long, long time before I was even thought of.”  

Mick started drawing lines in pencil on one of the star charts.

"If they wrapped the jump coils around a small planet,” Mick drew lines travelling around a small sphere, "they might be jumping in a different way, using static coils to hurl a nearby ship to a new point in the galaxy. The people on the ship might never know it has happened.”

"The other planet we came across,” added Kimlon, “would be to throw the ship back again.”

"The crew would not have to know about the jump. The instruments would register the new position,” said Packet, "but clean out the computer memory and you could not find them.”

“So they must be near that other planet”,” said Raftos.

“There could be hundreds of those planets scattered throughout the sector”,” said Harris. “They are small, uninteresting and dangerous – no one would pay them much attention.”

"There is one thing,” said Raftos with that big grin back on his face. "I was right about the Light Star. It is the only ship that can find the old Arolloan planet.”

I don't want to put a damper on things,” said Harris, "but we can only do that if we know the coordinates.”

Chapter 11 - Chasing Light Star

 After some discussion about the small planet being a jump gate, Harris pointed out that it still did not put them any closer the old Arolloan planet Sigadon, as there was no clue about the direction or distance of the jump that had been made from it.

 Harris said that he thought there must be some clue in the file he was carrying; it contained all the information he could gather about sector five. Somewhere in it must be the clue they needed – the Admiral must have known what the clue was, or why would he have asked him to bring that one particular file, in person, all the way across the galaxy?

 Raftos quite rightly questioned why, if the Admiral did know what the clue was, had he not simply told them, instead of leaving it buried in the file.

 Mick thought that perhaps there were people at Central Control the Admiral could not trust. A lot of people were against the Light Star project, even from the start. There may be unresolved issues – a spy or group he had not yet found – the loss of the other ships might not have been an accident.

 All things were possible but there was still one thing that still puzzled Harris – how had the Admiral become aware of the existence of his own personnel file?

 Mick thought they should take a closer look at the Admiral’s daughter, and what link she had with the Rigadoon planet. Mick had a feeling she had somehow worked out where she wanted to go in the second Light Star and it had something to do with the old Arolloan planet Sigadon.

 Mick remembered a reference made by the Admiral’s daughter in a conversation they had at the start of the project. Mick had not paid much attention to it at the time. It was in the early days when they were full of optimism, getting the project to work was enough. No one had given a thought where to go in it. Mick recalled Rachael saying that she had been researching an old legend about the first Arolloan planet for some years, and that she now had the answer to the key.

Mick said that this particular conversation stuck in his memory because she went on to spell the word key, q u i e e.

 Harris was surprised and said that ‘quiee’ spelt that way was not ‘key’ as in unlock, it was the ancient Arolloan word for location. Harris thought if the Admiral’s daughter had known something, she would have probably made some reference to it in her personal logs, which Harris thought he could probably access. Harris asked Packet if they still had contact with central via the communications satellite link, and Packet confirmed they had.

 Harris realised now why the Admiral had given him Rachael's real name: her official files in central records would be under that name. Harris started to access central records and the personal log files. Harris's rank in archives allowed him access to the personnel files. Harris cleared his computer and logged onto central records via the communication satellite chain.

 As Harris typed in his security code he was somewhat surprised to find his access had been upgraded to top grade alpha – there was nothing he could not access. This information Harris decided to keep to himself for the moment; the numbers on the screen would have meant nothing to those watching.

 Harris quickly found Rachael's file and read something of her background; the most interesting thing he found was that she had studied Ancient History at the Terrizon Academy and her final thesis paper was on the myths of ancient civilisations, in particular, the Arolloan peoples. Harris moved on to access the files at the Terrizon University – he wanted to see a copy of her thesis on the subject of the old Arolloan planet of Sigadon.

 When Harris found Rachael's file at the university, the one containing her thesis, Harris could not help but laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?” asked Raftos.

 It was a while before Harris could stop laughing enough to answer.

 It turned out to be one of those very strange coincidences. Rachael's thesis on myths of ancient civilisations was given a unique universal library file number by the Terrizon Academy. That file number just happened to be JHPDF8888. The same number Harris had chosen by chance as the number for his personal file.

 The Admiral never did know about Harris's personal file on sector five. The Admiral must have meant that Harris was to bring his daughter’s file about the Arolloans. He would know its number and have also known that Harris had high enough clearance to simply retrieve the file without having to go through the usual channels and arouse suspicions about it. The Admiral, it would seem, did not know who to trust. He must be suspicious of someone in Central – the file number by itself would not mean anything to anyone else.

"So the key to finding Sigadon is in the file,” said Mick.

"It looks like there must be something in there ,” said Harris.

 Harris downloaded the file and started to read it. He warned everyone that it would take a while to read the file, so most wandered off. Only Packet stayed, suggesting they each take part of the file to look at. This they did.

 Harris started reading the document. It was a general description about the early periods of the four earliest civilisations in the known galaxy. The four were all well known, the Kerzons, Planights, Alphans and the Arolloans. Harris went to the section on the Arolloans.

 Apparently, Rachael had actually been on an archaeological expedition to an old abandoned Arolloan Star colony out in the fifth sector. This was unusual as the Star Academy, keepers of the Histories of the Arolloans, were very reluctant to share their knowledge with outsiders. Even Harris had never had much luck getting information out of the Star Academy before they were destroyed. So how had Rachael managed it? Harris had a sudden hunch and logged his computer back in to Central Command’s main frame personnel files.

 With his new alpha code ranking, Harris had no difficulty finding out what he had wanted to know. The Admiral had been married to an Arolloan, a woman named Aserring Meaaio, presumed dead as she was on Rigadoon when the planet was destroyed.

 The Admiral had probably heard the rumours about an evacuation and was still holding a small hope his wife was still alive. That was why the Admiral was doing everything he could for Raftos. This was personal and close.

 Harris went back with new interest to Rachael's archaeology report on the Arolloan Star colony excavations. The main part of the paper was based on an old document Rachael had found. This very old hand-written document had been identified as one of the most ancient documents the Arolloans had. It seemed she had come across the document by chance in a sale of ancient artefacts in Vleedon, a trading market where goods both legal and illegal were traded. She had obtained this ancient document quite cheaply, because it was written in the old Arolloan which few people could read. Rachael, however, did know someone who could read it: her mother.

 At the end of her graduate thesis, she had put a scanned image of the original document and a translation of the text. Harris read the translation; it was a good translation but not perfect. The document was called Terra Sent Tare, meaning map of the stars. This is where the thesis ended. There was no mention in it about what Rachael thought the document to mean or why she had talked about a key with the old Arolloan spelling. Harris needed more information.

 Harris went back to Central Control and their main data banks. Now he wanted the personal diary of the Admiral’s daughter. The Admiral must have known he might need this kind of information, as only his new Alpha security would allow him access to personal diaries.

 The diary was easy to find but much harder to read. Rachael spilled out heart to this diary; there were reams and reams of data, some quite personal. Harris skipped to the time when the Light Star project was started and did a search for Terra Sent Tare. Luck was with Harris: it was there.

 Rachael had done her research well, and found that the ancient Arolloan form of writing was written in interlaced numeric, which meant consecutive lines do not follow each other. She also realised that there were secondary meanings to groups of words. The ancient Arolloans would have known this well, but it was far from common knowledge now. Rachael had extracted from the ancient document the secondary meaning, which indicated groups of star codes; these she had interpreted as a position somewhere in sector five.

 Unfortunately, Rachael had not put this position in her diary. Harris printed the star codes and gave them to Packet asking if he could translate them into a position. Packet looked at them and thought he might just be able to, although there were only the bare bones of a location in the codes. It would take time.

 As Packet started playing with the numbers, Harris went back to the old document Rachael had gleaned the numbers from. Harris was sure that if Rachael had taken Light Star 2 anywhere it would be to the place she had worked out from this old document.

 Harris had come across scans of this document before, but had always questioned its authenticity. He had never been able to trace its origins further back than a Star Knight called Kin Ho No, from whom many faked documents seemed to appear. Rachael had, however, pushed the date back to some time before Kin Ho No, which put the document in a new light. What Rachael had not realised, however, was that the document she had found was not an original but a copy of an older copy found on Petra Nine. The copy Rachael had worked from was not complete – it had the last verse missing.

 The original document was of a type Harris knew from his own research into Arolloan culture: a Stankz, one of the earliest forms of prayer used by the Star Knights. It was written in a very particular form. Although the document was written in one long paragraph, it was read as five verses and each verse had five lines with five words in each line. Rachael's copy only had twenty lines; therefore, any hidden information she had found would be incomplete.

 Harris knew he had a copy of the original full prayer in his own personal file, the one he had brought with him. The prayer was still in the original Arolloan, which he could translate for himself. That, however, would have to wait. Packet had come up with a coordinate in sector five from the numbers Harris had given him from Rachael's diary.

 Raftos again assembled the crew around the wooden table, and Harris explained what he had found in Rachael's diaries. When Harris had finished there was a long silence.

"I don't see we have any choice but to go and find out if Light Star 2 is there," said Raftos.

"It seems as if that is an unwritten part of our mission,” said Mick. "And I don't know about anyone else, but I'm bloody curious about those first ships.”

"We must realise there won't be any one alive if we do find it,” said Raftos. "If something disastrous had not happened they would have jumped back to base. It has also been too long. They did not have air or food supplies for anywhere near this length of time.”

"If the ship is where you think it is,” said Kimlon.

"That is why we must go,” said Harris. “If Light Star 2 is there, then

the full poem must hold the key that will then lead us to Sigadon,”

 Everyone agreed they make the jump. They would jump just close enough to scan the area where they thought the Light Star 2 had gone, after that they would jump close to the exact position if it was safe to do so. Harris and Packet went to the communications room, Raftos and Mick went to the switch room and Kimlon went to supervise the rest of the crew.

 Just as they were about to make the first of the jumps, Harris received another signal in Arolloan script. Harris decided this time to reply also in Arolloan to try to find out who was sending the messages.

 This would be the last signal they would be able to send, for they were now heading deep into sector five, beyond the reach of the communication satellites.

 Raftos joined Harris and Packet in the communications room as they were scanning the area where they were going to jump next. The signs were not good. The area was filled with debris, small moons, asteroids, and stellar rubbish of all kinds. If Light Star 2 had jumped into the middle of all that debris without scanning the area first it was no wonder they did not come back.

 Trying to set their own ship inside there without hitting anything was going to be a very delicate task. The scanners were showing no sign of any other ship, but that was not surprising. You could hide a battle fleet in such a debris field without seeing it. They decided to make three jumps rather than two; their first move would be outside the debris field so they could scan for a safe place inside the edge of the field. Then they could scan for a place where they thought the other ship could be. They made the first jump, scanned and found a suitable free area inside the debris field.

 They were now effectively hidden in the debris field. It would be almost impossible for anyone to find them. Their ship left no vapour trail to follow, no iron track and the identification transponder all ships have to carry had been turned off even before they had set out. They were well and truly alone. Raftos decided another six-hour rest period would do everybody good, so everyone went to night shift mode. Harris went back to his bunk and got onto it with some relief.

Suddenly, a hand appeared at the side of Harris’s bunk. Harris looked at it; it was holding two bars of Hershey. Harris looked over the side of his bunk. It was Mick, and he just winked as Harris took the bars, then he disappeared down the passage. It had been a long day.

 Harris lay on his bunk looking up at the bulkhead overhead, then he pressed the Vidicon button and watched as the screen flickered on. As expected there was nothing except static, there were no signals this deep into sector five. He lazily twiddled the switch up to the maximum. Suddenly there was a dot in the middle of the screen. Harris blinked his eyes; now there was nothing. Harris put it down to gamma rays passing through his eyeball. Curiosity, however, made him continue looking at the screen. A few moments later there was another dot and he did not imagine that. Harris waited for what seemed a long time. It happened again. Harris rolled over on his bunk and pressed the intercom button.

"Packet, meet me in communications now,” said Harris. "We're being scanned.”

 Harris and Packet sat in the dimly lit communications module watching the screens. There was a pulse on one of the screens.

"That's it,” said Harris. "Did you lock its location?”

"Yes,” replied Packet. "Looks like a remote satellite. Lock its location and ask for its ID on the next ping.”

 Harris took the coordinates and put a narrow beam transmit on the target,then sent the standard identity request signal. If it was friendly it would say who it was. If it wasn’t it would lie or not reply. A data stream came back and flashed up on the small screen. Harris read out the information.

"It's a class Centaur Drone, Code ID TEV1564 HLO759, using type 11CD scanning. Well, that's straightforward and let's ask for its under code to see if it's lying,”

 The signal Harris was getting from the satellite came from a transponder that all craft had to carry. If you were detected and did not have a transponder signal you were automatically considered hostile and destroyed. The under code is part of that signal that only the military have access to and it is a built into the transponder code that identifies any registered craft satellite or ground station. This under code cannot be altered. If the under code and the transmitted ID do not match, the craft carrying the transponder  is automatically considered hostile and destroyed. This is a great incentive to register and not mess with the codes.

The signal came back and matched. Harris looked up the ID number with the register of satellites they had in their database.

"It appears,” said Harris, "It is an old mining remote sent out to the Segma system over two hundred fifty years ago. It was from Trillion to scan in the asteroids of Segma three. It was reported lost, which is hardly surprising it's a long way from home. Mind you, two hundred and fifty years is a long time, it's a wonder it's still working.”

"They don't build satellites like they used to,” said Packet. "At least it's harmless.”

"I'd sleep better if it was turned off,” said Harris.

"You can't do that unless you know the codes,” said Packet.

"You forget,” said Harris. "I know rather a lot of codes.”

 Harris fed a stream of numbers into the terminal in front of him and transmitted to the satellite. The scanning stopped.

"You're a useful guy to have around,” said Packet. "If it was hostile could it be started again?”

" You have to know my code to activate it again, but around here nobody would be surprised if a satellite stopped working,” said Harris. "Now let's get some of that rest period.”

 Packet and Harris left to return to their bunks, but halfway back Harris stopped. Packet had gone off in another direction so Harris stood for a while on his own, thinking something was not right. Slowly he walked back to the communications room.  

 Harris logged on and found his alpha security rating also applied to the ship's computers. He wondered if the military communications satellite's array had covered this area yet and sent a ping. It came back – the connection had been made. As contact was made, he decided to send the Admiral an update of their progress. He sat at a terminal and started to type a message in Arolloan, the same as he was receiving them. It was an update of their movements and what they were going to do next.

 Suddenly Harris stopped typing. Something at the back of his mind was troubling him but couldn't quite work it out. He quickly erased the document, then electronically minced it so it could never be retrieved.

He stared at the terminal for a while in silence. Why were they attacked at the small green planet, whose ship fired at them and why? Half the people at central wanted the ship and Raftos destroyed. If it worked, which it did it was a game changer. That would upset a lot of people. Then perhaps there was more than one other player in this game – where did the Streaks that saved them come from?

 Harris started typing. If people were playing games he was going to join in. The new message was in plain language and he would send it in simple military code. It made no mention of the little green planet or looking for Light Star 2. It simply said they had new data which confirmed the position of the old Arolloan planet Sigadon. He said this position confirmed data he had calculated himself. He typed in a fake set of coordinates and said that they were now preparing to take Light Star to this position after their next six-hour rest break.

He then pressed transmit, wondering what pit of vipers that would stir up and where.

When he got back to his bunk, Harris switched the now silent Vidicon off and went to sleep.

Chapter 12 - The Discovery

 Harris and Packet sat in the extended observation pod looking at the stars before scanning the area where Harris thought the second Light Star might be. As they looked around there were far fewer stars than there had been last time. This place was remote even for sector five. What light there was came from a large dust cloud far below them. This gave a shadowy glow to the mass of broken debris in the area they were studying. It would be hard to find anything here.

 The object of their observations at the moment was not to look for the other Light Star but to find a hole in the debris field somewhere near where they wanted to be. A gap big enough for them to jump into without bumping into anything. This was far from an easy task.

As the instruments ticked away, Packet stretched and ask Harris what that last message from Central had said. Harris said he had forgotten about it and had not translated it yet. Harris opened a comm unit and retrieved the file.

"Well it's a bit more chatty than last time,” said Harris reading the message. "But it is still a bit odd, it mentions the attack on us, which is very strange because we did not tell central about that. It says a Culourgon pirate ship attacked us because our transponder signal was not correct and they thought we were a military craft who were after them. Central has sent us the code for a transponder signal that says we're a harmless Mimen unarmed survey ship. Well, we are unarmed, that's true. And they have also sent us a very illegal crack code so the under code says the same thing.”

"I did not know you could do that,” said Packet.

"Neither did I,” said Harris. "Let's not tell Raftos that one.”

"Why a Mimen survey ship in particular?” asked Packet.

"They are a very spartan people and don't carry anything anyone would want,” said Harris. "The second part of the message is another update of the other ships that are in sector five. That will be interesting.”

"Does it say anything about the ship that saved us from the attack, the mother ship the Streaks must have come from?” said Packet.

"Nothing,” said Harris. "But there is a small message for you at the end.”

"For me?” said Packet somewhat surprised.

"Simple, but to the point,” said Harris. "It says tell Packet it's Syd Peru. I assume that means something to you."

"It the end of that attack, the face on the Vissi screen. I shouted ‘what's your name’ just as the screen went blank. That must be the reply.”

"Is there something you're not telling me?” asked Harris. "We're all alone, no one can hear us.”

"What are you on about?” said Packet.

"Well that woman seems to be following you about rather a lot,” said Harris. "According to you she saves you from certain death, rescues you from a prison planet, saves us from a rocket attack and now sends you a message from Central Command. Is any of your story true? Is any of this trip true? Have I just fallen asleep at my terminal on Astor and dreamed this big adventure?”

"Everything I've told you is true,” said Packet. "I don't know about big adventure, I was happy in my life, the very last thing I would have ever wanted to do was this. A billion miles from anywhere, in an untested ship full of bandits, the only one who can drive it is two stops short of the depot and we are looking for a lost planet. I don't know about you but this was not my lifestyle choice.”

"Then who's this woman Syd Peru?” said Harris

"I don't know,” said Packet. "I wish I did.”

 "I've always had the feeling someone on this ship was not telling the truth,” said Harris. "I thought it was you, you are too good, too clever, all this sophisticated equipment. You could be in touch with anyone and nobody would know. If you say you are clean, and I know I have not got any hidden agenda,that leaves Raftos, his crew and Mick. Well as you say, Mick's two pecks short of a parrot, so I don't think it's him. The Timmerons . . . it’s not in their nature. So that leaves Raftos.”

"I think we should take heed of Predling's advice,” said Packet. "I think we are on the verge of becoming paranoid. If we look at this sensibly and take the politics out of it, we have a much simpler explanation. Two men, Raftos and the Admiral, who want the same thing – to find their loved ones. By some quirk of fate, they were thrown together at the one time when their two missions coincide. I think we are right when we say the Admiral’s behind this – he has lost the most precious thing that meant absolutely everything to him, his daughter.”

"Not just his daughter,” said Harris. "His wife was on Rigadoon when it was destroyed, there is always the chance she was evacuated to old Sigadon – another good reason to help Raftos.”

"I didn't know that,” said Packet. "He must have pulled in every favour and every string he knew, risking everything, his position, his career, on this remote possibility of finding them. His daughter must have told him about the location of Sigadon being hidden in the ancient poem. He was the one who asked you to bring that file, he knew it was written in ancient Arolloan so he needed someone who could speak it as he couldn't.

Remember, it is a language you have to be taught by a speaker, and there are very few teachers. A few calls, a few names, you would be the most suitable. A military man, you could be ordered across the galaxy without question, and you could get his daughter’s file without raising suspicions at central.”

 Packet adjusted a few controls on the scanners. Then continued. “As for Raftos, he was on the same mission to find his family, his meeting with Mick was the coincidence that brought Raftos and the Admiral together. Light Star was the catalyst. Predling was right when he said we should have never got away with stealing it; the Admiral let us have it, whether he knew we had Mick or not I don't know.

As to my situation, well, I was set up by people on my home planet – nothing to do with this mission. I do, however, think it was the Admiral that got me out.”

 "I'll go along with most of that,” said Harris. "But when I first saw Raftos he told me he had asked for me on the mission as payback for a favour, something that had happened when we were young. He described something even I had forgotten. So why would he have said that if I was really the Admiral’s choice?”

"This is payback for a favour?” said Packet. "I would not think you were much of a friend if you asked me along on this trip. Perhaps he was briefed by the Admiral, although I don't think Raftos would lie like that, perhaps it is just another coincidence. Or . . .”

"Or what?” said Harris.

"Or perhaps there is some third player, something all of us are unaware of,” said Packet. "Perhaps we had better listen to Predling and not question things too deeply until this is all over.”

"Well if we find Light Star 2 we will have completed the first part of the mission,” said Harris. "And if our instruments are right we have just found that hole we have been looking for.”

Packet leant over to the intercom.

"Captain.”

"Raftos here.”

"Start the generators for the jump, we have the coordinates, we are starting to retract the observation pod now.”

 The Light Star made the jump into the area found by Packet. It seemed a larger space now they were in there than it had when they scanned it. It was still, however, smaller than Mick would have liked for safety.

 Harris and Packet had stayed in the observation pod during the jump. In the retracted state they could not see much because of the structure of Light Star; they could, however, see forward and it was quite an experience.

 The rocks and asteroids dimly lit by the plasma cloud below them seemed to become slightly transparent then blur as if suddenly moved. They were then replaced by other blurred shapes that transformed into transparent bodies then solid rocks. Harris and Packet did not feel anything themselves, they did not feel as if they had moved at all; it was as if it had all happened outside.

 The intercom crackled and Raftos's voice told them the jump had been made and they could start scanning again.

 Packet started the pod on its slow extension outside the perimeter of the jump rings. The area was full of rocks of all shapes and sizes. It suddenly struck Harris that perhaps this was Sigadon and it too had been destroyed. Harris put a scan on several of the bigger rocks, but this quickly dispelled his thought: they were far too young in age to have ever been part of a planet.

 Harris and Packet started scanning. This time it would be different, this time they would be looking for life forms. Well, more macabrely, signs of dead life forms. After three hours of fruitless scanning, Harris suggested they went back for some food and rest before trying again. Packet readily agreed.

 There must be something in the process of giving up that triggers fate. Just as they were shutting down the scanners there was a short beep. A familiar beep. Packet said he thought it was that mining satellite again. Harris knew better that had been shut down and this was a different sounding transponder beep. Harris sent the inquiry signal, and the answer came back almost instantly. Flashing in the centre of the data screen was the simple returned message: 'Light Star' Then the signal stopped and the screen went blank.

"Was that for real?” said Harris.

"Telescopes,” said Packet, sliding a new control panel out in front of his seat.

 Two of the screens filled with images as two of the onboard telescopes uncovered and angled themselves round to the position indicated by the transponder signal.

 The smaller two-metre telescope picked out a large asteroid rotating very slowly. The big six-metre telescope could not swing around far enough. Packet pressed the auto switch, and big gyros adjusted the position of Light Star and brought the big telescope to bear onto the same asteroid. The telescope scanned across the surface of the rock. It was a very large asteroid, perhaps the size of a small moon, crescent shaped with a rough surface. The telescope found nothing.

 Then the transponder signal sounded again, and both telescopes homed in on the point the signal came from. Right on the horizon of the rotating asteroid, there came into view a strange object. The big telescope was wound up to maximum power as the greenish object rotated more and more into view.

"I suppose it was inevitable the way they would have jumped into here,” said Packet.

 Packet pushed the intercom button “You all watching this?" he said.

Raftos's voice came back "We're watching.”

 “The Light Star must have crashed into the asteroid somehow and started it rotating.” said Harris. “ That  is why we lost the transponder signal. ”

The pictures showed that only half the ship was remaining, like half a doughnut sitting on of the surface. Some of the accommodation modules were still there and one of the big generators. Everyone watching knew that when a ship is chopped in two like that, no one survives.

 Although each crew member knew what to expect if they did find Light Star 2, the mood around the table in the command room was sombre. It is one thing knowing you are going to find a disaster, but quite another finding it. There was some debate as to whether they should try to communicate with the ship on the off chance there was anyone alive on board. Packet said he had tried the standard radio emergency bands and they were not transmitting. What communications equipment there was on that ship would have been located in the missing half of the crashed ship.

 There was hardly any debate about the fact that they would have to take the shuttle down to the crash site to inspect the ship. That seemed to have been taken by everyone as something they would just have to do. The only thing to be decided was who would go down. Raftos decided four should go: Kimlon, Harris, Packet and Predling.

 Rather surprisingly, Mick said that he should be one of the team. Mick was the least experienced spaceman and also the most nervous member of the crew. If anything happened to him everyone else was stuck. Mick, however, pointed out that he was the only person on board who knew the complete design of the ships. He knew things about the ship no one else did. Raftos asked him if he was prepared for what he might see if they did find any of the crew – it would not be very nice. Mick said that after the places he had been living during the past few years, there was not much left that could turn his stomach over.

 Reluctantly, Raftos agreed and Mick was to go in place of Predling. The four went off to prepare the shuttle for the trip down to Light Star 2.

 The asteroid where the ship had crashed was about seventy-five miles away, not far for the shuttle. Landing on it, however, would not be easy. The asteroid was very misshapen and had a very low density, which meant any pressure on it would alter its dynamics – the landing would have to be very good. Harris was voted as the best option for the pilot. Harris was going to protest until Kimlon pointed out that neither Packet nor Mick were pilots, and he never been taught – he only learnt to fly in battle, where things like soft landings never occurred. Harris would take the controls.

 Harris, much to his satisfaction, made a perfect landing about a hundred meters from the crashed Light Star. He then lowered the blast shields from the front windows. As the shields dropped away the awesome sight of the wrecked Light Star towering above them was revealed. The misty light from the plasma cloud in the distance made the scene look like some strange fantasy painting.

 Mick was to stay on the shuttle while Harris, Packet and Kimlon were to put on space suits and investigate the wreck.

 The hundred yards to the wreck seemed to take a long time to cover. The low gravity and sheer size of what remained of the craft made the whole journey seem unreal. Packet had some electronic equipment and started setting it up, Harris walked around videoing everything he could, while Kimlon set up some powerful lights. The lights were needed because soon the rock would be rotating into the dark zone. As the three went about their business not much was said.

 Packet studied his instruments. The one remaining main generator was giving out about five percent power, plenty for a stationary ship. It had not automatically cut out so there must be something on board using the power, and a reasonable amount or it would have overheated and shut down. There were no external lights on the ship and all the blast covers were in place over the portholes so they could not see if any lights were on inside. Packet ran a long wire out from his instrument package and placed a magnetic microphone against the hull of the ship. Going back to his instruments he switched off his space suit communications and plugged himself into the instrument package and listened.

When there are no other sounds to distract you, it is amazing what you can hear. The huge ship was creaking and groaning the with stresses and strains as it moved from what little heat there was from the plasma cloud to the cold of the shadow. These noises, Packet thought, were like the singing of deep sea creatures; in the background, however were other constant, more familiar sounds. Circulation fans, pumps, the hum of control systems. Is it possible, thought Packet, that someone could be still in there. He listened, but there were no other sounds, no movement, no voices, nothing else at all. Packet switched his communications back on. "You getting all this?” he said

 All the information Packet was gathering was being sent back to the shuttle to be recorded.

"We're getting all your stuff, Packet,” said Mick. "Nothing unusual but don't approach the ship again, leave all the equipment where it is and return to the shuttle directly. Harris has found something that affects what we do now. That goes for you too, Kimlon, return directly,”

"Returning,” said Kimlon and Packet.

 The three walkers returned to the shuttle and with relief took off their space suits. It was never nice in space suits, even the best fitting ones. Mick had made everyone a warm drink, which went down very well. Through the front windows of the shuttle, the large shape of the crashed ship grew ever dimmer as the asteroid rotated into its dark zone. Only the lights set up by Kimlon lit part of its superstructure.

 Harris put his drink down and switched on the video he had been making while Packet had been taking his electronic measurements. Everyone watched in silence while the images of the ship, the impact points and the rock flickered across the screen. Harris began to explain the rather sobering facts.

 The rock they were on was very porous, very light, and full of cavities. Where the ship had impacted with the ground they could see on the video it had penetrated into the ground, filling these cavities. The missing part of the ship was inside the rock.

 Everyone realised the implication of what Harris was saying, Light Star 2 had jumped to a position occupied partly by the rock and had fused with it.

"That can't happen,” said Mick. "Two bodies cannot occupy the same point in space, that is why we are being so careful. If they try to do so they explode as the nuclei try to repel each other.”

"I think there was an explosion,” said Harris. "A big one. Look at these other pictures.”

 The group watched as Harris showed images of a large crack in the rock next to the crashed ship. In places they saw deep holes, in others pits filled with crushed rock. Then a deep cavity that seemed to go right through the entire asteroid.

 Harris explained that he thought the ship had caused a large explosion but because of the porous nature of the rock, it had absorbed most of the shock otherwise the ship would have been blown apart. The explosion was large enough, however, to blow the asteroid into two halves, and the crack seen on the video was the junction between the two halves.

 The two halves of the asteroid were probably blown apart, but its own gravity had gradually brought the two halves back together again. Harris thought there was very little holding the two halves together, and any pressure would cause them to move apart. Even Packet crossing the crack to attach his microphone could have moved the two sections apart.

 This crack between the two halves of the asteroid was on the very edge of the Light Star and was between the shuttle and the crashed ship. Harris suggested that in the light of this discovery they should not risk staying on this side of the asteroid. They would leave the equipment where it was and when they came around to the light side again, take the shuttle across to the other half of the rock where most of the crashed ship was entombed.

 All were agreed and it was decided to rest until horizon dawn, when they could relay this information to Raftos aboard Light Star 3.

Chapter 13 - Rescue

 Dawn plus thirty, and the shuttle gently lifted off the broken half of the asteroid. It flew up and over the top of the crashed Light Star, then rotating one hundred and eighty degrees so the front windows of the shuttle were facing the crashed ship, Harris gently landed less than fifty metres from the base of the crashed ship.

"Well,” said Harris as the engines shut down. "All we have to do now is decide what to do.”

"We have monitored the sounds all the time,” said Kimlon. "There is nothing to indicate any life.”

"Is there pressure on the inside?" Mick asked Packet.

 Packet thought for a minute then decided that there was, because the fans and pumps were still working. If there had been no air they would have seized up long ago and stopped. The pressure inside the ship, while increasing the possibility of survivors, made things more difficult for them to get in.

 Mick was asked about the places to gain access. The problem facing any attempt to get into the crashed Light Star was the fact that the only double-pressure hatches were on the part of the ship now buried in the rock. Light Star 2 did not even have a shuttle docking hatch as it never had a shuttle – that was added to Light Star 3 by Raftos. None of the Light Stars were ever intended for long space trips, they were built as a test platform and nothing else.

 Options were discussed. Cutting their way in was out of the question as they did not have the equipment. Drilling on a pressurised ship was a recipe for disaster, and even if either of those options were feasible they would need an external pressure chamber air lock, something they also did not have. It quickly became apparent they did not have much. Even if they went back up to Light Star 3 there was little on board for a rescue mission. It had never entered anybody’s thoughts that they would even find the other Light Star, let alone have to try to enter it.

 This glum fact settled on everyone's spirits in the shuttle. Even though they all knew in their hearts that no one was alive on board, to be so close and yet not confirm it. . .

 Out of the silence, Mick's small voice suddenly said, “Construction hatches.”

 Everyone looked at him.

 Mick explained that during construction there were hatches placed every nine metres all around the power rings. They were put there to allow for the adjustment of the reflector plates at the junctions of the magnetic couplings during testing. These hatches were screwed and glued back into position on completion. With a small amount of effort, these could be removed.

 Harris could not see how this helped them.

 Mick said that the outer power rings were not pressurised, as during operation they needed to be in a vacuum. They were only pressurised between jumps for maintenance. This is what they did on Light Star 3, but because Light Star 2 crashed at the end of the jump, the outer ring would not be pressurised. The link tubes between the outer ring and the body of the ship had pressure doors at each end for safety. They were, in effect, air locks.

 Spirits in the little shuttle cabin lifted enormously, now they had a plan. Whether it would work or not was another matter – at least it was a plan. Kimlon, Packet and Harris would go on the first attempt at gaining access to the crashed ship. Mick protested, saying he was the only one who knew his way around the power rings so he thought he should be one of the ones to go. Packet said he would stay and keep listening to the instruments he had set up to monitor the ship, as it was logical Mick should go.

 The three suited space men approached the huge green machine, somewhat dwarfed in their silvery suits against the backdrop surrounding them. They reached the power ring where it entered the rock. The huge metal structure of the power ring towered over them like a frozen rainbow. Inspecting the surface of the power ring they found one of the access panels. It was held in position by twelve machine screws and some kind of seal compound. Kimlon put the tool bag on the ground and unfolded it, then from small pockets in the bag Kimlon and Harris each took out a power driver and went to undo the screws.

 Placing the power driver in the captive slot in the top of the first screw, Harris pressed the button. Rotating in both directions, the driver quickly screwed out the bolt. Taking a small pinch of Capdab from the handle of the screwdriver, Harris took the first screw off the end of the screwdriver and, using the sticky compound, attached it to the hull of the craft. Although this was not necessary in the slight gravity of the asteroid, it was good practice and it was never a good idea to have items drifting about where you did not know where they were.

 The screws were quickly out and Kimlon took out the largest piece of equipment they had, a power chisel. This looked like an old-fashioned wood chopping hatchet, only this was powered by gas and had fifty-two moving parts. On pressing the button on the handle, two small chambers of gas in the head, fuelled from a cartridge in the handle, exploded one slightly after the other. The effect of this was to put a pulse of energy into the edge of the chisel axe head. The shock of the first pulse was immediately cancelled out by the second explosion, thus preventing recoil.

 Fortunately, the access plates had been bolted on top of the surface plates of the Light Star, which meant there was a small ridge to get the edge of the power chisel under. Six blows had a corner of the hatch a few millimetres away from the surface. Mick and Harris placed a small hydraulic expander under the gap. The three stood back as the jaws slowly expanded, finally breaking the seal, and the hatch slowly tumbled to the ground. They picked up the hatch and moved it several metres away from the opening, then they shone their lamps into the dark recess behind.

 There were no surprises inside, it was completely dark and quiet, the power coil was there in the centre of the tube, the access walkway was on the opposite side, cables and ducting were just above the coil. The only odd thing was approaching it from end on – it was all vertical rather than the normal horizontal.

 Mick explained that they would have to get hold of the flange connector of the coil and work their way under the coil to get to the walkway on the other side. They could then climb up the handrail uprights to the first spar pressure hatch. They radioed Packet aboard the shuttle to tell him what they were doing. Then, with Mick leading the way, they entered the Light Star.

 Things in the power coil chamber looked very different in the beams of their lights. Shadows of equipment and bulkheads all played tricks with the lights. Each man had two head lamps, a chest lamp and a hand-held search light. They pushed their way under the power coil onto the walkway and started to climb up. Climbing was no problem in the very low gravity. They quickly reached the first spar pressure hatch.

 All space ship pressure hatches are basically of the same design: a six point locking mechanism, an expanding rim forming an air seal, a pressure gauge point and an observation glass. There were two types, the first were the simple side swing manually operated type, cheap and functional, the second, powered sliding, the type used on passenger liners and posh ships. Light Star had the basic type.

 Harris, Mick and Kimlon positioned themselves around the hatch. Harris shone his light through the small round observation window to see if the pressure hatch at the other end of the spar was closed; if it was open they could not use that passage. There were no lights in the spar, the far end door was closed.

Kimlon took out a small pressure probe and placed its sampling arm into a tube in the door; he pushed and the sampling arm broke through the seal ring in the middle of the tube and penetrated to the other side of the door. Kimlon looked at the dial on the pressure gauge. This indicated that the passage was pressurised. Harris turned a knob on a valve at the bottom of the door and there was a hissing sound as a stream of whitish vapour blew out of a venting nozzle.

The freezing air covered part of the drive coil opposite the hatch in a whitish frost. As the venting stopped, Kimlon rotated the locking handle and pushed the hatch open. Very cautiously the three astronauts entered the spar tube. Harris switched on his external communication link. "Packet can you receive us?” There was silence.

For the moment, while the three were inside the crashed ship, there would be no communication with the outside.

 The spar tubes were small and the three astronauts had to stoop as they moved around in the confined space. Harris closed the pressure door and turned the locking handle, then he checked the venting valve was closed. "OK,” said Harris over the internal suit intercom. The three made their way slowly up the inclined spar tube to the pressure door at the far end. Kimlon shone his light through the small observation window in the door at the top end of the spar. This door led into one of the main passageways; there were no lights on in the passageway.

 Kimlon pushed the pressure gauge rod through the tube in the door, the gauge confirmed there was pressure on the other side. "Stand back,” said Kimlon on the intercom as he pulled the gauge rod out and started to turn the knob on the venting valve. The three pushed themselves against the sides of the spar tube as the musty air started to pressurise the chamber. When the hissing stopped, Kimlon checked the pressure on his gauge then slowly rotated the door handle. The door swung inward.

"Shall I go first?” volunteered Mick.

"I think not,” said Kimlon in a matter of fact voice. "We do not know what we are going to find in there.”

 Kimlon stepped into the passage and shone his light up and down the passage; it was completely empty. Harris and Mick followed Kimlon along the passage. The air was slightly dusty and the beams of the lights pierced the darkness like shafts of silver, while shadows jumped and danced in the darkness.

 Mick's voice came over the intercom, “Don't anyone even dare say let's split up.”

 They passed a few unused bunks – the crew never had long enough to spend a night sleeping. The passage came to the area Raftos had called the control centre. This room did not have any furniture in it, but the floor was covered in rubbish. There was some foam matting in one corner with bits of food scattered around and empty cartons as if some tramp had been living there. The three moved the rubbish about with their feet but there was nothing, no bodies, no signs of life. They moved on to the switch room.

 The switch room was also a mess but in a different way. There was still stuff on the floor, but here some of the rubbish was from control panels that had exploded or caught fire. There were still signs of hardened foam on some of the equipment where fire suppression systems had activated. Mick checked a few of the dials and said he thought he might be able to get some of the lights on. Mick started to open a panel. Kimlon shouted at him not to touch anything. They did not know what gases could have built up in other parts of the ship; one loose connection, one spark, could blow the place apart. Mick held his hands in the air away from everything.

"Sorry,” said Mick. "I'm not used to this sort of thing.”

 They went out of the switch room through the opposite door and along the passages leading to the main storage area. The area was still pressurised and their instruments were still reading reasonable levels of oxygen. They still kept their space suit visors down, however, as they did not know what other gases were drifting about or what other smells would greet them. They entered the large round storage chamber, the one used as a mess room on Light Star 3. Most of the lockers had been opened and a large amount of rubbish had accumulated on the side which the low gravity had decided was the floor. It was here amongst the rubbish that they found their first body.

 Fully clad in a space suit, lying on its back half buried in the rubbish, Kimlon almost tripped over its legs. Harris, Mick and Kimlon shone their lights on the prone figure. Kimlon shone his light into the visor of the figure. Harris closed his eyes as nausea started welling up inside him, the worst thing you could do was be sick in a space suit. Harris pressed a small button on the pack located on his chest, a sweet-smelling fragrance filled his visor and his head began to clear. The man was definitely dead, decomposition had set in some time ago. Kimlon moved his torch.

 Slowly the three moved up the sloping incline of the storage chamber, and came across another body also clad in a space suit.

 "I wonder why they died in their space suits,” said Harris over the intercom.

 As they pushed their way up the storage compartment it became apparent some had survived the initial crash. All the stuff on the floor was open packets, cartons, almost every storage box had been opened or turned out. As they flashed their lights around the compartment Harris noticed another body partly covered by two quilted blankets.

"There is another here,” said Harris.

"He didn't make it to his space suit,” said Kimlon directing his light onto the body. "Poor sod it looks as if he did not die all that long ago.”

As Kimlon bent over the body, its eyes opened.

"He's still alive,” shouted Kimlon over the intercom.

The figure laying on the floor mouthed some words. They could not hear them because they had their space suits on. Kimlon said. "I'm going to open my visor.”

 Kimlon turned a switch on his helmet and pushed the visor open a small way, then waited. "It smells rotten but I think it's safe. You two keep your visors closed, you'll be sick.”

Mick bent down by the man and moved some of the rubbish away from him. He looked in his eyes and held up his head.

"The guy’s totally dehydrated,” said Mick. “But there should be something here to help.” Mick scrambled up the side of the lockers to one of the few that had not been opened. He opened it and pulled out several packages and a large green bag. He brought them back to where the man was lying. Mick opened the seal on a package and pulled out a plastic pack with a small pump and a tiny tube.

"This is an emergency hydration unit,” said Mick. "They work very quickly. When this has finished we can feed him a glucose pack.”

"How do you know about all this?” asked Harris.

"I'm not a scientist,” said Mick. "I was a medical orderly for most of my life. This Light Star thing started out as a bit of a hobby. Kind of got out of hand, you might say.”

 Mick tried to open the pack and find a vein in the man's dehydrated arm, but with his space suit gloves on, none of this was possible.

"No good,” said Mick. "Going to have to take them off.”

 "The smell,” said Kimlon. "It's very powerful and you’re not Timmeron, remember.”

Mick repeated the process Kimlon had done with his helmet. Mick then pushed his helmet back. “I think I've slept in worse smelling places,” said Mick. "Don't take yours off, Harris, I don't think you have.”

Mick knelt over the patient on the floor.

"We need more light,” said Mick. "Harris, beneath your feet somewhere there's a locker LC29 – you should find some GlowDoes.”

 Harris pushed some of the rubbish out of the way with his feet and found the locker. He bent down and opened it. Inside were a dozen or so cardboard cylinders about a metre long. Harris pulled one out and unscrewed the top; inside was a clear plastic tube filled with a greenish liquid, and each end was capped with a thick grey plastic stopper. One end had a looped steel wire with a hook, the other had a pull ring attached to a cord.

Harris held the tube in one hand and pulled the cord. A green blue glow began to fill the room as the chemicals in the tube reacted to give a bright light. Harris climbed up the side wall and hooked the light on one of the lockers overhead. Harris repeated this with a second and the room was bathed in light.

 Mick took his space suit gloves off and quickly applied the hydration pack to the man on the floor. He started its pump and strapped it to the man's arm, then inspected him and gave him some injections.

 Harris watched Mick. Suddenly he had transformed from a bumbling idiot to this highly efficient paramedic. His body language had even changed; there was an air of confidence that had suddenly come over him. Mick suddenly went up in Harris's estimation.

The man on the floor began to respond to the treatment quite quickly. He opened his eyes and started to move his lips. Kimlon bent down to hear him. Harris could not hear what the man was saying over the intercom, but Kimlon lifted his head and repeated the words.

"He says there are two other survivors, PA6 and PA9.”

"They are the codes for the passages out the top there,” said Mick, pointing to the hatch at the top of the storage unit.

"You had better go and find them,” said Kimlon, looking round at Harris. "While we finish here.”

"Second and fifth passage to the right,” said Mick.

 Harris took five of the GlowDoes out of the locker and made his way to the upper hatch. Suddenly it was much darker in the passageway as Harris slowly picked his way along the main passage. Harris shone his light down the first joining passage; it was empty, two unused bunks and an empty box. His light shone to the end of the passage; the pressure door at the far end was closed. As Harris turned and his lights moved away from the end of the passage, Harris noticed through the corner of his eye a brightness coming from the round view glass in the pressure door at the far end of the passage.

 Harris went to investigate. Pushing his visor up against the view window in the pressure door, Harris was surprised to find he could see the bright lights of the shuttle far below on the surface lighting up the area in front of the crashed Light Star. Somehow this end of the passage had been torn away from the main structure and was hanging free. Harris looked around and could see to another spar where there was twisted metal and an opening. It looked as if there had been an explosion. Slowly, Harris retraced his steps back to the main passage. He had to be very careful, for it meant the tube he was in was only held at one end and was under pressure.

 Harris made his way to the next passage, and shone his light down. This time the bunks were occupied. The bottom bunk had a figure lying on it in a space suit. Harris moved down the passage and shone his torch in the visor. Whoever it was had been dead a long time – mould and bacteria had taken its toll of the features, whoever it had been. Harris again pressed the button on his chest pack, then he stood up to take a look at the top bunk. Under a thin cover was another body, and this one, although dehydrated, looked simply asleep. As Harris's powerful head lamps fell across the face, the eyes momentarily flinched. This one could be alive, thought Harris.

"I think we have another survivor,” said Harris into his intercom. There was no reply – the space suit intercoms did not work unless you were in sight of each other. Harris looked at the face of the figure laying on the bunk. It was a young girl; her hair was tied back rough and sticky with bits of food, she had a dirty face and hands, and there were sores around her lips. Even so, thought Harris, she was very good looking.

 He wondered if it was the admiral's daughter. He hoped it was, but he also knew there had been four women on board. She looked so peaceful, yet it must have been a living hell on board this ship for the past months. Harris went back to the junction with the main passage and lit a GlowDoe, hanging it so the light lit the main and side passage. It would give ten hours’ light before burning out.

 The next passage was a small link tube with no bunk space, and the fourth had a space suit on the bottom bunk. Harris went to inspect it. It was empty, but then Harris saw a large tear down its side, and lifted part of the fabric. There had been a body inside, as there were some bones and the last remnants of decay. That would partly account for the dreadful smell reported by Kimlon and Mick. There was nothing else in the passage.

 Harris moved back to the main passage to find the fifth bunk space. The shadows darted about as his hand and chest lights cut through the darkness. The light from the GlowDoes was very slight up here, and Harris suddenly remembered Mick's statement about not splitting up. It was not a thought Harris wanted just now. Suddenly, quite out of the blue, another thought came into Harris's head. The reunion party on Baron the last time the tennis team had all met up together, after that they all went their separate ways. He had not thought of Baron for years, let alone the tennis club – so why in Dingo’s name should he think of that? Harris checked the oxygen and dioxide levels in his suit using the gauges on his left arm. They were all fine, so Harris relaxed a bit.

 The fifth passage repeated what Harris had found in the first, a space suited figure on the lower bunk and a sleeping figure on the upper bunk. Harris lit a GlowDoe at the junction of the passage and went to inspect the figures in the bunks.

 The figure on the bottom bunk was again dead. Harris wondered what bizarre event had killed everyone in space suits yet spared those not in one. Perhaps there was a defect in the batch of space suits they had taken aboard this Light Star. None of them had the back packs on – they must have been removed by the survivors.

 Harris then shone his lights on the figure in the top bunk. His eyes did not flicker but he did not look in too bad a shape. His hair was long and matted, he had a growth of beard that had been trimmed very badly with scissors at some time, and again there were sores around the mouth. As the hand light lit up the face of the prone figure, Harris suddenly realised he knew this man. A sudden shiver went down Harris's spine as he realised it was Rodger Dobny. The last time he had seen him was at the tennis reunion party on Baron. It was as if their two brains had reached out to find a common connection. That, thought Harris was weird.

Harris could do nothing more and decided to go back to the others to report. He lit the remaining GlowDoes in the passage on his way back to the storage chamber.

"Three bodies and two survivors,” said Harris as he got back to the storage chamber. "The survivors will need your attention, Mick.”

The man on the floor being treated was looking somewhat improved and had his eyes open, he was still too weak to say anything, however.

"You had better get outside,” said Kimlon to Harris. "Report back and let everyone know what is happening. We will treat the other two and then try to figure out how to get them out of here.”

 Harris took some GlowDoes to light the way back and set off. He quickly reached the spar tube they had used as an air lock and reversed the procedure they had used when entering.

 As Harris climbed out into the darkness of the power coil chamber he pulled one of the GlowDoes from its protective cardboard casing, it was then he noticed a light coming from higher up the power coil chamber. His first instinct was to jump back into the air lock; his second was to get out of there. He shone his hand light toward the position of the light.

 There was nothing there, except the light, as bright as ever. Curiosity got the better of Harris and he put the GlowDoes down and climbed up towards the light. As he approached, it did not become any easier to identify. Less than a metre away, Harris could see it quite clearly. Hovering just above a pair of rectifier plates on the power coil was a white light twinkling like a small star. The temptation to reach out and touch it was overwhelming. Harris knew that was the very last thing he should do, however, so he climbed back down to the pressure hatch and lit a GlowDoe.

 Lowering himself down to the place where the exit hatch had been removed, Harris lit another GlowDoe. As he did so he noticed another of the strange lights hovering just above the reflector plates near the hatch. Harris then pushed himself under the power coil and climbed out of the open hatch. As he jumped down to the surface of the asteroid he heard Packet’s voice.

"Everything OK in there, you've been gone hours?”

"Put the kettle on, I'm coming in,” replied Harris as he walked the fifty metres to the shuttle.

 Harris joined Packet in the shuttle. With relief, Harris took his space suit off; even with all the filters in the world, space suits still felt and smelt awful after you had been in them for a while.

 Harris radioed back to Raftos what the situation was and told him about the survivors. Harris did not know if the girl was the Admiral’s daughter, but Mick would be able to confirm that one way or the other. Harris said that they would be staying on the surface until they had got the survivors out, although how they would do that he was not quite sure. He finished his radio call then had a warm drink and something to eat before getting suited up again to go back to Mick and Kimlon in the crashed Light Star. Packet thought he should go, as Harris was obviously tired. Harris agreed that he was tired but pointed out that he knew the way in, which was not easy.

 Harris wondered what he should take back with him. He realised that to get the injured out they would have to be suited up before they could get across to the shuttle, and the suits on board the crashed ship were obviously faulty. There were two spare space suits on the shuttle, so he decided to take them.

 Closing his helmet and carrying the two suit packs, Harris stood in the shuttle air lock. He took a few deep breaths as the outer door opened and left the shuttle. The crashed ship towered above him; it was almost worse going back knowing what it was like in there, than it had been the first time when it was completely unknown. Harris followed the small line of foot prints that led to the small opening in the side of the power ring.

 When Harris arrived at the storage module, Kimlon and Mick were not there. The survivor on the floor had been made more comfortable by being placed on a sleeping tray taken from one of the bunks. Harris put down the space suits, which had caused him much difficulty manoeuvring around the power coil and in the small spar air lock passage. Harris moved through the top passage to find Mick and Kimlon. They were just finishing treating and making the young girl comfortable.

"Are they both going to make it?” said Harris over his intercom.

"The girl’s in pretty bad shape, but they will both make it,” said Mick. "We have got to get them out of here though, there is a limit to what I can do.”

"Is she the admiral's daughter?” asked Harris.

"That's her all right,” said Mick. "Let's only hope we live long enough to get her home.”

 The three made their way back to the storage module. Kimlon told Harris he could lift his visor – he had boosted the filters to take most of the smell out of the air. They sat on the sloping side of the module to discuss their next move.

“Somehow we will have to get the survivors back to our ship”,” said Mick.

“Getting them out will not be easy”,” said Harris. “None of the survivors can move, so they will all have to be taken out on stretchers. Having just struggled with those space suits it is obvious that they cannot be taken out the way we came in.”

"Why did you bring the suits?” asked Kimlon.

"The survivors will need them to get out with – it seems there is something wrong with the ones on board this ship,” said Harris. "That is, even if there are any suits on board without bodies in them,”

"You have only brought two,” said Mick.

"There were only two spares on the shuttle,” said Harris.

"That is not the main problem,” said Kimlon. "The problem is how do we get everyone out?”

"Just as a bye,” said Harris, "Mick, there were some funny lights in the power coil as I passed through.”

"Funny lights?” repeated Mick

"Hovering in the air just above the reflector plates,” said Harris. "They looked most strange. Is that supposed to happen?”

"Great Bladder Beast of Trall!” shouted Mick. "The ruddy power coils are live!”

"Is that important?” asked Kimlon.

"The halo effect happens just before the system moves into a jump,” said Mick. "The thing could jump at any minute, or at least try to.”

"Not good,” said Harris.

"We've got to shut down the generator,” said Mick getting up. "And now.”

"If we do that,” said Kimlon, “The air pumps stop.”

"What do you want, oxygen or a ship?" said Mick.

Quickly the three made their way into the switch room. Harris and Mick glanced at the coil charge dial; it was just hovering in the bottom edge of the green area. Mick turned to the generator panel; they did not know what circuits were working or not working so Mick had no choice but to pull the circuit breakers on all the generators. All the dials on the instruments panels fell back to their zero position. The three listened as the thump, thump of the air pump ceased and the fans spun idle and stopped.

 Everything was silent. Harris and Mick turned around; the needle on the dial showing the coil charge still hovered menacingly around the bottom of the green segment, then it too slowly fell back into the purple and finally back to zero.

"That's one problem solved,” said Mick. "But now we’ve got no air.”

"Step one,” said Kimlon. "Lower visors. All the remaining oxygen in the air is for the survivors.” Over the internal suit intercom, Kimlon continued. "Next, we will suit up two of the survivors and strap them in stretchers. While we are doing that we can try to  think of the best way of getting them out. We may have to cut our way out,”

 In the storage module, they managed to get the first survivor into the space suit and then went off to put the admiral's daughter in the next one. As they moved along the upper passage Harris remembered something. "I've got the answer,” he said.

 Harris then told them that when he had been looking for the survivors he had gone down the first passage above the storage chamber. He said there was a pressure door at the end where the passage had broken away from the main power ring. That pressure door now led directly to the outside. Kimlon and Harris went to investigate. Harris told them to be careful as the passage was only held at the one end. Kimlon went to the end of the passage and looked through the glass observation panel in the door.

 His only comment was that it was a long way down. Kimlon knew, however, that did not matter. In the low gravity of the asteroid, they could easily jump down. The first man would take a wire, explained Harris, to slide the stretchers down.

"We will have to de-pressurise to do that,” said Mick. "We are one space suit short to do that.”

 To overcome this problem Kimlon suggested he and Harris go back to the shuttle. Harris would stay there and Kimlon would go back, taking Harris's space suit for the third casualty. This meant leaving Mick alone, but he agreed. They were going to lose two air locks full of air in the process, so Kimlon suggested Mick put an oxygen mask on the third survivor till he got back with the third suit. It was also going to get cold. Harris suggested Mick put a couple of GlowDoes near the third survivor – they did not give much heat, but it would be a help.

 Harris and Kimlon went back to the shuttle, by this time both were very tired. They explained to Packet what they were going to do with the survivors. Packet, seeing that Kimlon and Harris were physically drained, said that he would take the spare space suit back to the crashed ship, as he was the only one that was fresh. This time there were no arguments.

 Packet donned one of the space suits and folded up the other. He then went into the air lock. Harris and Kimlon watched as Packet followed the trail across the surface of the asteroid to the access hatch in the side of the crashed ship.

 Harris pulled the tab on a couple of self-heating drink canisters and handed one to Kimlon.

"That's welcome," said Kimlon, settling back in one of the two pilots seats. Harris sat in the other one. They looked out of the forward window where the shuttle’s powerful lights lit up the side of the Light Star. It looked like some giant sculpture bedded in the rock; it must have been the weirdest looking object in the universe.

"Looks like the Admiral’s faith in us seems to have paid off,” said Harris.

"We're not home yet,” said Kimlon. "There are too many things about this mission I do not like,” he said. "No disrespect, but Raftos is placing a lot of faith in you and Mick.”

"Mick seemed to change quite a bit when he was doing that medical stuff,” reflected Harris. "It is as if he was another person, confident capable. Most strange, he really went up in my estimation.”

"Too much of a change perhaps,” said Kimlon. "I only hope he does not crack up before we get out of this – he is the only one who knows how to fly Light Star.”

"You're in a bit of a depressing mood,” said Harris. " Here we are pulling off the rescue of the century and you've got a bit of a downer.”

"Sorry,” said Kimlon. “I am tired, I am a simple soul. I fly space ships, we fly space ships – my people, that's what we do. This whole journey it is too complicated for me. I don't understand how it all works. There are too many things going on. Jumping here, jumping there. I was just helping Raftos try to find his family before it is too late.”

"Too late.” Harris picked up on Kimlon's last words. "Too late for what? Is there something else I do not know about? And why did Raftos got stoned out his mind when we did not find the old Arolloan planet Sigadon? He strikes me as a man who can hold his drink, so he must have drunk a hell of an amount. He knew the search was not ended.”

"Yes,” said Kimlon. "He knew that but he did not know how long the search would take. You see, Raftos is dying.”

There was a long silence. Harris was shocked. Kimlon eventually went on.

"You see, the Monitor is well known as the fastest ship in the sector, it can out run even a military streak. That is how we survived for so long. As you know, you can make ships go faster but there is a price to pay – radiation. The monitor has three engines; that is one more than normal and all three are over charged. Three over run engines running at full boost give out a large amount of radiation. Most of the crew are Timmeron except me and Ottam who are from Quintar. Although we look the same as you, we all come from planetary systems where high levels of radiation are normal, so the engine radiation does not affect us. Raftos, on the other hand, is one of you. He is slowly dying and he knows he does not have long left.”

"Is that why you and the others came along?” asked Harris.

"We had been looking for Sigadon with no success,” said Kimlon. "This seemed to be the last small chance. The crew are all volunteers; normally we would not go near this ship – we do not know anything about it, we follow instructions from Mick to keep it working and that is all. We came to help Raftos. Do you think we will find Sigadon?”

Harris thought for a moment, then said that he thought they would but he had a feeling that would not be the end of the matter. There was still the unresolved matter of who fired the guided missiles at them – they were told it was because they did not give the correct transponder signal, but Light Star never did have a transponder signal – Packet had seen to that. Light Star left no emission trail, no standing engine signature, no warning beacon – no one should have known they were there.

Kimlon raised his drink canister and took a drink, then smiled and said that is what he had meant, it was all too complicated for a simple spaceman like him.

The intercom crackled on the panel in front of Harris.

"OK, you guys we are ready for the descent." It was Packet’s voice. Harris looked up through the front window of the shuttle craft and saw a flashing light high up on the side of the crashed ship. The light was coming from the end of the broken spar.

"We see you,” said Harris in reply.

Packet’s voice came back.

"We have suited up the last survivor, de-pressurised, and opened the pressure door at the end of the upper passage. It looks a long way down. I'm putting my trust in you guys that I can make it.”

"Have you got the cable?” shouted Kimlon.

 "Got the cable and its attached,” said Packet. "Here goes.”

 Slowly, almost too slowly, Packet drifted down to the surface of the asteroid, the cable uncoiling behind him like a long spring. He fixed the cable to one of the shuttle’s winch points and tightened it. Soon, Mick appeared at the open end of the spar high up on Light Star. He attached the first survivor, strapped securely to a stretcher, onto runners fixed to the cable, then with a small push it slowly descended to the surface near the shuttle. The process was repeated for each survivor, finally followed by Mick.

Soon everyone was on board the small shuttle and heading back towards Light Star 3.

Chapter 14 - Lost Souls, Old Friends

 Raftos called a meeting in the control room, where he was told all about the events on the crashed Light Star. The survivors had been made as comfortable as possible and were under sedation in some of the spare bunks.

 Raftos was of the opinion that they should now get out of the vicinity of the asteroid junk yard as soon as they could, and everyone was in agreement with that. There was obvious nervousness about being so close to such a mass of unstable rock; any impact or volcanic movement could set up a ripple effect which would destroy any ship caught there.

 The subject then came up about the crashed ship, and the fact it was a grave to those left on board. Mick made the statement that the ship must be destroyed, that the technology could not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands – we had seen the consequences of what could happen. The technology was too dangerous.

 Raftos, however, thought that the ship was as good as destroyed buried as it was in the asteroid field, a conventional ship could not navigate its way in to find the crashed ship the way Light Star had done.

 Mick still wanted it destroyed. Raftos then pointed out the very practical fact that they did not have the means to carry out the destruction. They carried no weapons or explosive charges he said, they had no option, they would have to abandon it.

 Mick said he could destroy it. When asked how, he simply said he would rig the generator to overload, it had a neutron core.

 A stunned silence blanketed the room, the click, click, click, clicking of the ventilator was all that could be heard for at least the next eight minutes.

 Eventually, Packet spoke. "You mean to say this ship has neutron generators? If you are, I think there is no doubt that there is not a man in this room who would have come anywhere near this ship, let alone fly it if we had known.”

"I was not told this,” said Raftos indignantly.

"They are not the old engines,” said Mick. "These are a totally new type of generator. We've been flying without any problem, haven't we?”

 Strangely it was Predling who then sealed their next move. He said all the Timmeron felt uneasy about the fate of the crashed ship’s crew. They had not died but become entombed in the asteroid; the Timmeron believed that their souls were not free. If necessary, he would volunteer to set the detonator to destroy the other ship.

 The arguments about security and technology falling into the wrong hands would not have moved Raftos, but he could not argue with the beliefs of the Timmeron. He had lived with them too long, he knew how strong their faiths were. It was the thing that kept them going in the far flung reaches of space.

 Raftos told Mick to work out how they could do it, but stipulated that he wanted to be a very long way away when it went off. Raftos ask Mick if he had ever seen a neutron explosion, and Mick said he had not. Raftos told him he would not forget it.

 The stunned reaction to Mick's announcement about the neutron core of the generators came from their bad reputation. Many disasters had been caused by neutron generators in the early days of space flight. The neutron engine was one of the first deep space power units – it was cheap, efficient and effective. It was also, unfortunately, prone to blowing up. The situation was terrible, but it was the only device that worked. When a ship blew up in deep space it was bad enough, but if one blew up in orbit around a planet it could take half the planet with it.

 Mick and Packet worked on a device that they could attach to the remaining generator of the crashed ship, one that could be triggered by remote radio. This would give them time for a safe exit without having to count the seconds.

 Harris piloted the shuttle as Mick and Packet put on their space suits and made ready the device that was to trigger the generator to explode. Hovering eighty meters above the asteroid, Harris held the shuttle near the now silent generator.

 Mick had identified a control panel that could be accessed externally; this panel covered a series of connection blocks that were used during testing when the engine was built.

 Stepping out from the shuttle’s air lock, Mick and Packet used magnetic clamps to lock onto the casing of the massive generator. The two men were dwarfed by the size of the thing as they inched their way towards the centre of the generator where the control panel was located. Mick slowly unscrewed the bolts holding one of the cover’s panels.

 Harris did not like hovering the shuttle this close to the casing of the generator. Even when switched off, neutron generators emitted unstable magnetic waves as the core ebbed and flowed in its pressurised semi liquid state. He hoped Packet had taken this into account when designing the trigger mechanism. Harris was still brooding about all the disaster that could befall them when he heard the inner air lock of the shuttle door open. Packet and Mick entered; they had completed this part of the mission. With some relief, Harris moved the shuttle away from the wreck of Light Star 2 and headed back to their own ship.

The next jump was to a position well outside the debris field, to a place Packet had assured everyone was a safe distance. The small telescope was filtered and pointed back to the asteroid they had just come from. Packet then sent the signal.

 There was a long delay as everyone watched the monitors. It was too long – Packet was beginning to wonder if the device had failed – then there was a small glow on the screen. This grew and grew into a brilliant white light until it filled half the monitor screen, then it began to fade. As the picture grew dim, Packet switched off the filter on the telescope. The asteroid region had been devastated, fragments moving and colliding, pushing away from the centre of the explosion. A secondary shock wave was rebounding off the mass of rock and returning to the epicentre. When this secondary shock wave collapsed completely, it re-ignited the debris from the neutron cloud left by the explosion, creating a second, faster, more deadly shock wave. Fortunately, Light Star was far enough away not to be affected by either of the shock waves. Packet admitted he had added a safety factor of three to his calculation of a safe distance.

 As the images of the explosion on the monitor screen disappeared the control room began to empty as people started to leave, each with their own thoughts. It was time to get some rest and catch up on some sleep. Raftos called a six-hour rest period.

 Lying on his bunk, Harris tried to sleep but his mind was racing, full of the events that had happened over the past twenty-four hours. Their mission, however, was far from over; now the task was to find Sigadon and reunite Raftos with his family. The problem, however, was where to find that planet. Harris had to admit, this puzzle was still far from solved.

 Harris got a couple of hours’ restless sleep, then got up long before the rest period was over. He had been sitting alone in the control centre for some time working the Navigon Unit. He was looking at the data that had been sent in with the last signal from the Admiral. The signal they assumed was from the Admiral.

 This data contained the latest positions of the expedition fleets in sector five. Harris was using the Navigon three-dimensional computer program of sector five to plot the new fleet positions. These he was overlaying with the positions he had been given in the first message.

 Packet and Mick came in. Mick was chewing on a bar of something that made rather a loud crunching noise. They both watched the twin screens as Harris moved the imaginary universe around inside the computer. After a short while Raftos and Kimlon entered. It had been arranged earlier that they would have a meeting to talk about what the next move would be. Harris had decided to find out about the new information in the message before this meeting, to see if there was anything important to report.

 "Well,” said Raftos grabbing a chair and sitting on it backwards. "Found anything interesting, or worked out where we can find Sigadon?”

 "Unfortunately," began Harris, his eyes still fixed on the twin screens, "I think I have found something a bit too interesting – take a look at this.”

 Harris spun the images of the galaxy around inside the machine. The area now showing on the twin screens in front of them was the main part of sector five. Bright yellow spots flashed on and off. Harris started to explain what they were seeing.

 "The yellow spots,” explained Harris, "are the positions of the survey fleets and other ships that were reported to us by the first signal we received from the Admiral. Although not showing on the screen, each spot has  data attached to it, and this data  gives their current position, current speed and the direction they are heading. Now for the interesting bit – when I put the new positions into the computer, from the second signal, these show up as green points.”

 The screen adjusted as Harris switched on the new data, which was inserted onto the star chart.

"Now for clarity, let's switch off all the background stars.”

The screens seemed to empty as all the stars and planets were removed from the display screens and only the yellow and green points remained.

"The interesting bit,” Harris continued, "comes when we tell the computer to calculate the positions where the ships would be from their first position, using their course and speed at the time of the first message but using the time difference between the first and second signals sent to us. Allowing for a speed variation of, say, five percent, the new position should enclose the second position within a five percent time bubble.”

 Harris started entering numbers into the terminal keyboard.

Lines began to run out from the yellow point of the first ships reported position, to trace across the screens as the calculations marked the track of each of the various space ships. Each line was the track of a ship as it moved across sector five. At the end of each flight path, the computer drew a five percent time bubble. Many of the bubbles enclosed the corresponding green point position of the ships new reported position.

 When the computer had finished its calculations, Harris removed all the lines and ships whose end positions had ended within its own allocated time bubble. Most of the dots on the screen disappeared. Harris then asked the computer to calculate the course changes necessary for the remaining ships to reach their target destination – that of its second reported position. As the computer calculated the course changes, most of the lines reached the allocated second position, then the points disappeared. When all this was done, thirty-two points remained.

 Thirty-two ships with thirty-two starting positions and thirty-two ending positions, where the two could not meet.

"Now that is what I call interesting,” said Harris, somewhat in triumph.

 There was silence in the room.

"What does it mean?” asked Raftos, who by now was chewing on one of those crunchy bars Mick had got.

 Harris was a bit deflated when Raftos said that. As Harris looked around at everyone in the room, he realised that no one had understood what he was talking about.

"What it means,” said Harris, "is that those ships cannot have moved so far given the timescale – they seem to be jumping across space in the same way we are.”

"More Light Stars,” said Mick.

"Someone could have stolen the technology,” said Packet. "There is still the outstanding issue of what happened to the first Light Star.”

"Unlikely,” said Raftos. "What is more likely is that someone is using those Arolloan jump gates.”

"If they are Arolloan jump gates,” said Harris, "we don't know really what they are. This jumping about may have a different explanation altogether. However, they must have used something like that to evacuate Rigadoon in such a way that no one could find it again.”

 There was silence as everyone looked up at the twin screens, watching those remaining flashing dots.

"If it is Arolloan ships using their jump gates to move around, why should they be doing it?" said Harris.

"That's not too difficult to understand,” said Packet. "Simple paranoia. They want to know what's happening out here, they are sending scout ships to scan for any intruders. Here they are, an old peaceful race, they welcome everyone with open arms, help us travel through their sector to discover new worlds. What do they get in return? Their planet is blown up. I don't think they are going to trust anyone ever again.”

"They must know that it was not a deliberate act. A planet of that size could not be completely destroyed the way Rigadoon was, even with a neutron engine exploding,” said Mick.

"Perhaps there was some kind of threat,” said Raftos. "They might have been aware an attack might happen. They seemed to have had a very good evacuation plan up and running in a very short time. It may have been that an attack triggered a natural event, one which they knew could occur at some time or other.”

"That could explain why they had such an elaborate plan to hide where they were taking the survivors,” said Packet. "Even if the explosion on Rigadoon was a natural event. If they knew about a real threat, they could not allow whoever was behind it to just follow them and finish the job, so to speak.”

"Their only hope would be to hide,” said Harris. "Trouble is, you can't do that forever – there are too many craft out here. Not necessarily looking for them, but someone will find them – and when found there is not much out here to defend them.”

"Even if what you say is true,” said Packet, "that those ships hopping about out there are Arolloan, they can watch what is going on but they are not a war-like people, they don't have a battle fleet. If they find a hostile fleet of ships coming towards them what can they do?”

"What about the Star Knights?” said Mick.

"They were a spent force a long time ago,” said Harris. "I dare say it has only been a symbolic thing for a long time.”

"Don't dismiss them so simply,” Raftos chipped in. "Somehow this is all beginning to make some kind of sense. I have only ever met one true Star Knight, an old fellow, we got drunk together on an asteroid in Falcon Nine waiting for a delayed shuttle. We were both reminiscing about the old days.

 The Star Knights are not warriors or fighters – they are thinkers, planners and strategists. Their influence fell into decline when contact was made with the Eastern Sector. The money and influence brought in by the outsiders meant the younger generations no longer wanted to follow the old traditions or follow the simple strict way of life of their ancestors. A split developed between the Traditionalists and the Progressives, almost between young and old.”

 Raftos sat down at the table, picked up the Sluggit bottle and poured a large glass of it. He lifted the glass but did not drink it; he seemed to be thinking of something or someone far away.

 Suddenly, a high pitched two-tone alarm signal filled the room. Packet pushed his way to the monitor making the noise. “Incoming signal,” he said, after inspecting the monitor.

"Can't be,” said Raftos. "We are too far away from anywhere to get any kind of signal.”

"Obviously not that far away for this – it's a ship to ship message.”

"Predling!” shouted Raftos.

"No ships indicated anywhere,” said Predling, who had been sitting at the scanning monitor the whole time.

"What does it say, Packet?” said Raftos.

"Can't tell, it's in Arolloan,” he said.

" Harris.”

 Harris was at the monitor before Raftos had a chance to say anymore.

"It's for you, Raftos, it says ' Permission to come aboard. Have you got a bottle of Carsvalura open? Kuu Venscottie.'”

Raftos was stunned into silence for a moment, then said, "ask what year.”

A few seconds later the reply came.

"Any year as long as it's open.”

"Permission granted,” said Raftos. "Predling, get to the docking station and escort our guest to the mess room; this place has got too crowded with all this new equipment in here.”

"A small ship has just appeared above the docking air lock,” said Predling, getting up from his monitoring station.

"Right, Harris, Packet, Mick, lets go to the mess room to meet our guest,” said Raftos.

"Shouldn't we leave someone here to monitor things?” said Mick.

"I don't think we will be going anywhere for a while,” said Raftos. “You are about to meet an old friend of mine and a true Star Knight. Let us hope he has some answers for us.”

Chapter 15 - Star Knight’s Tale

 Raftos, Harris, Packet, and Mick made their way to the mess room. Raftos and Packet placed some crates around so everyone could have somewhere to sit, while Harris and Mick cleared up some of the rubbish that was strewn around. Raftos went to one of the storage lockers and pulled out a large bottle.

"Better have it open and show some respect this guy over two hundred years old. Although it's hard to tell with Arolloan's they measure time by star patterns.”  said Raftos.

 There was the sound of footsteps in the upper passage, and in through the upper hatch came Predling, ,followed by an elderly man not much larger than Predling himself. Raftos went over to the man and gave him a big hug.

 Harris was not quite sure what he was expecting, maybe somebody in a white cape and hood. Somebody in a tee shirt with a flash of lightning on his chest. More possibly, someone in a well tailored black uniform with a small insignia badge on it.

 What he was not expecting was someone who went to the same second-hand clothes store as Raftos. Nothing matched, nothing fitted, and there was much repair work on everything. Yet none of this mattered. Where as Raftos had an air of confidence and slight menace about him, this man carried an overwhelming presence of calm, everything is fine now. He did not carry a weapon, but you just knew he would never need one.

"Gentleman,” said Raftos. "This is my good friend Kuu Venscottie, the fellow I spent a good few days getting drunk with on Falcon Nine"

 Raftos introduced everybody one by one, then they all sat down on any of the boxes that were responsibly safe to do so.

"Come, the bottle of Carsvalura is open,” said Raftos. "I keep it for special occasions. Let's drink to old friendships.”

"I am certainly ready for that,” said Venscottie. "It will be much appreciated – I have been in that single seater Skidder for many days.” Venscottie unbuttoned his coat and stretched his legs out.

 "However, we must not drink too much this day, any of us, for there are many things to be discussed, to be said, and many decisions to be made. We find ourselves, my friends, in dangerous waters.”

 Predling found some plastic utility beakers, which Raftos filled and passed round. A toast was drunk to friendship and everyone had a large swig of the strange coloured liquid.

Harris realised that it was the kind of drink that did not bother going down to your stomach before giving you a hangover. He also noticed Mick was drinking Koko-Kolo from a container with a straw, which he put down to pick up the beaker for the toast. He sniffed it and half shuddered. When the toast was made he put it to his lips but did not actually drink any. He put it down on the box between himself and Predling, who was sitting on the other end of the same box.

 Predling downed his own drink and put his beaker down; Mick looked at him, and Predling slid the beakers around then picked Mick's drink up and downed that. Predling winked at Mick. Mick gave a small smile and picked his soft drink up again.

"Time is of the essence,” said Venscottie. "So, first things first." Venscottie finished his drink and put the beaker down.

"Well the first thing I can tell you, Raftos,” he said, " is that your wife and daughter whom you left on Sigadon are alive and well. All the evacuees from Rigadoon were taken to Sigadon, which of course is a small planet so it could not take everyone. After arriving, local shuttles were used to quickly move people off out to surrounding planets until more permanent arrangements could be worked out.

 As you can imagine, there was such a panic, names or papers were not checked or listed, all that was for later. However, your wife, being a doctor, was taken to a planet being used as a hospital base and your daughter is with her. Hopefully, sooner or later, we will get you together again.”

"You said hopefully, there,” said Raftos.

"Yes,” said Venscottie. "I have not been chasing you across the galaxy just to give you news of a family reunion.”

"Any word about the admiral’s wife?” said Harris. "She was supposed to be on Rigadoon.”

"Last I heard,” said Venscottie, "she was on the surface organising the evacuation parties. I doubt she would have left before all the others were taken off, and as you know that was not to happen, so I can only assume she perished with the others.”

Venscottie picked up his empty beaker and looked into it. Raftos poured some more drink into it. There was silence in the room while Venscottie slowly drank.

Venscottie then said. "There has been no news of his daughter, either.”

"Well better news on that front,” said Harris. "She's on board here.”

"I don't understand,” said Venscottie. "She was on Light Star 2.”

"We found Light Star 2, there were three survivors and she was one of them.”

"Are you sure? "said Venscottie.

"Positive,” said Harris. "Mick here knew her well, they worked together on the Light Star project from the beginning. But the survivors are all in a very poor way so they are sedated until we can get them to some proper medical care.”

"You worked on Light Star?” said Venscottie, looking at Mick.

 Raftos answered for him. "He invented the damn thing,” said Raftos. "We found the second ship half embedded in a large chunk of rock – we had to blow it up to stop the technology falling into the wrong hands.”

"Was that the neutron explosion I picked up near here?” asked Venscottie. "I was on my way to investigate when I detected your ship.”

"Well, it was our explosion,” said Raftos. "But I thought we were undetectable. And how did you creep up on us like that?”

"If you set off a neutron explosion, everyone in this section of the galaxy knows about it,” said Venscottie. "I knew the Light Stars had neutron generators and, frankly, I thought it was you blowing up.”

"That's a comforting thought,” said Raftos. "Mind you, it's a wonder we haven't; there are three of those neutron generators and they have to be synchronised. That said, how do you know about Light Star and its generators and how have you followed us? I'm sure you haven't come here just to pass the time of day with us.”

"Something is very wrong somewhere, isn't it, something we have not been told?” said Harris. "I'm guessing you, well, the Star Knights, are in contact with Admiral Bainbridge – after all his wife is, or was, Arolloan. I do not think Raftos here attempting to steal the Light Star was in any way planned. The chance meeting with Mick gave you one last throw of the dice – you are running out of time.” Harris looked at Raftos. "Yes, Kimlon told me. All on board, however, know that really central control should have blown you and the Light Star to pieces in its hanger. This is a dangerous technology.”

Harris paused and held his beaker out towards Raftos, who obliged and filled it again.

"It was the last throw for you,” continued Harris, as Raftos poured the drink. "It was also the last desperate hope for Admiral Bainbridge to find his daughter. He must have pulled every string possible, as well as pulling in every favour he could, and I suppose that is when he contacted you people.” Harris nodded toward Venscottie.

"You are correct,” said Venscottie. "We have people at central, and the Admiral was aware of them but kept this to himself. It is very hard to know who to trust there.”

"So, we have two people – Raftos here and the Admiral – both want to find your old planet because one has a wife and daughter there and the other a wife,” continued Harris. “Also the Admiral either knew or guessed his daughter had worked out where Sigadon was from her archaeological studies. With a heavy heart, I imagine, he let her go.”

Harris took a long, slow drink of the Carsvalura.

"You all have good reasons for being here. Except me. I was dragged halfway across the galaxy at what must have been an enormous cost. They took two thousand rich passengers off a Hyper Star Liner to reduce weight so that it could fly me at maximum thrust from Duran to Lux 5 and so clip eleven days off the journey time. I did not even know what all the rush was about. Just orders to come straight away, all transport was arranged and I was to bring the file JHPDF8888. A file, I might add, which absolutely no one mentioned again. If someone had given me more information I could have got the right file in the first place.”

"That was partly my fault,” said Venscottie. "I assumed that every file had a unique number and one did not have to specify where its depositary was. The flights were organised by Central. Your orders and that file number were too important to transmit through the usual channels so it was sent to you directly from one of our ships in orbit around Astor – it almost screwed the whole thing up.

 It was only after Light Star had jumped that the Admiral checked to see if you had accessed the file, only to discover you had taken a personal file with that same code. You were a high enough rank on your data planet to access his daughter's file without any questions being flagged up. On discovering you had not got the right file, he upped your security rating so you could get his daughter's files without anyone knowing about it. He was hoping you would realise that there may be something about the location of Sigadon in her private diaries.”

"I can understand all that, but why the rush, why choose me, and why were you lot,” Harris nodded toward Venscottie again, "hiding your home planet in the first place?”

Raftos answered. "I suggested you, as you are from Darron and natives from Darron can be trusted. You are brave, you did the right thing on the Eller Rose and you are a data expert. The Admiral had not heard of you, even though you had the imperial medal, you were just so far away.

 That was your biggest advantage as it meant no one at Central knew who you were either. You couldn't be compromised. Every time you changed a flight, although you didn't know it, you had a different name. The Hyper Star Liner dropped its passengers for safety reasons as one of its engines was about to blow up, at least that is what they were told. You were a specialist engineer taken on board to go to the repair station. You then arrived at Central as no one – if you remember, you did not go through any check in.

Venscottie then checked and found you could speak and read Arolloan – an unbreakable code because no electronic translation exists. Also, the Admiral knew his daughter had written notes in this language. All we had to do then was persuade you to come along.”

"The rush,” Venscottie carried on the story, “was about that Central Committee meeting you attended. Although all members agreed to let Raftos have the Light Star, half of them wanted him dead, some wanted the Light Star for themselves and some wanted to blast Raftos and the Light Star off that little moon completely. We wanted to get you into Central on the Light Star and out into sector five before anyone knew what had happened.”

Everyone was quiet for a while, some finished their drinks.

"Do you want something to eat?” said Raftos to Venscottie.

"What have you got?” said Venscottie.

"Anything as long as its basic rations,” said Raftos.

"Don't suppose you have Scuzzy Rice,” said Venscottie.

"We almost live off it,” said Mick, opening a locker near him and throwing some boxes of the rice to anyone who wanted one. Everyone took one except Predling. They are opened by pulling a small tab, and eaten with the small plastic spoons provided. All except Mick, who ate it with his finger. You would have thought he would have made an effort in front of such a distinguished visitor, thought Harris.

Venscottie finished with a Koko-Kolo drink, which pleased Mick tremendously.

"In the end,” Raftos started, "the security forces that were put around the moon to stop me from escaping were stopping anyone else from attacking the base. We did, however, take off and by some miracle did find the second Light Star  and the Admiral’s daughter.”

"So you have been shadowing us across the galaxy,” said Harris to Venscottie. "And I suppose you were giving us all that data about the other ships. So why could you not just take us there and save us all this trouble?”

"We did not know about the Light Star project until Raftos tried to steal it,” said Venscottie. "That really blew all the plans we had, and anything Central could do, right out of the water. Suddenly there was almost panic in the higher levels of both Central and the Star Knights’ forum. There was no time for this stupid distraction, suddenly we had been dealt the worst set of cards we could have. Everything suddenly changed.”

"It seems there really is something we don't know about,” said Packet. "Hands up everyone who wants to go home.”

"I will have to start at the beginning,” said Venscottie. "I will keep it as brief as I can.” He took another sip of his Koko-Kolo drink and began.”

"There are three arcs of star belts on the outer edge of our galaxy. Most now know these three arcs as the Eastern Empire, Sector Five and the New Frontier. The first to develop any technically sophisticated societies was the one we now call the Sector Five.

 We only know this because the Star Knights are pretty keen archaeologists. We  have the odd clues from strange artefacts we find but we rarely know what the items were except that they are hundreds of millions of years old.

 So fragmented and few are the finds, we can not draw any picture of what these civilisations were. There is enough to know, however, that they were wide spread and quite advanced. We once found half a very delicate bridge section over hundred kilometres long sticking out from a massive piece of a rock. We could not find out how it was made, we couldn't drill it or even blast pieces from it. No one makes them like that any more.

 The past, you see, is key to our society’s belief system. Sometime way back, almost everything in the sector was all but obliterated when a star went nova. As far as we can guess, the event over time triggered the detonation of a string of suns all along the arc of sector five.

 Over ninety-nine percent of all life was destroyed. It left what you see today – a fragmented drifting river of rock debris with just a few solar systems here and there. It is a virtual barrier to any permanent route between the Eastern Empire and the New Fronter.”

Venscottie picked up his Koko-Kolo to have another drink but it was empty.

"That, of course, is far in the distant past beyond any known collective memory. It was only places on the outer edges of sector five and the most primitive of societies that survived the catastrophe, and the Arolloans seem to have been one of them.

 This was on their original planet, Sigadon. Their culture was one of subsistence farming and still is. Farming different mosses and lichens, they could provide themselves with everything they needed. They made little or no demands from the resources of a planet, so they could inhabit very poor quality places.

 Over the millennia the population began to outgrow their small world and they started to look to the sky. Somehow there was an ancient memory of other worlds out there. They decided to set up a group of the brightest youngsters to study and map the stars. This was the first time anyone had been supported to do something that was not connected with farming.

 This group spent their nights looking at the heavens, memorising the patterns and movements. They were known as the night star gazers; this fairly quickly got shortened to Star Nights, and the group themselves changed it to Star Knights to separate themselves from when people were just talking about a starry night.”  

"Most people get mixed up with the word ‘knight’,” said Harris. "Thinking it related to the armed fighters in old legends, which most societies seem to have. They would fight the battles on behalf of the poor and down trodden.”

"Yes, we know about the myths and try not to dispel that thought too much,” said Venscottie. "I don't think, however, any of us would be much good in an actual fight. It is totally against our nature and beliefs. In fact, it is that very point that puts us in the dire situation we are now in. The destruction of our entire race.”

 Raftos was there with the bottle before Venscottie's hand had reached his beaker. Fortunately, Raftos had another bottle as everyone held their beakers out, even Mick. Suddenly things were getting serious, very serious indeed.

Venscottie started to talk again. “None of this star gazing would have done much good if one rather slightly insane farmer had not invented the bow drive. He invented it to help him lift heavy goods around the farm because he had a disabled leg, but he did not have the faintest idea why it worked. The Star Knights got involved and found it inverted gravity within the bow structure. Not only at low level against the ground, but all the way up into space.

 Very quickly, we became space travellers. After a while, we found this very large planet with very low gravity which became known as Rigadoon. Most importantly, the ground was perfect for growing the mosses we depended on. We soon started to colonise, and everything there seemed perfect – it had two suns and was is an area of sector five which was remarkably free of rocky debris.”

Venscottie paused,pointed to Mick and asked for another Scuzzy Rice. He popped the lid and ate some.

"Time passed and we colonised a number of planets around our old home. Thus, things stayed the same for a few more millennia, everyone fairly content with their lives. The Star Knights explored around their section of the galaxy bit by bit, slowly edging further out. They never met any other peoples but realised that they inhabited only a very tiny part of a vast universe, and they saw artefacts of other civilisations.

 Then, on star time 8167g89m211f, a space ship arrived in orbit above Rigadoon. They were a survey ship on their way to find a route through to the new worlds beyond sector five. They wanted fresh supplies and uncontaminated water. They told us about their worlds and gave us star maps. They could not buy our products as we had no money system, so they gave us a large Vidicon machine with a massive database of moving pictures about their worlds.

 They also gave us a transmitter and said they would send us details of what they found in the new frontier. We had about twenty-five transmissions and a series of star maps, but they never came back.”

"Do you think the ship was lost?” said Packet.

"They thought so, because the last message seemed to stop suddenly,” replied Venscottie. He then finished his rice before continuing.

"Everything changed of course; gradually we became the trading service station between the old and new worlds. The young quickly took to this new way of life with new things, music, travel, industrial machines, and many left to see these new worlds. We grew rich and that was our downfall.

 One day, without any warning, Rigadoon was invaded by a large group of well, what you could only call brigands, bandits, or whatever. These were not soldiers from some well-organised empire, these were a rabble ready to kill and destroy. Probably they ran some inter-space protection racket.

There was a fleet of ships of all sizes; we never knew how many men there were in total. Three of the biggest ships landed just outside one of the largest groups of buildings on the planet. One imagines they assumed this to be the capital, probably because it had a massive communications tower in the centre of it. The bandits rushed out of their ships ready for action and a fight.

 They knew the Arolloans were basically a peaceful race so did not expect much opposition. What they never expected, however, was nothing. They seemed to have landed much further from the city than they had anticipated. There was nothing as far as the eye could see, just a green moss ankle deep in every direction.

 They saw just over the horizon the top of the communications tower, so they split into three columns, one to go left, one straight for the tower and one to the right. They knew the towns people would now have some time to organise their defence, and they wanted to attack them from three sides. They did not know this was not a town but a large crop storage compound.

 Several hundred fully armed men marched across the fields. The column that had moved to the right were halfway towards the compound when they came across a man in a brilliant white space suit. He was standing by a machine pumping a large jet of water high into the air and slowly moving the water jet round in a large circle.

 The bandits were tired by this time and assumed it was some type of water cannon to defend the city with. The bandits kept walking and got into the area of wet moss. Then one or two of them started to feel giddy and began to fall down. The man in the white suit started waving at them, and without thinking a few of the bandits levelled their guns and shot him.”

"Just one minute,” said Harris. "A green landscape covered with moss, a man in a bio-suit, vegetation getting wet, giving off a toxic gas.”

Venscottie looked at Harris. They looked at each other for a moment. Everyone except Venscottie knew what Harris was going to say.

"A small green moss-covered planet that gives off a toxic gas when disturbed or gets wet,” Harris paused.

"You have come across such a place?” said Venscottie.

"Come across one, we landed on one; I almost died on it. I would have if Kimlon had not recalled the smell, in fact probably none of us would be here now. He was with a survey party that found one of these little planets, right at the other end of sector five. It started to rain, and several hundred good men died,” Harris paused. "Well," said Harris after a long pause.

Everyone was now looking at Venscottie for some sort of reaction. Venscottie was not looking at anything but deep inside his head was wrestling with new thoughts.

"I am terribly sorry such a thing should happen,” he said at last, but very softly.

"They are jump gates, aren't they?"  said Harris. There was another pause.

"It is very clever of you to work it out,” said Venscottie. "But I suppose you have one big advantage over everyone else – you know such a thing can be done.”

"Hold on there, you can't just say that,” chipped in Packet. "You are making out you are simple people pottering around a small part of section five. Those planets are the most sophisticated things in the universe – they required terraforming on a colossal scale. and one must assume there are many of them through sector five.”  

Venscottie slowly sipped his Carsvalura, as did everyone else during the long silence that followed.

Raftos broke the silence, throwing his drink down on the terramatting.

"Hell's teeth, Kuu, this is no time for getting drunk; you've even got Mick drinking and he's the last bloody person on this ship we want with a foggy head. Predling, take Mick back to the switch room and check everything is stable. Take some food with you and send Kimlon in here. No sweat, Mick, I just think you need to keep a clear head and your mind on what you are good at. This is going to get political and I think there will be shouting.”

 Mick looked relieved as he got up to go. "OK thanks,” he said to Raftos as he ducked out of the upper hatch door.

"Stay with him,” Raftos said to Predling as he ducked out the door.

"Home truths,” said Venscottie, pouring his drink out onto the terramatting where it was absorbed. "Are the hardest truths of all.”

Chapter 16 - Little Moon, Big Planet

"You're God’s own bastard, Raftos,” said Venscottie

"No, I'm my own bastard let’s leave the Gods out of this,” said Raftos. "Now you were just about to explain all about these little green jump gates.”

"No I wasn't,” said Venscottie. "I'm getting too old and tired for all this. If I had been a bit dumber when I was young I wouldn't have been selected for the Star Knights, or have to carry all these star maps around in my head, keep secrets, plan strategies, shadow bandits around the universe. I could have been a farmer, letting the seasons of the crops dictate the rhythms of my life. I could look at the stars in wonder rather than calculating what has moved and how far since I last looked.”

"But you did build them,” said Packet.

"No,” said Venscottie. "Until Harris here mentioned it I did not know you knew anything about them, nobody is supposed to know about them. Strange as it may seem, we do not know who built them, or when they were built, or why.”

"But you use them,” said Harris. "I've seen you on the Navigon unit.”

"Ah, the Navigon units,” said Venscottie. "There was no time to sift out our own movements, we assumed you would dismiss the data as anomalies. We could not know you had found a gate and guessed its purpose.”

Venscottie paused. "Have you any more of that Koko-Kolo, it's quite warm in here and my throat is as dry as a bone. I've had no one to talk to for the past few weeks.”

"We found one just like you must have,” said Venscottie. "A little green moon covered in moss. It was odd and we thought the moss may be a new species we could use, so the ship that found it sent a team to gather some of the moss to take back. Three men died and two only just got back alive.

 We marked the planet as dangerous and to be avoided. Gradually we found more of them and marked them to be avoided. Then we realised they formed a kind of grid – not all, but enough to make it look deliberate. Well, Star Knights are nothing if not curious; we decided to investigate.

 Also, we had in the back of our minds that they may be some kind of terrible weapon, gigantic bombs. Perhaps they were mines left over from before the nova event; some suggested they might have caused it with a chain reaction.

 A civilisation so advanced they build a super weapon they could not control. Even if they were that old they may still be able to destroy a planet and would most likely be quite unstable. The moss could be a kind of rust eating away at them. We needed to know.”

"That all sounds a bit unlikely,” said Packet. "Perhaps you were pushing the thinking boundary a bit far.”

"That's what Star Knights do, think of all possibilities. Now you just think about it – which is the strangest, thinking they were bombs or something that could fling you across the universe?” said Venscottie.

"I can tell you none of us apart from Mick thought that teleporting was possible until a few weeks ago,” said Harris.

"Whatever they were, we had to find out and plan what to do. Some drifted about and crossed the orbits of some of our home planets,” Venscottie paused.

 He seemed to be thinking about something, there were probably some very bad memories inside his head.

"A lot of good men died trying,” said Venscottie. “There are access points at the very centre of every eighth sector, each covered with a large round metallic plate. They lead to deep shafts that go far into to the interior. We lost men at every stage of the investigation. The more we saw, the more convinced we were that they were some kind of weapon.

 The moss is very acidic and leaches acidic water down into the core, which is very alkaline. A charge is built up which is taken back to the surface through an insulated metallic clay substance. This clay substance is then taken around the surface in large rings under low mounds, these cut the surface into eight equal sections. They seem somehow to absorb radiation to keep themselves going.

 If a meteorite is on an impact trajectory it puts up some kind of force field to deflect it or destroy it. It seems they were built to survive, yet do not seem to have any control systems. We concluded they were bombs, probably built by whoever it was who made that bridge we found, perhaps as a defensive ring round an empire. Now we had to think how to deal with them.”

"Are you trying to tell us they are not jump gates for some reason?” said Packet. "That your jumping around the galaxy is something else completely, just related to your little ships?”

"Oh how I wish that were true,” said Venscottie. "It would make things much simpler. I am not trying to say they are something else, because they are jump gates, but we are not quite sure if that's all they are. There is nothing inside them that can make them work, no guidance systems, no controls receivers or transmitters, nothing. We do not know how they work. I can tell you it makes everyone somewhat nervous every time they use one. I can tell you, when all this is over we want to have a sit down with Mick and have a very long talk.”

"How did you find out that they were jump gates then?” said Harris. "You must have some system to tell the gates where you want to go.”

Venscottie stood up and stretched. "I'm falling asleep; can you get some more ventilation in here?” he said.

"So am I,” said Packet. "I should have thought a bit more, we don't usually stay long in here and certainly not with so many. Do the business, Kimlon, you're nearest.”

Kimlon got up and adjusted some controls on a panel near the vent inlet on the wall above him. Quickly, the air freshened and the alcohol fumes dissipated.

Venscottie sat down again. "It was all by chance, as many discoveries are. We were trying to see if we could move one of these little objects; remember, we think they are bombs. We did not want one of them drifting into or near one of our home planets.

There was a large group of our ships around a fairly isolated one of these green moons – they are not big enough to be called a planet. One of our young recruits was getting to grips with a new type of speeder, quite out the way of the working ships. Something went wrong and he lost control; it revved up to maximum speed and headed straight for the moon. There was nothing anyone could do, it seemed to have locked onto the moon.

We watched helpless, waiting for it to smash into the surface or against the forcefield thing. There were only three options: he would smash to bits on the surface, or into the shield thing, or the whole moon would explode taking us all with it. We were not prepared for the fourth option. Seconds before impact there was a shimmer across the surface and he disappeared – there was nothing.”

Venscottie paused.

"Fourteen days later, a very thin, bedraggled young man crashed his Skidder by a farm on one of our outer planets. He was the same pilot we saw vanish. Fortunately, he was a very fit, bright chap and managed to find his way back. He had been thrown millions of miles across the galaxy.

 To cut a long story short, by trial and error we managed to figure out how to use these things as jump gates. We only use them in an emergency because it takes some nerve to fly straight into one at jump velocity with the knowledge they don't all work. I personally think they are bombs and the jump gate thing is either some kind of unplanned side effect that has happened over time, or an emergency escape route when you detonate one.”

"That's too much information,” said Raftos. "I can't take half that in. Can we get back to why you came here?”

"Do you suspect that it was one of these things that blew Rigadoon apart?” said Harris.

"I don't think so,” said Venscottie. "I think that was our own fault for not taking control of our own planet. We just drifted into the disaster.”

"You were telling us about these bandits who landed on Rigadoon and we got rather side tracked by the mention of that green moss,” said Raftos. "I take it that when the bandits fired their weapons there was an explosion?”

Venscottie nodded then continued.

"A massive explosion. It killed all the bandits in the first two columns and destroyed the first two ships. The third column quickly ran back to their ship, but the explosion had caused a ground tremor and their landing pads had sunk into the ground. They had to use explosives to blow the landing struts off while they had their thrusters running, and they lost an engine in the process. They made it to orbit and were probably towed away. Two of their ships in orbit were also destroyed by the upward thrust of the explosion. They left never to return, and word went around we had this massive secret weapon. Which, of course, we were not going to deny.”

"Is that when you approached me to supply you with arms and weaponry?” said Raftos.

"No,” said Venscottie. "It should have been, but we did not think anyone would try to invade again. That was a bit later, we wanted the rockets and stuff because we were still worried about those little green moons. We were going to use raw power to try to push one away from its position. Failing that, see if we could blow one up, which could be risky.

We never thought of forming an army or defence force, as we are all peaceful farmers and had been for tens of thousands of years. It never even occurred to us. We only have Skidders, which couldn't carry much in the way of weaponry even if we wanted them to. Then we were invaded again, in fact twice.”

"Now being invaded once is unfortunate, but being invaded twice is just carelessness,” said Harris.

"In our defence, the second time we did not even know we had been invaded until a year or so after the event,” said Venscottie. "We believe it was an advance scouting party sent to find where our important government buildings and weaponry were located. They landed in a remote area called the Singing Sands where they could deploy without being noticed. Again, they were fooled by the size of Rigadoon.

 It was a couple of years later when a group of Skidders were overflying the desert. They were looking for any new thermal vents when they found groups of bodies some distance from a half-buried encampment near a slowly sinking rocket ship. Everything was preserved in the dry sand, but there was no evidence to say who they were or where they had come from.”

"This is all very well, Kuu,” said Raftos almost shouting, “we are all aware that Star Knights like to tell a good story but we don't want a potted history of your whole race. You have been tracking us down for a couple of weeks. Then you say the destruction of your entire race is at hand. Let's skip the waffle, what is about to happen?”  

"Everyone says you're an impatient bugger, Raftos,” said Venscottie, deliberately softly. "I am getting to it as quickly as I can, but unless you know some of the background you will just not believe any of it.”

Venscottie continued, in a deliberately low voice, so they all had to listen intently.

"This third time, we had advance warning of the attack. The Star Knights had their own settlement out in the more desolate part of Rigadoon. It is a meeting place and kind of library without books. The members discuss and make reports, or should I say stories.” Venscottie looked at Raftos. "They are recorded and archived. This particular day there was an assembly of all the most important members, and a speaker was on a platform at one end of the main hall. At the other end are the main entrance doors, which suddenly burst open and a stranger walked calmly in. A gasp went round the room, for the stranger was not a Star Knight, who are all men, it was a woman.

 She wore a black close-fitting pilot’s jacket and trousers, had short black hair and large brown eyes. She walked the full length of the hall with complete confidence and went up to the stage. The speaker on stage walked to one side as she went up to the lectern.

'Gentlemen,' she said in a clear sharp voice. 'My name is Syd Peru.'

"Syd Peru,  that can't be—” but Packet was cut short by Raftos. "Shut up, Packet! Let Kuu finish.”

"As I was saying,” said Venscottie in a rather cross voice, "my name is Syd Peru, she said, 'I am here to warn you that you are about to be attacked by the largest group of mercenaries and buccaneers ever to be assembled on this side of the whole Eastern empire.’

 This was greeted with a great uproar from all the members present.

 'But,' said Peru, her voice cutting through the noise, 'You are to take no action. You have friends and there is a defensive battle fleet around your planet. If, however, you start to take any action, the attackers will know you have been warned, your defenders will have lost the element of surprise and probably with it the battle.'

‘How do we know that this is not just a ploy just to keep our defences down?’ said the Star Knight who had been speaking on the stage.

 'Firstly,' said Peru, ‘you don't have any defences, and second I have a message from Star Knight Fessco Anpateriey who, I am told, most of you know. He told me to give you this message.' She then recited a poem in Arolloan, only known to Star Knights.

 She then took her leave, saying she had to go before her presence was detected on the planet, and that no one was to ever mention she had been there.

 After much debate, we decided to quarantine ourselves within the compound and wait. Some days later, stories began to come through with the trading ships.

 The battle had taken place quite a distance from Rigadoon. A certain Rear-Admiral Bainbridge had been given a commendation for his excellent work. He had been sent to the area with a small battle fleet to clear out groups of hijackers, bandits and pirates. These had been stealing and robbing merchant ships in the western part of the sector near the approaches to the Rigadoon gap.

 Bainbridge had been given a warning from Syd Peru that a large number of these groups were planning a joint invasion of Rigadoon. Bainbridge was able to set a trap, which with a smaller fleet, showed great skill, and destroyed most of the rebels.

 It was a sad day for the Star Knights, however; we had sat on our hands and let others from the far side of the galaxy save our planet. We had not even taken part, we had not lost a man. No matter how weak we were, we should have been standing side by side with our defenders, taken our part of the losses.”  

This was obviously painful for Venscottie, and he held out his beaker to Raftos.

"We've both quit,” said Raftos. "Remember.”

"When was all this?” said Harris. "I've studied the history of the Arolloan people but not come across any of this.”

"This was many, many years ago,”  said Venscottie. He was looking down at the floor and let his beaker fall. "We don't write anything down, only the ancients did that, we now record everything in audio, but few listen to it. Some things are never recorded, best forgotten. Like the invasions or the secret of the jump gates.

 From that time, the standing of the Star Knights dropped to almost nothing. Some of the younger members just left for more exciting work. Rigadoon had become a service planet; many of the bigger fleets built their own service towns on the planet. Storage deposits grew, trading in food from the new frontier, goods and spare parts from the old empire.”  

"Half the Arolloan population left to go to quieter planets which we were finding deeper into sector five. There they would be left alone to carry on their farming life style. We kept our primary base on Rigadoon as our presence was not always welcome on the new worlds. The whole planet was now almost all dedicated to the servicing and supplying of deep space transport vessels. There were very few farmers left.

 Then the attention of a few companies was drawn to the gas vents that were all over the planet. Farmers used them by piping the gas to their buildings, putting a tap on it, switching it on and lighting the gas. For the first time, they could have permanent lighting.

 The companies, however, were not interested in a bit of lighting; they saw big profits in something far more valuable. This gas had oxygen linked in a stable bond with other volatile gases and when compressed into a liquid it was a perfect rocket fuel. Compressed further it became a very powerful explosive.

 The natural vents, however, if pumped soon ran dry, so the companies started to drill. The Star Knights began to issue licences to drill. They had no authority to do this but thought it might keep some control over what was going on. As this was normal practice on most planets, the companies went along with it.

 When they began drilling, most drillers began by drilling core samples. This was something the Star Knights had never seen before; they were good geologists but had never ever thought of doing this. They were fascinated with the procedure and for the first time saw the geology of their planet. The whole surface was made up of layers like an onion, each layer a uniform compressed grey sand separated by a layer of a metallic clay substance.

 We asked some of the larger operations to keep drilling to find out if there was a solid core. Yet as they went down deeper and deeper, the layers did not change, layer after layer. It was like the rings on a tree, almost as if the planet has grown to this size. The Star Knights had often speculated as to whether the planet was hollow and filled with gas with some seeping up through natural vents. The drillers, however, had wondered about the same thing; they did not want to go deeper. The Star Knights asked if there was a safe way to go deeper. They had already gone sixty kilometres down.

 The drillers were just as curious as the Star Knights and the drill was getting known throughout the planet and beyond. There was a good collection of sightseers, both professional drillers and public.  

 The drillers made a special pressure cap head valve to put on the well and started to drill again. Twenty or so layers and all was the same, but then they struck a thick layer of the metallic clay. They drilled another three miles into the clay but the drilling got harder all the time. They then reached the maximum they could drill.

The strange thing was not a single puff of gas came out the hole.”

"You old sod, Kuu,” said Raftos. "You had us all sitting on the edge of our seats there waiting for the big bang.”

"Well he did say Star Knights were good at telling stories,” said Harris.

"If we had the time,” said Venscottie, "I could have stretched it out all morning.”

"I guess we are nearing the final chapter,” said Packet.

"But this one does not have a happing ending,” said Venscottie. "Far from it.”

Venscottie picked up his beaker from the floor and held it out to Raftos. "Come on, old boy, we all know happens next.”

Everyone else decided they needed one as well.

"Without asking anyone,” continued Venscottie, "a small company of drillers decided to go to the Singing Sands where they could work undisturbed.

 It had been found that the gas formed in small pockets in the grey sand caused by the movement of water between the clay layers. These pockets grew larger, until they found a fissure in the clay band where it could work its way up to the surface and vent. The pocket would then close up with sand and the vent dry up.  

The company decided they could create pockets by pumping water down into the sand strata between the clay layers, then pumping out the sand water slurry leaving a void. They did a small test and it seemed to work so they went deeper and pumped with greater pressure.

 But of course, they had no idea what was going on underneath them. Suddenly the water pumps were blown off the pipe by back pressure, and a gigantic water spout shot high into the sky. This only lasted a few minutes, but it was followed by gas, which instantly ignited – sending an enormous shock wave around the planet followed by a series of earth tremors.

 Some Star Knights were in orbit and saw the event. Those Star Knights on the ground quickly mobilised and took their Skidders to the area. The well head had gone and the whole area was sinking, areas of escaping gas sent dancing flames all over the depression which was over  three hundred feet deep and widening all the time. The most worrying thing was that around the edges of the depression, the black layers of clay were burning.

An immediate evacuation was ordered. This was something the Star Knights always planned for with any planet they colonised, given the unstable nature of sector five.

 Because of the low status of the Star Knights at the time, things did not get moving as fast as they should have done. Most of the Arolloans obeyed quickly, but those from other planets debated or wanted instructions from their companies.

 Fortunately, all the captains of the orbiting space ships still had great respect for the Star Knights and did everything they could to help the evacuation. You, Raftos, I know were especially helpful in persuading a few captains who were reluctant to dump cargo to take passengers.”

"Did the fire burn down to that clay core which then caused the final explosion?" said Kimlon. It was the first time he had spoken since he had joined us.

"I wouldn't have thought the core would have gone up with that much of an explosion, it was almost a small nova in scale,” said Venscottie

Venscottie sipped his drink.

"Reports are sketchy,” said Venscottie. "Most who saw it would have died, but a few reports from fleeing ships said that the planet kind of shuddered just before the explosion.

 Then, just for a fraction of a second, there was a green moon falling into the exploding Rigadoon.”

Chapter 17 - Full Circle

Kuu was slumped forwards, resting his elbows on his knees just staring at nothing in particular.

"Come on,” said Raftos, standing up. “It's about time you got some sleep, Kuu, you're absolutely shattered. We all need some rest and especially you – six-hour rest period.”

"No, there isn't time,” said Venscottie.

"I'm not asking, I'm telling, we don't want you collapsing on us. We haven't got the facilities.” Raftos pulled Venscottie's arm to help him to his feet.

"Well perhaps four hours,” said Venscottie.

"Kimlon, take Kuu and find him a comfortable bunk and keep an eye on him,” said Raftos. "Let him sleep a good four hours,” as he said this he indicated five to Kimlon with the hand Kuu couldn’t see, "then give him a good meal of that food you lot eat, I think it will suit his constitution better.”

As Kimlon and Kuu left by the upper hatchway and disappeared down the passage, Raftos added quietly, "I bet the old bugger hasn't eaten in the past couple of weeks.”

Raftos sat down and everyone stared at each other for a while. Harris and Packet finished the last of their drinks. "What do you make of that?” said Raftos at length.

"How much of that did you know?” said Packet.

"I was there at the end evacuating as many people as we could just like all the other captains,” said Raftos. "But the rest of it was all new to me.”

"What do you make of the green moons or bombs or jump gates and one appearing at the last moment of Rigadoon?” said Harris. "I have studied the fifth sector and have never come across any mention of green moons or the such like, or any invasion of Rigadoon.

 The stories about a pre-nova civilisation are held up by the evidence, the bridge being a well-known one. Also, some of the decoders on my data station back on Astor are working on deciphering images from some artefacts which could be writing.”

Raftos said he thought the green moon’s appearance at the end of Rigadoon was unlikely.

"In space, you see many things that can't be explained,” said Raftos. He thought the core had something in it that made it produce a green flare just before it exploded. “Those close enough to be sure would have been caught in the explosion, those further away could not really tell, light does funny things in explosions of that size.”

"Like a neutron generator going off, for instance,” said Packet. "Anyway, Venscottie made mention of Syd Peru and you shut me up rather sharpish, what was that all about?”

"I did not want Venscottie to know we had any dealings with this woman,” said Raftos. "I am hoping he was so tired he did not notice your interruption. This woman is yet another player in the game. The trouble is, I don't know what the game is or how many are playing. It might not be the same woman, just someone using that name."

"The face of the woman that appeared on the Vidicon after that rocket attack,” said Packet, "was the same as the woman who got me off that prison planet. I am also certain it was her who rescued me from certain death in the hands of the pirates, when the SV Kimble was attacked off Femmon in the Draftor system.”

"A few answers and more questions,” said Raftos. "I think we had better try to get a few hours’ sleep, although I don't think that will be easy. We had better try as I don't think we are going to get much in the next few days.” Raftos went to the intercom. “Predling, are you there?”

"Predling here, Raftos. Mick's here as well, everything is OK,” said Predling.

"Our guest is having a few hours’ sleep,” said Raftos. "The rest of us are going to do the same. When Venscottie wakes up, Kimlon will bring him to your mess room for some of your food, make sure he gets a good meal. At that time make sure the rest of us are awake. And put your lads on night mode. Make sure someone is always with Mick. Mick, if you can hear try to get some sleep even if it is only in the switch room, I know you like it in there.”

"Will do,” said Predling. “Mick heard that, he’s smiling. I think he has a mattress in here somewhere. Out.”  

 As they all got up and moved to the lower door, Raftos bent down and pulled a bottle from the open locker.

"No you don't,” said Harris, taking the bottle from his hand and putting it back in the locker. "You are going to need a clear head as much as Mick. There is an old saying: you can't smell in space, but something out here definitely stinks.”

 Slowly, six hours later, Raftos, Harris and Packet had found their way one by one back to the mess room. Here they slumped on crates looking as if none of them had slept at all. They were sipping a dreadful tasting sweet tea given to them by Predling, which was supposed to pep you up and clear your head. So far not working.

 Venscottie and Kimlon arrived at the upper access door. Venscottie looked bright eyed and ready for anything. "Your crew certainly do a good meal; I feel wonderful,” he said then sat down on one of the crates. "Now, where were we?”

Kimlon answered, as none of the others looked as if they could remember anything. "You had just blown up your planet,” he said.

"Ah yes,” said Venscottie. "It was a long story, wasn't it.”  He looked around at the others. The tea was beginning to work.

Venscottie began. "So why have I been chasing you. Well we are both in grave danger. That is why we decided to hide the whereabouts of Sigadon, for the time being at least.

 The first invasion of Rigadoon was organised by a ruthless pirate leader called Shen Caroo, who saw Rigadoon as an opportunity. He could take the planet over and charge large fees for transport ships to service there. He knew the Arolloan people were a peaceful race so would not put up much resistance. Also, there was no protection, as the eastern empires did not want to spend money on military expeditions to somewhere so very far away. The attempt failed in that enormous explosion.

 The ship which survived that landing carried two brothers, Jay Jay and Kalhidejac – they were the sons of Shen Caroo. Jay Jay was the eldest of four sons, Kalhidejac was the youngest. Their father was commanding the first ship and his two other sons were commanding the second ship; they all perished in the explosion.

 After the failed attack on Rigadoon, Jay Jay went on a rampage, pirating cargo ships, attacking small inoffensive settlements, all the time taking his brother with him. Unlike Jay Jay, however, who took his anger out with all this fighting, Kalhidejac had nightmares. He had witnessed the explosion that killed those he most loved.

Jay Jay eventually established a formidable reputation in the bad lands on the edges of sector five. A reputation second only to our very own Raftos here. Raftos, however, was respected as opposed to being feared, and Jay Jay did not like that at all.

 After a while, Jay Jay decided he had enough funds and people to relaunch an attack on Rigadoon to finish what his father had started. He was fairly intelligent, however, and wanted more information about Rigadoon and especially this horrendous weapon they had.

 It seems it was Jay Jay who sent that second expeditionary force that was found in the desert. The Star Knights, on hearing rumours about Jay Jay, wondered if there had been other more successful landings. They flew the whole planet and found three well-covered sites where someone had landed then left trying to hide where they had been. Someone was coming, but they did not know who to call or even if was too late for any force to get to them.”

"I think at this point Raftos should take up the story,” said Venscottie.

"So you have been holding back on us Raftos,” said Packet.

"That's a bit hard,” said Raftos. “If I had told you about all the battles I had been involved with before we took off we would still be sitting in the hanger on that moon just off Morstan.”

"Just kidding,” said Packet. "Remember you got me off that prison planet just so I could have this jolly holiday.” Everyone laughed at Packet lightening the mood slightly.

"I can see a connection growing here,” said Raftos. "I had completely forgotten about this. I was contacted by one Captain Bainbridge, now of course Admiral Bainbridge. He was captain of a large freighter called the Emmidees. Which in fact was a disguised battle cruiser.

 He wanted me to do a job for which he would pay handsomely but would only tell me about it in person. We met in neutral space and to show his trust in me he came alone aboard my ship, the Monitor.

 He told me he had been sent by two of the largest sectors in the Eastern empire to clear out some of the bandits in the bad lands next to sector five. They were now attacking almost all trade ships. He had it on good authority there was a large fleet of these bandits being assembled with the object of invading Rigadoon.

 Bainbridge wanted information of numbers, types of ships and most importantly when they might be ready to begin. He said he neither had any personnel who knew the area nor people able to speak the languages necessary to move under cover.

 I asked Bainbridge if he had the capability to take on such a force. He said he had a number of ships but could only do it if he knew the strength of the enemy. It was a one-time opportunity to wipe out many of the pirates from the bad lands in one go, as well as protecting Rigadoon, vital to the trade with the new frontier.

 It was a stupid request to make from someone he had never met before and who had a very bad reputation in the Eastern sectors. There was something about him, however, that I kind of liked – and I most certainly did not want Rigadoon run by a bunch of pirates – so I agreed to do the job.

 Everything went to plan. Jay Jay and his brother were in the lead ship, which was a Taxion battle cruiser. He must have got it from a scrap yard as they haven't been made for well over a hundred and fifty years, but are still formidable things because they have electronic shields.

 I was worried that the Taxion might be too much for Bainbridge's battle cruiser to take on. So we agreed to attack it together. Bainbridge would fire the first salvo at the beginning of the action, directly at the Taxion.

 When a Taxion takes the impact of explosions on its shields, they weaken slightly before coming back to full strength. At that point, I would fire a salvo of Taxion javelin spears, the only weapon that could penetrate the shields at that moment. They penetrated the hull in thirty or forty places and the ship began venting gas and the shield dropped.

Taxion shields shut down for safety where there are gases present, as the electronic shield could ignite the gas. The big ship pulled out of the formation. There was chaos in the bandit ranks seeing their biggest ship move away from the fleet. That ship was ten times the size of anything else there. Then Bainbridge's ships attacked the bandits.”

"So you were part of that attack,” said Harris.

 "No,” said Raftos. "I just punched home that one salvo to cripple the Taxion. Bainbridge could not tell anyone about my involvement and I couldn't hang about in case his fleet started attacking me thinking I was with the rebels.”

"Did he pay you?” said Packet.

"I did not take any fee,” said Raftos. "Anyway, Bainbridge was doing me as much of a favour really, these small groups of bandits were causing me as much trouble as anyone else.”

"Was there some tacit agreement with Bainbridge, some sort of pay back?” said Harris. "Him allowing you to take the Light Star?”

"Definitely not. He had no idea I was going to try and take it. We had never communicated since that battle," said Raftos. "But I do think it may have played a part in him stopping the military blasting me and the Light Star off that moon the moment we landed.”

"So that brings us all the way back to now,” said Packet, turning to face Kuu. "Well Mr Venscottie, I suppose we must be getting to the point of your visit.”

"Indeed it does,” said Venscottie. "And to why I have been chasing you ever since you took off from Morstan. News of you taking this ship travelled rapidly around the galaxy, despite the supposed secure secrecy of the central committee you attended, Harris.

Jay Jay eventually heard the news and this finally pushed him mentally over the edge. He had seen his father and two brothers killed by the Arolloan secret weapon. His attempt to take over his father's mission failed by collusion with Raftos, his rival, and the Eastern empire.

 For in that last attack he recognised Raftos's ship, the Monitor, when Raftos fired the salvo of Taxion javelin spears. One penetrated the command cockpit and went straight through Jay Jay's younger brother Kalhidejac. Jay Jay had to fly his crippled ship home with his dead brother beside him. During that long, lonely flight, he swore many curses of vengeance on both Raftos and the Arolloans.”

"That does not sound very good,” said Harris. "How come I have never heard about any of this?”

"Because you haven't been bumming around with the dregs of society like some of us.” This was said by Mick, who was standing by the upper hatch. "You'd be surprised at some of the shit you hear if you sit quietly at the back of a bar room in a mining town for an evening. And the free discarded food you can pick up.”

"You've not spoken about this before,” said Raftos.

"Didn't think it relevant before,” said Mick as he came into the mess room and sat on the floor. There was a lot of stuff circulating about Jay Jay, it seemed to be a good topic for discussion when a group were half drunk. The general opinion was that he was crazy, also that he was now a recluse all on his own flying around in that Taxion ship. Which of course was rubbish, you cannot fly one of those things on your own. He still seemed to have a lot of cash and was buying weapons and mercenaries. He put a bounty on your head, Raftos, but no one except a dickhead was going to take you on.”

"I don't blame them,” said Venscottie, looking at Raftos and smiling.

"Then Rigadoon exploded,” Mick paused. "Suddenly everything changed, it went very quiet. Jay Jay seemed to disappear. Stories about Raftos stopped.

Then like an echo from a distant valley, strange stories came from the East; something terrible had happened.

Yet no one could find out what that terrible thing was.”

Chapter 18 - Syd Peru

"Something terrible had happened,” said Venscottie. "Light Star 1 had been lost, followed a few months later by Light Star 2.

Admiral Bainbridge, as he had now become, contacted the Star Knight Lesu Cantuie whom he knew was at Central Control. He wanted help searching for his wife and the Light Stars, the second of which had his daughter on board,  Cantuie said that he would contact all the knights he could and some of the informants they had in the bad lands.

Then Bainbridge said something that was to send shock waves through all the Star Knights.  ‘You see, time is running out,’ he said.  ‘I have it from a very reliable source that your old planet Sigadon, is in extreme danger of being blown out of the sky by the bandit Jay Jay.’

Les Cantuie asked,  ‘How reliable was the source and how much time did they have?’

‘I think you know the name,’ said Bainbridge.  ‘Syd Peru.’”

Venscottie's narrative was suddenly cut short by a tumbling sound as Mick suddenly sat up then came sliding down the lockers to arrive at Venscottie's feet.

"Syd Peru?" said Mick from the floor. "I knew a Jane Seru who goes under the name of Syd Peru. Dark close-cropped hair, large brown eyes, delicate features, wears black, slightly taller than me, although it was hard to tell as I was lying down most of the time.”

"Sounds like the same woman,” said Venscottie.

"You're coming up full of surprises today, Mick,” said Raftos. "And what's with you lying down all the time?”

"She nursed me better,” said Mick. "I had a broken leg, dislocated shoulder, bruises everywhere, head almost cut open and a stab wound.” Mick pulled up his shirt to show us a neatly stitched wound on his left-hand side.

"Come on little fella,” said Venscottie, lifting Mick off the floor and placing him down on his seat before moving to sit next to Predling. "Let's hear all about it, seems that you may know more about this Syd Peru than any of us.”

"I was on an outlying mining planet where I had been kicked off a shuttle to make way for a paying passenger,” Mick started. "It was getting dusk so I was bumming about looking for somewhere to kip down for the night, when I came across a group of drunken miners.

 I knew better than to let my presence be known to them, so I hid in a small dark alley. Eventually, they wandered off out of sight so I came out and noticed they had left some bags of rubbish where they had been sitting. I went over to see if there was any food.

I was rummaging through the pile when a different group of drunken miners appeared. They seemed to take an objection to me looking through the rubbish and were shouting what I assume were obscenities at me. I didn't recognise the language. I stood back and put my hands in the air to show I meant no harm, they then jumped me and started beating me up. My only thought was what a shit planet to die on.

 I was on the ground and they were kicking eight bells out of me, when suddenly two of them fell to the floor, and the other two spun round. From where I was lying I could just make out a shadow silhouetted by a single light on one of the buildings. One of the men was holding a blood-stained knife. They jumped forward at the shadow, then there were two quick flashes but no sound, and the two men fell down.

 The shadow came towards me and bent down. It was a woman. She shone a small light on me and quickly examined me. She saw the stab wound in my side and felt the broken leg which made me yell. ‘Shush,’ she whispered.  ‘We've got to get you out of here.’ Then from a pocket she took out a square pad, ripped off the backing and placed it on the blood soaked clothing. A semi liquid gel seeped through the clothing and around the wound, sealing it as it set, and the antibiotic in it soon relieved the pain.

 She pressed a small device on her sleeve and looked up as a blacked-out speeder automatically sped up from the gloom. She picked me up and placed me in the speeder, then she got in and we accelerated at top speed off into the desert.”

Mick paused. "Pass me a Koko-Kolo, Packet, this talking is making me thirsty. They're in the bin next to you.”

"Don't think I've heard you talk so much since you came aboard,” said Packet, passing him the drink carton.

Mick drank half the carton then carried on.

"I was falling in and out of consciousness but it was a long drive and close to dawn when we climbed into some mountains and entered an old mine tunnel. I zonked out then for about four days. Next thing I knew I was sitting up in bed being supported by Jane and being fed a bowl of thick hot soup.  

‘I'm glad you're back with us,’ she said as I opened my one good eye – the other one had a bandage over it. ' I thought you were never going to wake up.’”

Mick had some more of his drink.

"We were in a cavern formed when the area had been mined for zirconium, it had long been worked out and abandoned. Jane used it as a hideout, she said she had several on different planets. I was in a poor way – my left arm was in a sling and immobile, my right eye had bad swelling and was bandaged, my leg was in a splint, my middle was bandaged where I had been stabbed, and I was bruised all over.

 Fortunately, there were no mirrors so I did not know how bad I was. I was there for seven or eight cycles. She would go away for a few days sometimes but always came back. She saved my life.”

"Did you find out anything about her?” said Venscottie.

"Almost everything,” said Mick. "We were stuck in that cave together a long time, and we were both glad to have someone to talk to. I couldn't do anything so began to talk to her to start with. I told her about my early life on Tritton, living on a farm with my parents and elder sister. How they died with a plague that swept the planet and I went to live with my Uncle Hookenberg who was an Astro Dynamicist.”  

"Is that the Hookenberg who invented the Phidenburg principle?”  asked Venscottie.

"That's the one,” said Mick. "Well, gradually Jane began to relax and talk about her childhood on a planet called Enron. She too was brought up on a farm, with three brothers – two older than her and one younger. Apparently, her father was a part time inventor.

 That is not so unusual in remote farms on small planets, as there is nowhere to buy some stuff. It takes forever to get something delivered from a large planet. If you need it you make it out of things you've got. That's why farms generally look like rubbish tips. Well, it was a happy childhood, she was growing up and thinking of going to college in the only big town on the planet, Taloon. Then the raid happened.

 It was Jay Jay's father just beating up a small defenceless planet for no reason at all. Farming planets do not have anything worth taking and are generally left alone even by bandits, as they are somewhere to land in an emergency.

 Well in one sweep almost all the planet and its people were destroyed. Jane survived as she just happened to be in a small underground bunker where her father did his more dangerous experiments. She stayed in the bunker for two days before venturing out; there was literally nothing left of the farm or the outbuildings.

 She started to walk to the next farm with a sinking heart, and a day later she came to it – a smouldering mess as her father’s had been.

 Looking around she found an old speeder behind what had been the barn, its rear mud wall had collapsed over the speeder protecting it from the burning barn fire. She spent that day cleaning it out. There was food in the storage compartment – someone had been preparing a trip somewhere before the raiders struck.

 The following morning, she went to Taloon. This had not been destroyed from the air but had been pillaged with a land invasion; they must have thought there may be things of value there.

 A few survivors wandered about looking stunned and trying to see what or who was left. There were bodies everywhere, she was told an encampment had been set up for survivors on the space port outside town to avoid infection from the decaying bodies.

 There were too few survivors to make any attempt to bury the dead. A few more people came in from the outlying farms, and everyone discussed what to do.

 After a week or so a scavenger ship arrived and landed. They often arrive after battles or raids; they are harmless and often offer help. They confirmed very little had survived the raid and offered to take the survivors to one of the larger nearby planets.

 As they took off, Jane looked down at the grey green planet for one last time. Suddenly the numbness went, tears and anger welled up inside her, and she swore revenge to those that had done this.”

 Mick was almost in tears himself as he said these words.

"Do you want to give it a break?” said Raftos. "It is obviously hard recalling all this,”

"No,” said Mick. "It's just I remembered what it felt like leaving my home planet when my uncle died. Natural causes, I might add, he was ninety-seven and not well.

 I was young and wanted to get a long way away from where my family had died and I knew in my heart I was not a farmer. I decided I would travel around for a while. You can travel quite cheap, sometimes free if you are prepared to wait for a liner with empty seats and are prepared to change now and then. That's how I came to be on that mining planet.

 I eventually I got fit and Jane said she had organised for me to go to a nursing academy to be trained as a paramedic, as it is always easy to get work. All fees had been paid for by an orphans’ charity, she said that she had trained there. It was a beautiful place set in rolling farmland and so green I had never seen anything like it.

 During the two years I was there she would visit me regularly and we would walk in the farmland. It was like being at home. I think she saw me as her little brother, and I certainly saw her as my elder sister; we were the only family we had.

I told her about this idea I had for a teleport machine based on some of my uncle's calculations. She seemed to understand it and encouraged me to carry on with it.

 Jane told me about an underground network she was building up, of people who had been through what we had. She wanted to stop it happening anymore and through this network, they could warn people and if possible mount armed intervention.

 She said even she was surprised how quickly the network had built up and how loyal and dedicated these people were. Some were even from the rebel groups themselves. She did not give me any details of this network as she did not want me to be part of it; for my safety the less I knew the safer I would be.

 We talked for hours; they were happy days. At the end of my course, she told me she had arranged a meeting with some scientists on the planet Morstan. They were interested in my project of a teleporter. She gave me tickets, papers and letters of introduction from apparently very important people. The rest you know.

Mick stopped and finished his drink of Koko-kolo.

"Interesting,” said Raftos. "Has either of you heard anything about this?”  He looked at Predling and Venscottie.

 Predling spoke first. "There's always been talk of spies and traitors, but that's always been in the background. There is a general feeling, however, that things are changing, the pendulum is swinging to the other direction. More raids are finding nothing; a cargo ship will be found, only it is armed to the teeth and instantly ready for a fight, destroying or beating the raiders off.

Some of it may be this network, some just better awareness of where they are. The freight companies realising their ships have to defend themselves. More of the men who aren't just fugitives are drifting back into mining. It is a very hard life but safe, and if they are careful with their money they can go back East and have a nice life.”

"The Star Knights would agree with all of that,” said Venscottie. "We had the same feelings. The resentment and loathing for the raiders had been there for a long time as many have suffered at their hands. I think this Jane was perhaps a catalyst pulling the strings together. I don't think she will be running it but I think this network has probably become big enough to withstand the pressures of the even the largest of the evil groups, like Jay Jay’s.”

"Taking of Jay Jay,” said Mick, "Jane met Jay Jay's brother Kalhidejac. Jay Jay had landed in a small ship at a huge mining colony and requested help for his brother who was very sick. Jane was working at the infirmary and volunteered to go to look at him. The mining boss suspected it was Jay Jay but Jane said she knew the risk.

 Jay Jay showed Jane a small room where his brother, shaking all over, was on a mattress on the floor. Jay Jay was sick with worry and crying as he left her saying he was going to get some fresh air. The mining boss had some hidden snipers outside who reported he spent the whole time walking up and down the length of the ship and puffing on some drug device. He was totally unarmed.

Jane examined Kalhidejac; he was having an epileptic fit along with very high blood pressure and heart tremors. She injected something to deal with the blood pressure and heart problem, and then monitored him and waited until the seizure subsided.

 Slowly, Kalhidejac began to come round. He was in a semi-conscious state, and apologised for being ill. Jane said it was alright, he was having a fit and she would give him some pills to take which would help.

 He then pulled Jane towards him and whispered, ‘I'm frightened, we found the doomsday machine, Jay Jay’s going to use it, there's been too much destruction he is going to destroy everything if we don't stop him. He thinks the East sent it to destroy the bad lands but it went wrong, a huge meteor was embedded in the centre of it.’

 Jane thought Kalhidejac was delirious and did not pay much attention to his words. As she was packing up things he started fiddling with his boot, and pulled something out of its heel. Jane couldn't quite see what it was. He pushed it into the bottom of the medi bag she was packing up.

‘Don't tell anyone about this you; will need it one day,’ he said, and he looked straight into her eyes. Jane knew he was fully aware of what he was saying.

‘A big green wheel with three bombs. Now get off this ship. Give my brother any medication I need. Get him off this planet as fast as you can. Tell him I need to see Quello as soon as possible – he's my head doctor, he will leave fast then. Good luck. What is your name?’

 ‘Syd,’ said Jane.

 ‘Good luck, Syd,’ said Kalhidejac.  ‘I guess we will never meet again.’

Jane left the ship and talked with Jay Jay, gave him some medications then walked away from the ship. A few moments later the ship left, joined a bigger ship in orbit, and that ship too left forever.”

"Pough,” said Mick. "That's the last bit of talking I'm doing for at least the next week.”

 Mick started fiddling with his boot; out of the heel he pulled a pendant attached to a long thin chain. On the front of the pendant was a beautiful star array which seemed to shine out from a very dark blue enamelled background. On the back were some strange letters.

"That's what Kalhidejac gave Jane,” Mick dangled it from his hand. "I don't hang it around my neck because it would be far too easy to steal.”

Venscottie held out his hand.  Mick handed it to him. "She gave it to me when we met after I had been kicked off the Light Star project, and before Raftos came along to save my skin in that gambling club. Kalhidejac was dead by that time but Jane seemed to think it had great value and I was to take care of it until the time came. She did not say what that was.”

Venscottie looked at the pendant, then he fiddled around his collar and pulled out from the inside of his tunic a similar pendant with a different star map.

"The time has indeed come,” said Venscottie.

Chapter 19 - Gets Complicated

Harris, Raftos, Packet and Mick were sitting around on boxes in the food storage module of the Light Star and they were looking at Venscottie holding two pendants in his hand. Predling stood half leaning against the upper hatch door.

Mick's revelations about Syd Peru and his suddenly handing to Venscottie the Star Knight pendant had stunned everybody into silence.

"Do you recognise it?” said Raftos at length.

 "I do indeed,” said Venscottie. "It belongs to Atronsi Veroi Settie, a good man, he was trying to get close to the heart of Jay Jay's organisation. It is not something he would part with readily, so how did Jay Jay's brother get it and why did he pass it onto Jane? With a message about a doomsday machine and he's going to use it.”

"Perhaps Settie did get close to the heart of Jay Jay's organisation, very close,” said Raftos. "Perhaps Kalhidejac wanted his brother stopped. From Kalhidejac’s description it seems that what Jay Jay found was, in fact, Light Star 1. Jay Jay thought it was a doomsday machine because of the generators. He must have been carrying the generators from it on board that Taxion ship when he set out on that second invasion. Only his intention was not to invade Rigadoon but to blow it up by crashing the Taxion with what he thought were bombs into it .”

"Why have such a large fleet if that is what he was going to do?" asked Packet. "It doesn't make any sense.”

"They were to protect the Taxion,” said Raftos. "That ship was old and slow so needed protection. I doubt if the rest of the fleet accompanying him knew his real intention, perhaps only his brother knew that.”

"I suspect Settie could not get a message out because he was in too deep or being watched,” said Venscottie. “So Kalhidejac said he would get a message out but needed proof the message was real. So Settie gave him his pendant.”

"But that was the second attack, which was defeated with the help of Bainbridge's fleet,” said Raftos. "If this was the message about that invasion, it is all too late.”

"On the contrary,” said Venscottie. "By some chance, it is just in time. Like I said, 'now is the time'. When Rigadoon started to break up the call for help was broadcast far and wide. It was then that we had the very last message from Settie. it was short but very specific, 'At all costs observe the first silence.' This message was received just after the Star Knight general alert issuing the evacuation of Rigadoon.

 The meaning of Settie’s message simply meant do not let anyone know the coordinates of our old planet. It was one of the first codes of the Star Knights when we started to go into space, we did not know who or what we would meet out there. So the prime thing was to protect the home world. We are not a war like people so the only weapon we have is silence. That is why we guided the evacuation ourselves, so we could hide the location. The message from Settie meant great danger, although we did not know what from. Now we know.”

"This starts to fit in,” said Raftos. "On the attack we made on that second invasion fleet, Kalhidejac was aware that there was going to be an attack, he did not know the message had not got through. When Bainbridge fired the first round of rockets which were deflected by the shields of the Texion, Kalhidejac saw they had not worked. Then he saw my ship, the Monitor, which he must have recognised, lining up to fire. He would have assumed I had rockets as well. I was, however, firing twenty-four Taxion javelins in in 0.25-second intervals. The hope was at least six would get through the shields in the three-second weak point at the bottom of the recharge cycle.

 Having heard what Mick has said I think that at that moment Kalhidejac switched off the shield. I was amazed when all twenty-four javelins slammed into the Taxion ship – that could not have happened if the shield had been active.”

"It is a good job they were javelins and not rockets,” said Packet. “If that ship had the neutron engines on board it would have taken out everybody and everything in the whole area, including Bainbridge's fleet and you, Raftos.”

"It's fortunate I didn't know I was firing into neutron bombs,” said Raftos. “I might not have done it.”

 Venscottie gave a big sigh "And there by lies the sting in the tail,” he said. "Jay Jay has the same ship, with the same cargo and the intent to seek revenge on the Arolloan people by destroying our old home world Sigadon. For him, it is a one-way ticket. How do we stop him this time?”

"Lure him out into dead space somewhere and blast him to pieces with everything we've got,” said Raftos.

"That is just the point,” said Venscottie. "We haven't got anything. Syd Peru, Jane or whoever she is has contacted the Star Knights saying Jay Jay was looking for Sigadon. She also said that he knew you, Raftos, was also looking for it in this super ship Light Star. Jay Jay put out scout ships to try and follow where you were going.”

"Perhaps that explains the attack when we went to that little green planet,” said Harris. “That ship was just sitting waiting, giving no signals. They must have worked out the position in the same way we did on a Navigon unit.”

"That explains the attack, but what about the other ship that the military streaks came from?” said Predling. " It can't be some coincidence there just happened to be another ship, and  a friendly one, in the area.”

“Yet another player in the game we know nothing about,” said Harris

"At least they were on our side,” said Packet. "Assumedly?"

“I imagine when the scout ship detected your sudden appearance they did not want to reveal their own position,” said Venscottie. “So thinking you were after them they panicked and fired the missiles before you could do it to them.”

"And the streaks?” said Harris.

“Perhaps our mystery friend Syd Peru had something to do with that,” said Venscottie. “She seems to get around rather a lot.”

"Just one moment,” interrupted Raftos. "You say the ship detected our presence. I thought we were invisible?”

"No one ever said that,” said Mick.

"But we just appear, engines and generators shut down, we have no transponders, no vapour trail to follow, we don't even have windows that light can shine out off. How can anyone know we are here?”  said Raftos.

"We suddenly appear,” said Mick. "When we do so there is one hell of a bang.”

"Look, nobody hears you fart in space,” said Raftos.

"Oh, crudely put,” said Venscottie. "You don't improve with age do you, Raftos? What Mick was trying to say was that when we appear in 'dead' space you disrupt the sub atomic field and replace it with a high energy radiation body – basically the ship. The displacement and subsequent reversal of the static quotient emits a sub-atomic wave that can be detected from a considerable distance.”

"And in English?” said Raftos.

"Let me put it this way,” said Venscottie. "A large rock falls into a shallow pond and it hits the surface, then the bottom. It becomes stationary but it displaces some water and ripples run out from the point of impact. Only the Light Star does not fall into space, it arrives at a speed faster than light, a bolt of lightning shattering the very fabric of space.”

Raftos sunk his head into his hands. "So much for the miracle space ship. We're bloody screwed,” he said.

"On the contrary,” said Venscottie. "You are the only thing that can save us.”

 Raftos was quiet, everyone was in fact quiet. They were all trying to digest the torrent of new information. The silence was broken by a distant noise, a sort of rattling and clatter coming from the upper passageway and it seemed to be getting closer. Then, with a lot of clattering, Mayat and Kesa squeezed through the upper hatch, each carrying a large metal box.

"I thought you lot would be sat here all day,” said Predling. "Chatting and eating rubbish, so I have got Mayat and Kesa to bring over some proper hot food for you.”

 Mayat handed a bowl and spoon to everyone and Kesa ladled out a thick brown stew. Mayat then gave out large flagons of tea, each appropriately laced with a measure of Sluggit. Two for Raftos and Venscottie, a quarter for Mick and one of the rest of them.

 Predling was right of course, they all had a second bowl full of stew and all felt the better for it, their tired brains starting to work again.

"Well,” said Raftos. "I think we all needed that. Now I think we need to stretch our legs for a bit, visit the heads and freshen up a little. Back here in, say, thirty minutes.”

Raftos and Venscottie went off together; Predling tagged along with Mick and went to check the switch room. Harris and Packet went to the communications room.

"Well, what do you make of it so far?” asked Harris as they made their way through the labyrinth of passages to the communications area.

"I don't know, my head is still spinning,” said Packet. "I must admit, however, that young Mick has got more to him than I would have ever guessed.”

"And I gave up a nice little library job to come on this trip,” said Harris.

"Do you get the feeling none of us are going to survive?” said Packet.

"I had that feeling when I first met Raftos,” said Harris.

 After about forty-five minutes, everyone was back in the storage module sitting on boxes, wondering what was about to unfold this time.

 "Now we cut to the chase,” said Venscottie. “Thirteen days ago the Star Knights got a message from Syd Peru telling us Jay Jay had assembled his fleet of ships and was on the move, heading towards that small green planet where you were attacked.

 On the way he discovered the scout ship stationed there had been destroyed and he was sure Light Star must have done it. He decided he had a fix on you. But this time there would not be one lone ship.

 Through our people at central we contacted Bainbridge. He had already heard rumours about Jay Jay and had been assembling a fleet, but they could not be here soon enough to keep Jay Jay out of Sigadon space. If those neutron generators blew up anywhere near that area they would take out all the inhabited planets in one go.

Bainbridge did, however, have one ship in the area that might be of use, so he gave us the signal codes to contact them.

 It still left us without any means of stopping Jay Jay and time was running out fast. We estimated we had less than five days. Then suddenly, three days ago, the whole of Jay Jay's fleet turned around and headed in the opposite direction towards a point in the PHQ quadrant.”

"PHQ179ML19476HF2214, to be precise,” said Harris.

"How could you know that ?” asked Raftos.

"Because I sent a message in standard military code to tell Bainbridge just that. It said I had found the position of Sigadon and we were heading to coordinates just outside Sigadon's orbital system. We would report when we had got there. I signed the message Fleet Commander John Harris" said Harris.

"Fleet Commander!" said Mick.

"Is that really the position of Sigadon?” said Raftos. "Why did you not tell me and why send it in standard military code!”  he shouted.

"Don't lose your rag, no it's not the real location,” said Harris. "It is about as far away as I could position it without it looking like an obvious ruse. I sent it in simple open code to see if it would be intercepted and what effect it would have, if any, on Jay Jay's movements. It seems he got the message and believed it. It was sent over the satellite chain in code, so someone must have had access to it at central headquarters. Not only that, it must have been given to Jay Jay from someone he could trust.”

"Central leaks like a sieve,” said Raftos.

"Will Bainbridge act on the message?” said Venscottie.

"No,” said Harris. “He knows I would not use my rank on a message – he would know I was sending it to see if it was intercepted. Also, Venscottie, if you say Jay Jay has already turned his fleet, he must have got the message very soon after I sent it. Somehow it must have been intercepted close by, or someone at Central is using the military satellite chain to send messages directly to Jay Jay. Any message sent by a spy using any other route would have taken a minimum of two days to get back into sector five.”

"Oh bloody, bloody hell!” shouted Mick, who started banging his head against a locker door, then he started to sob. "Why does everything have to get so bloody complicated?”

"Predling,” called Raftos nodding towards Mick. Predling moved over and picked up Mick and held him close as he took him out of the upper hatch.

"Is he the spy?,” said Venscottie to Harris.

"No,” said Raftos.

Chapter 20 - The Plan

Light Star was hanging silently in space like some gigantic wheel that had broken away from a giant child's toy.

 Inside the storage module, which was serving as a meeting room, sat Raftos, Harris, Packet and Venscottie.

Mick, the inventor of the Light Star and its only pilot, seemed to have had a breakdown and had been taken out by Predling to somewhere quiet where he could rest. The remaining four sat in silence looking at each other, trying to digest the revelation that someone at central was intercepting their messages.

"This may be useful,” said Venscottie. "It could make all the difference. It seems this little decoy of yours, Harris, has bought us some precious time, maybe enough to spring the trap we had devised. Jay Jay will undoubtedly have sent some fast ships to scout out the area of the coordinates in the message. When they find nothing they will return to their original flight path, but it may have bought us enough time"

"Do we know their strength yet?” asked Raftos.

"Whatever it is, it is too much,” said Venscottie. "We have nothing except surprise on our side. Whatever damage we take from the outlying ships does not matter, the thing we must do is take out the Taxion battle cruiser with the bombs on board.”

"What have we got?" asked Packet.

"I wish you hadn't asked that, because it doesn't sound very much. There is the Bainbridge ship, whatever it is, then Raftos's Monitor which I assume is somewhere in the area,” Venscottie looked at Raftos who nodded it was. "Then there are about forty Skidders, class one, and thirty of the largest eight-man class fives, then there is Light Star here.”

"And how much fire power does that amount to?" asked Packet.

"The Bainbridge ship is on a test flight so I imagine unarmed. Then the Monitor,” said Venscottie. "Our Skidders are unarmed and so is Light Star. But we do have a cunning plan.”

"It had better be a bloody good one,” said Packet.

"Better than that,” said Venscottie. "It's the only plan we've got.”

"Hell’s teeth,” said Raftos. "The only way we are going to get through this is drunk.” He pulled another large bottle of the special Carsvalura out the locker and opened it. " This may be the last chance we ever get to have a decent drink,” he said, as everyone found a beaker and held it out to be filled.

"The plan is simple but timing will be critical,” said Venscottie. "We intend to lure Jay Jay and whoever is with him across to a particular area, where we have a series of class five Skidders patrolling around one of these green moon jump gates. These Speeders have set up a synchronised electronic screen that prevents scanners from penetrating the area they are patrolling. The intention is that Jay Jay will think we are hiding our home planet. If he believes this he will head straight for the centre of our screen. We will collapse the screen, creating a temporal vortex, and this will accelerate him onto the planet. He will be too close to avoid hitting it; we will then transmit a signal and the jump gate moon will jump him out of sector five.”

"That is your plan?” said Raftos. "There I was before you came on board telling everyone how clever you Star Knights were, and you come up with this.”

 Raftos filled his glass with Carsvalura and drank it down in one go. Then he almost shouted at Venscottie.

“Great moon’s teeth, it will never work. So many if and buts; for starters he's just gone on one long diversion so he is not going to be dragged somewhere else without really good evidence –  he will send scouts ahead. You also said you have to hit those moons at high speed; that Taxion can't get anywhere near medium speed let alone high speed. A small temporal vortex can't overcome the mass inertia of something the size and weight of a Taxion.”

 Venscottie suddenly looked tired, old and utterly defeated. He stared down at the floor, swilling the wine around in his beaker. Very quietly he spoke.

"We want you to jump into the space between the planet and electronic shield. The instant the shield collapses you will make a long jump out of the region, creating a massive spectral sink hole which will have enough power to accelerate the Taxion to jump speed.”

 There was a long, a very long silence; no one drank, simply sat trying to absorb the implications of what Venscottie had just said.

"You realise you intend driving a ship with three neutron generators on board directly into the path of another ship with another three primed and active generators attached? You know what could happen,” said Raftos.

There was another long silence.

"Split second timing would be required,” said Packet. "This machine does not know what that is.”

 Raftos stood up the best he could and stretched. "This may be all academic of course, if Mick has gone off his nut. We will be all buggered with a capital S.

Harris, you seem to be his best friend. Go and find him and have a chat, see what sort of condition he's in. Packet, you go and try to contact the Bainbridge ship.

As for you, Kuu, go and find Predling. Tell him to contact the Monitor and then get some rest. I'll be in the control room if you have to report anything.”

As Harris and Packet went out through the upper hatchway, Packet said, "Just think, you gave up a nice library job for this.”

"Hardy bloody har har,” said Harris.

 Harris found Mick in the switch room lying on his mattress staring into nothing. Predling was also there. Harris told Predling that Raftos wanted him to contact the Monitor and find Kuu somewhere to rest. As Predling left, Harris sat down on the floor near Mick.

Harris was quiet for a while then said, "Are you OK?”

 Mick moved his head to look at Harris. "Sorry about that,” he said. "It was the drink. I can't drink alcohol and that Sluggit is as bad as it gets. Got carried away in the moment; everyone seemed so happy."

"If that was the drink, it's a wonder you've held out this long considering some of the places you been hanging out,” said Harris.

"When I say I can't drink, it is not a choice,” said Mick. “Back on Tritton where I was born, alcohol just did not exist, so no one even thought about it. It was all teas and herbal drinks. Only when I went to live with my uncle did I even hear about it. He widened my education for the time when I did leave Tritton, but we did not drink. Because it had never existed since, well, forever, our bodies have no way of coping with it. Have too much and you're dead.”

"Good incentive to staying off it,” said Harris. "How did you survive in the gaming houses and bars you have been hanging out in; they must be awash with alcohol?”

"Not as difficult as you think,” said Mick. "You can get teas and herbal drinks because people like pilots, flight controllers and men that deal with explosives for the mines, all have to be totally alcohol free. If they are tested and found positive they are instantly dismissed and can't get another job.

 It has its advantages, I was younger then and would usually sit in some small corner or alcove out of the way with my books and notes and a herbal drink. The waitresses and hostesses would occasionally come and sit a while to chat and get off their feet for a bit. As they were with somebody the management assumed they were working. They were nice girls and I heard some stories you would not believe. They kept me sane, I was on my own for years and without their company I would have been in danger of going mad. I think everyone knew I had not got much money, because when the waitresses took an order for a meal, which had to be paid for in advance, if they came back with the meal and the client had gone for some reason, they would bring it over to me.”

"It's a wonder the club owners didn't get to know you and bar you from entering,” said Harris.

"I think they did know me but didn't do anything. With my books and papers and things they probably thought I was some kind of student and not just someone bumming around. Also, as I did not drink alcohol I was never going to cause trouble.

 Strangely, a short while before I met with Raftos and gave up that life, one of the girls told me that the managers rather liked me coming in as it kept all the girls happy. Some saw me as the little brother they had left on another planet far away. Others mothered me, asking where I slept, was I eating well, did I need anything, and bringing me the odd piece of clothing – especially socks.

Thinking back, it was quite a surreal existence. Mind you, if I say that was surreal, what the hell is this?”

"Did I tell you I gave up a nice library job to come on this trip?” said Harris.

 They both smiled at each other. "Are you sure you are going be alright?" asked Harris.

"Don't worry, they gave me some of that tea – I think it would cure a dead dog,” said Mick. "They said to give it about an hour before doing too much. So, we'll take this opportunity for me to show you how to operate this ship. Before you protest, don't forget if that drink had been stronger you would have all been up the heads without a pair of oars.”

"I've not heard that expression before,” said Harris.

"Neither have I,” said Mick. "Anyway, it will give me something to think about for the next hour. Before you say it, yes, you have told me.”

They both got up and went over to the switch panels. Harris had a horrible feeling it was going to be a long hour.

Chapter  21 - Into The Abyss

 After a couple of hours’ rest, Harris went to the control room which, much to his surprise, had been tidied up somewhat. All the monitoring equipment had been pushed against the long walls and the long table had reappeared. It now had a series of star charts upon it. Raftos and Venscottie were drawing on the maps and marking places and drawing lines.

After a while, Mick and Packet came in followed by Predling with Kimlon. Kimlon sat at one of the control monitors. Raftos and Venscottie sat back in their chairs.

"So, crunch time and I don't mean food, Mick,” said Raftos, smiling that big smile of his. "Are you alright now Mick?”

"Fine, I had good a couple of hours’ kip and ready for anything now,” said Mick.

"I am glad about that, because anything is about what could happen,” Raftos looked around at everyone; no one laughed, because they all knew it was quite true, but they all gave a wry smile.

"First reports – what is the situation out there, Packet?” said Raftos

"The good news is that there is nothing out there within scanning range, unless there are some Skidders we just can't see.” Packet looked at Venscottie.

 Venscottie held up three fingers then pulled out a small rectangular communicator from his pocket. "They have limited range so we relay messages through units within range of each other. We only use Arolloan and on a wave band you can't pick up conventionally. Also, they only work within three quanta, that's about an arm's length, of an active Star Knight pendant,”

"That's cute,” said Packet. "Can I have a look at it?” Venscottie slid the communicator down the table.

"Yaouch!!" shouted Packet, receiving a sharp electric shock when he touched the device.

"That is the other safety device,” said Venscottie. "Stops anyone pinching it out of your pocket. If it's not reactivated within five minutes, the inside turn to slimy, smelly algae.”

"Struth, Kuu,” said Packet. "With this kind of gadgetry can't you just blow out guidance systems and the such like without having to get near anything? You don't need the rest of us.”

"And there lies the sad truth of it all,” said Venscottie. "We do need you. If you open that communicator box and look inside, you would not have the faintest idea of how it works. If I looked inside one of your machines I would not understand that.

We as a race developed along totally different cultural and industrial paths. Our space ships do not burn fuel, they are mostly organic. So it is with our communications and scanners; they operate in a very low spectrum of power. We can block your scanners by absorbing their energy but we cannot transmit with anything like enough energy to upset your heavy equipment.

 Star Knights we were entrusted with looking after our people, but we became arrogant thinking our way was superior. We just hid away. Even after Rigadoon was discovered and contact was made with the outside world, we did not think about trying to understand those we met. Perhaps we had been alone too long.”

 Venscottie stopped, he was almost in tears. "Now it has come to this, one desperate attempt to save our civilisation, a handful of people against 'horribilis dracones' the awesome dragons.”  

 Raftos quickly saw the situation was beginning to spiral downhill and stepped in to pick things up. "Packet, did you get in touch with Banbridge's battle cruiser?”

“Success on the Bainbridge ship,” said Packet. “I was able to contact them through the military satellite chain so we can have fully secure conversations. The captain is one Bentonite Holbein Adams.

 It is a new class of ship being developed to cover the vast distances now opening up, and is designed get to situations like we have here very fast. It is based on the Hyper Star Liners with a cluster of five triton engines, and can go about four times the speed of your Monitor, Raftos.”

"What about the radiation?” said Raftos

"That's what I said to Captain Adams. Apparently they have solved that one,” said Packet. "Adams has orders to assist us in any way they can. At the moment they are shadowing Jay Jay's fleet, or more rightly, Jay Jay is following them. It appears they are still heading towards the fake position – Bainbridge sent Adams a copy of Harris's message.”

"You are not saying that Bainbridge believed the message, are you?” said Harris.

"No not at all,” said Packet. “He knew it was some kind of ploy, but when Jay Jay fell for it, Bainbridge and Adams decided they could take advantage of the situation to buy some time.

 Jay Jay apparently still thinks the cylinders he is carrying are from a doomsday bomb. He has heard about Light Star and that you stole it, Raftos. He really hates you for that, but the most important thing is that no one knows what the Light Stars looks like. So Adams came up with a wild idea.”

"This is getting exciting,” said Mick.

"Not exactly the phrase I would use in a situation like this,” said Raftos.

"Oh I don't know,” said Venscottie. "I think I can see the sunrise of hope peeking over the dark clouds of despair.” Venscottie seemed to have bounced back from the depths of despair rather rapidly. Perhaps the Timmeron tea had finally kicked in.

"Well, I had to smile myself when Adams told me his little plan,” said Packet. "As he said, the new battle cruiser is based on the hull of the Hyper Star Liner. A sleek brilliant white pin-up of a space ship, which adorns the covers of travel advertisements and brochures for the more wealthy traveller. As we all know, most space craft are painted with radiation paint – usually the cheapest colour available at the time, mainly the colour of sludge.

Packet smiled. “Adams knows of the plan to get Jay Jay to go to one of your moons to jump him out of sector five. He has two of your boys on board apparently,” Packet nodded toward Venscottie. “The problem, of course, is to get him to go where you want him to go without it looking obvious. Adams thought as Jay Jay was aware that Raftos was also looking for Sigadon, he might try to follow Light Star with the prospect of destroying Raftos and the Arolloans in one glorious explosion.

 Adams got a fix on Jay Jay's fleet without being detected as it was a very sprawling affair. Before exposing himself to Jay Jay's fleet, however, Adams flew off to a service station some distance away and got them to paint on each side of the white ship in big black letters "Light Star". He then returned, still staying just out of their scanning range.

 He switched on a scanner blocking wave which would have immediately attracted Jay Jay's attention. They could not scan, so would lock on their telescopes. Jay Jay would have been delighted, there it was, Light Star and Raftos.”

“Neat,” said Raftos.  

 “Impressive off his own bat,” said Packet. “Adams is going to keep a steady course to the false location, hoping Jay Jay will follow at a discreet distance thinking he has not been detected. Jay Jay has not sent any scout ships out as he does not want to alert the Arolloans. Adams thinks they can keep going for another day before it becomes obvious to Jay Jay that there is nothing there. This will give us another to two days to plan our attack.”

"This is good fortune indeed,” said Venscottie. “It is time we most certainly need.”

"But,” said Raftos, “it can’t all be good news, can it?”

"Light Star,” said Packet. "Adam’s ‘Light Star’, is only lightly armed. It was a shake down mission; they did not expect to be involved any conflict. However, and I quote here from his message, 'Tell that bastard Raftos I can take whatever he's got stashed away on some asteroid. Love and kisses!’" Packet looked at Raftos. "Do you know this guy?”

"Good heavens, that's going back a bit,” said Raftos. “Crazy Ben Adams. He was a test pilot in the same squadron I was in for a while, back at the military academy. He was a nutcase, never refused a job no matter how dangerous."  

"That's just what we need,” said Venscottie sarcastically.

"No, that is exactly what we do need,” said Raftos. "Packet, get back to him saying to string Jay Jay along as far as he can, then stop and send an open message signed by Harris to Bainbridge saying:

'Original information wrong but have detected an electronic screen around a planet very close the second position we had worked out. We are going to head directly there before we get detected. Will advise on contact.'

Then he's to start the return journey slowly to the position the Star Knights will give you, allowing Jay Jay time to establish the course. Then blast out of there at full throttle – it will seem to Jay Jay's fleet that he has just disappeared. That will convince Jay Jay and anyone else that they really are Light Star. We will meet at these coordinates,” Raftos wrote down some numbers and slid the paper to Packet.

"I'll go and send this off now,” said Packet. He took the paper with the coordinates on it and left to go to the communications section.

"Call me simple if you like,” said Harris.

"Simple,” said Mick with a grin.

"We have Jay Jay and his little fleet of ships,” said Harris, ignoring Mick's comment, “following the Bainbridge battle cruiser which we hope he thinks is Light Star. His Light Star is then going to turn round and seemingly head straight for this little moon, that is your Star Knights moon,” Harris nodded toward Venscottie. “You have this surrounded with a scanning shield. We are all hoping, and I stress hoping, Jay Jay will follow that direct line to said moon. Which, I might add, is not there because it cannot be seen by any scanners because of the shield,” Harris paused.

 “Then the Bainbridge battle cruiser is going to blast off at high speed to those coordinates you have given him. Leaving no one tracking Jay Jay's movements. Are you tracking him?” Harris asked Venscottie.

"We don't have the ships,” said Venscottie. "We have concentrated all our ships around that moon.”

 "So we do not know what kind of force we are up against, numbers of ships size or types,” Harris looked at Venscottie again. Venscottie shook his head from side to side but did not say anything.

"I take it Crazy Ben will be going to where you have a stack of weapons, and that the Monitor will be there as well. Are we going to meet them?” said Harris. “More to the point, do you know that weapons you have stashed will still be there?” Harris addressed this at Raftos, who was not smiling any more.

"Well, no, I don't know the weapons are there, but it is the only stash near enough to get to with the time we have. All we can do is jump Light Star, that's us, to the asteroid where the stack is and have a look before the others move too far to abort,” said Raftos. "The problem is—”

"When we all get there,” chipped in Venscottie, "you and Harris are both military men and I am sure you both know how long it takes to arm a warship. Even using fully trained crews you are talking several days, even weeks. The Monitor has only half her crew, the rest are here. The Bainbridge ship is on a test flight, with a test pilot captain and a crew, I imagine, made up of test engineers and scientists.”

"Are you talking about the Droystean freighter?” This was said by Predling, who had up until then had said nothing but had been making notes and writing numbers in a notebook.

"That's the one,” said Raftos.

"In that case, it is just a matter of numbers and willing hands. Kimlon, is Sillosees still at that camp of his? It is less than six hours from the dump," said Predling.

"We will lose everything we don't take with us,” replied Kimlon. "There again, if we don't have enough time to load everything we need, we lose the battle and everything else anyway. Give him a call.”

Predling stopped writing and turned his chair round to face a Vidicon unit fixed to the wall. He pressed a button and the screen on the device lit up. "Packet, are you at the communications desk?”

"Here,” said Packet.

"Can you patch me through on the sub-ether Timmeron band to SILL038888 BAK03888 LN3?”

"May take ten minutes or so from here, but will do my best,” replied Packet. The screen went into hold.

"Hold on there, what are you talking about? Who is Sillosees and what are we going to lose? And who the hell are you ringing?" said Raftos.

"Look, you heard Venscottie, we have that dump, if it's still there, of fairly good weaponry. Two good ships and us. To arm the ships in anything like two or three days, we need men, a lot of men. Sillosees has a lot of men and in the right place,” said Predling.

"That does not explain anything,” said Raftos.

"I think there is some back story to this,” said Venscottie. "Is there not, young man?”

 “ Sillosees was one of the first of the Timmeron Thinkers.” said Predling. “Thinking is not something Timmerons are particularly renowned for. Basically, he was saying that as a race we had survived the destruction of all our home worlds but we were in danger of being wiped out as a race by spreading ourselves out too thinly across the universe.

 We were open to persecution, genocide, or slavery, and were too peaceful to stand up for ourselves. We had no home world and no one to call on in an emergency. We could find ourselves in the position the Arolloans are in now.

 Sillosees set up a small training camp for young Timmerons, where they would train as a kind of volunteer ranger squadron. It would help with our identity as well as young people’s need for adventure. It became a popular idea, so now most of our young do the ten-year training and it's all quite voluntary. It is a very useful qualification to have as far as employment is concerned, showing commitment and reliability.”

"What's is this about losing anything we can't take with us?” said Raftos.

"It is a big stack of weapons. We cannot use it all, and the training camps, of which there are many now, all rely on donations. This is your donation, like it or not,” said Predling. "When we get back, if we get back, the rest of the stack will be gone.”

Just then the Vidicon made a long tone.

"Shall I answer it?” said Predling to Raftos.

"Answer it,” said Raftos. "We need all the help we can get. Mick, stoke up the boilers – we jump as soon as Predling has finished his call.”

Chapter 22 - Picking Up Weapons

 Between the two solar systems of Rigadoon and Pelladoon was an area of asteroids that formed a long undulating river of planetary debris known as the Droystean Belt. Into this, Raftos was heading. The asteroid belt drifted and moved in the solar winds of interstellar space so it was the perfect place for hiding things, that is, if you were capable of finding them again.

 Towards the end of one particular war, Raftos and this crew were travelling back to Rigadoon on a routine trip when they came across an abandoned space freighter, a very large one at that. They quickly found out why it had been abandoned: one of its engines had gone into meltdown and was on the verge of exploding.

 Raftos, however, noticed the freighter was labouring under the thrust of the one still-working engine. Whatever the freighter was carrying, it was fully loaded. Raftos decided that with a few well-placed missiles they could blow the engine section away from the main part of the freighter and with a thruster rocket they could push the engines far enough away before they exploded. He and his crew could then claim salvage of the considerable cargo.

 The plan was successful, and Raftos boarded the drifting cargo ship. On inspecting the contents, he quickly realised why the crew had abandoned it so quickly. The vessel was a military supply craft, and it was packed with millions of tons of rockets, explosives, missile launchers and even military streaks. If that ship had exploded it would have taken out a large part of the sky with it.

 Raftos was rather glad he did not know that before he started blowing the engines off. This was not normal salvage, so he decided to hide the ship for possible future trade at a time when nobody would be looking for it. He hid the cargo ship by parking it on one of the asteroids in the Droystean Belt.

 Mick, with remarkable precision, placed the Light Star fifty miles above the surface of a rather large lumpy piece of rock. Raftos was hoping no one else had found the freighter since he had left it there. He ordered Kimlon, Packet and a couple of his crew to take the shuttle and check that the freighter was still down there and that no one had touched it or broken the seals he had put on it.

 Harris was surprised how Raftos was now a changed man; he was giving orders and seemed far from the laid back person Harris had come to know. Raftos now knew where he wanted to go and how he was going to get there.

 As everyone else was busy, Harris decided to find Mick to see how he was getting on. He found Mick in the food storage area eating a carton of Scuzzy Rice. Harris took the carton Mick offered him and sat down.

"Any idea what's going off?” said Mick between mouthfuls.

"At the moment they are preparing the shuttle to go and see if a stockpile of weapons is still there,” said Harris, pulling the seal strip from around the carton of Scuzzy Rice.

 The carton with a sizzle automatically heated up the contents to a temperature just warm enough to eat. Harris unpacked the small spoon conveniently provided in the lid of the carton.

"You think we're in for a fight with someone?” said Mick.

"I don't think this ship is going to fight anyone, it's just not that kind of ship. I think Raftos will put some defensive weapons on just for protection," said Harris. "Our best tactic, I think, is surprise, and getting that Taxion and its cargo of neutron generators booted right out of this sector.”

"I'm worried,” said Mick.

"We have to trust Raftos,” said Harris. "He did not survive twenty years of gun running in the middle of several different wars with out knowing a thing or two about survival. At least that's what this librarian is pinning his hopes on. I can tell you one thing for free – I'll be glad when this is all over and I can get some proper food.”

 Harris took a spoon full of rice; it was too hot. Self-heating cartons were not an exact science, and the chances of getting one that reached the correct temperature was estimated at three in eight.

"I've never been in a battle,” said Mick. “I suppose you have, being a soldier and that with central command.”

"I'm in the archive section,” said Harris. "Not exactly noted for battle honours.”

"But you're a hero,” said Mick. "You've got the Imperial medal, you don't get that from sticking your nose in a book.”

"That was just stupidity, or ignorance, you had to be there – there was no one else to do the job.”

"Would you do it again?” asked Mick, scraping the last of the rice out of his container with his finger.

"Given the same circumstances I suppose I would have to,” admitted Harris.

"In that case,” said Mick, "you're a hero.”

Mick was quiet for a while, then said quietly, "I don't know who to trust.”

"You only just beginning to wonder that,” said Harris. "I've been wondering that ever since I came aboard this, this thing.”

"There is something wrong, and I don't know what it is,” said Mick. "Just have this feeling in the pit of my stomach, like when Light Star was not going right. Something does not add up. Can we trust Venscottie?”

"More than anybody else we have ever met, I think,” said Harris. "Why do you ask?”  

"I want you, me and him to have a number crunching meeting alone in here where no one can eavesdrop,” said Mick softly. "Can you still access your central database files from this position here in Droystean space?”

"I'll check,” said Harris and went over to the intercom and pressed the button. "Packet, can we access central data from this position?”

"No problem – I think they have put more relay units in the chain and upped the speed, it's very fast,” replied Packet.

"Set up a link and a station – I'll be along shortly.” Harris came back to Mick.

 "Well, what do you want to know?”

"This Taxion battle cruiser,” said Mick. "It was out of date when it was built, then nearly all were scrapped, yet it seemed to gain some mythical status. Why would Jay Jay choose to use one? There has always been interest in it, so there must be details of it somewhere in your data files. Do you think you can dig out original drawings and specifications for me to look at?”

"I think everyone has assumed it was cheap and one of the few ships large enough to take on board those three generators. Do you think there is something we are missing?" said Harris.

"Jay Jay’s not an idiot. He may be a paranoid schizophrenic, but he must have other people around him that know what he intends to do,” said Mick. "The Taxion is big but there are bigger, newer and faster ships. He may have got the wrong idea believing the myths about them. Why did he think Light Star one was a doomsday bomb, there has never been such a thing?”

"You may be right,” said Harris. "The clock’s ticking, however, so I'll find what I can about the Taxion. In the meantime, I'll send Venscottie down here and you two can have a chat. Don't hold back; I think Venscottie needs someone to talk to as well. I suspect he is feeling a bit out of his depth, and that he might also have that feeling in the pit of his stomach.”

"Here,” said Mick, tossing two Hershey bars toward Harris as he started to leave the storage unit.

"I can see I'm going to put on a lot of weight before this is all over,” said Harris, ripping the wrapper off one of the bars and taking a big bite. He gave Mick a big smile as he disappeared down the passage.

Mick lay down on the lockers and closed his eyes for a while. He thought of Jane and their walks in the green fields of the nursing academy, so, so far away from this madness.

"Are you feeling alright?”

Mick gave a sudden shudder as he opened his eyes. There was a face just a hand’s width above his, staring right at him. “Are you alright?” it said. It took Mick a few moments before he realised it was Venscottie.

"Sorry,” said Mick. "I must have dozed off there for a while.”

"That's OK,” said Venscottie. "You probably needed it. Harris said that you wanted to have a private word with me.”

"Yes, that’s right. I’ve been thinking about this plan of yours,” said Mick.

"Ah,” said Venscottie, sitting back and looking at Mick. " Before we start, have you got any of those Kloo bars and that Koko-kolo drink left?”

"Plenty," said Mick, rolling over and opening a locker. He opened a couple of boxes and put them down in front of Venscottie, who was now sitting on the terramatting besides Mick. Venscottie took one of the drink cartons, pulled out the drinking straw and took a long drink.

"I was ready for that,” said Venscottie. "I don’t like to ask for it in front of Raftos, because I think he looks down on it as children’s stuff. I rather like it though, it tastes lovely. We have nothing like it; you can’t make this kind of thing out of moss.”

 Venscottie opened the fudge bar. "Now, what is on your mind?”

"Well, I don't want to speak out of turn, but this plan of yours – I have a gut feeling that there is something not right somewhere,” said Mick. "I did not want to say anything in front of the others because you Star Knights are held in such esteem and I am sure you must have given it much thought, but—”

"But you still have this rumbly in the tumbly,” said Venscottie. "I am sure you are not the only one on this ship that has that feeling. What I am also sure of, however, is that you are the only one who understands the full implications of our plan. Which, of course, means that you can also understand the pitfalls.”

"I'm not a Timmeron; I do not like unknowns,” said Mick. "And there are too many of them in this plan. I worried about this ship when it was being built but the managers could not see the unknowns. When I managed to sort them out after I had been kicked off the project, I knew for certain we could move ship quite safely.”

"To some extent I share your concerns,” said Venscottie. "This was not my plan; it was the best our collective minds could come up with in the time available. I do not see why the plan should not succeed, and by heavens I hope it does – the alternative is unthinkable. I respect you, however; you built this great machine and may even one day be able to unravel the mysteries of the small green moons. Ask me what you wish to know.”

"Well, Harris is looking up details about the Taxion, but in the meantime these little green moons – I’ve been thinking about them,” said Mick. "Remember we only discovered one a few days ago and did not know they were jump gates until you gave Harris the movement positions of your ships.”

"We never thought you could do that kind of analysis,” said Venscottie. "We should have told you when we discovered we needed your help.”

"And that help is to accelerate the Taxion onto a green moon to jump it out into deep space,” said Mick.

"Correct,” said Venscottie. "You think that is not possible.”

"I am sure it is quite possible, it is just not provable,” said Mick. "I take it that some of these gates do not work and the odd one explodes when triggered.”

"How could you have worked that out?” said Venscottie. "You only found one, as you said a few days ago, and even then you did not know what it was.”

"When I realised it was in direct ratio to Light Star, I knew something strange was going on with those moons. Then when we noticed your ships jumping about that confirmed they must be something to do with it,” said Mick. "Not only that, your technology could not have made them, there are probably millions of them all through sector five. But you only use a few local ones, then only in an emergency. You are frightened of them, aren't you?"

"You really are a bright young lad, Mick,” said Venscottie. "You are perfectly correct. We are terrified of those things. Tell me what you need to know; perhaps we can reduce the odds of failure.”

"Well, are they all the same size, what is the mass of them, what is the protective shield, and what happens when you trigger them? Is the entry speed related to mass or trigger frequency, and what's the maximum length of penetration?”  Mick's questions came thick and fast.

"Hold on, this is all beyond me. What you need is to speak to memoriser,” said Venscottie, taking out his small communicator. "As I said, all our files are in the spoken word but we do have people who commit to memorising large sections of historical data. These are people we can call on when we want answers quickly." Venscottie started talking very fast in Arolloan as his communicator crackled into life.

Just at this point, Harris came in through the upper hatchway carrying a large bundle of papers.

Harris handed the papers to Mick. "I think these will satisfy you for a while. Full set of drawings, specifications, electrical, schedules, loading charts and full engine details with possible variations. With all details of the electronic shielding.”

"That was quick,” said Mick. "How did you manage that?”

"I managed to get straight through to Astor,” said Harris. "Remember I'm still boss back there. I put in a level one priority search, all available personnel to do an instant file scan for relevant data and sort the most significant for transmission.

"You really are a useful guy to have around,” said Mick.

 Venscottie finished talking and handed his communicator over to Mick. "We've got a direct link to Avessitopn Corrisketog, but you call him Frank – he will enjoy that. Have you got your Star Pendant on you?”

 "Yes, I can put it around my neck in safety here,” said Mick, pulling the pendent out from under his shirt. Venscottie took hold of the pendant, pressed it against the communicator, and pressed a few almost invisible buttons on the device.

"It is now an open line between you and him – ask him whatever you want. He knows the situation. If you want him, just say, Frank, it's Mick; if he wants you he will say Mick it’s Frank. Keep this with you at all times. If you need me at any time just tell Frank and he will put you through.”

"But this is your communicator,” said Mick holding it up.

"It's yours now,” said Venscottie. "I've got another in my Skidder anyway. Always have a backup,” he said

"Hope you are not going to regret having said that,” Harris chipped in.

"Anyway, Kuu there is a big freighter stationed about five miles above us. It is Sillosees. You, me and Raftos have been invited over for a meeting. They are sending a shuttle over to collect us.”

Chapter 23 - Sillosees Rangers

 After docking with the newly arrived ship, a young ranger took the crew of Light Star to a large meeting room with a long table and several chairs in the centre of it. On a side table against the wall were some refreshments and food. Raftos said it was nice to be able to walk around without having to duck every so often to avoid banging your head.

They stood waiting for a short while, then a door at the far end of the room opened and an elderly man entered. He was obviously very old but held himself erect and walked with a positive step. His eyes were clear and, although dressed very simply in a dark-green jumper and trousers, he had a presence you could not ignore.

"Gentleman,” he said in a sharp, clear voice. "I am Crasaton Sillosees. Please take a seat.” Everyone sat down at one end of the table and introduced themselves. The young ranger brought everyone a plate of food and a cup of tea from the side table.

 Sillosees started the conversation by saying how he knew everyone by reputation but was pleased to meet them in person. To this statement, Harris raised his eye brows in surprise, which Sillosees noticed.

"Don't look surprised Mr Harris,” he said. "Your reputation as the data supremo has spread further than you imagine. Your Vidicon lectures on sustainable planet management are required viewing for all our rangers.”

Sillosees took a drink of the tea and looked at Raftos. "I take it that the object we are parked above is the Light Star machine you so publicly stole from the Central Command?”

"That's the one,” said Raftos. "Or rather, I should say, that is the third and it is something that is way beyond my understanding.”

"What exactly does the thing do?” said Sillosees.

"I think I had better let Harris answer that,” said Raftos. “I think he's got the words in his head to explain it.”

"It jumps across space,” started Harris after finishing his mouthful of veggie sandwich. "Take a compass and move it around the surface of a planet, and the pointer will keep moving to orientate with its new position. Now, if you take hold of the pointer and push it away from where it wants to be, it will push against this position and try to relieve the stresses within itself by not being where it thinks it should be. If you give the pointer enough power, in a small enough time it will take itself to the position it thinks it should be in. Light Star does that on a big scale.”

"That's incredible,” said Sillosees. "Such a thing could change everything. Instant space travel. Yet by the expression on your faces, I suspect there is something else, a dark shadow stalking you all. Is this something to do with the fact you make a point this is Light Star 3?”

"I suppose, partly,” said Raftos. "I didn't come out here to find myself in the middle of an old war. I knew nothing of the reason why the Arolloans were trying to hide or where they went after Rigadoon exploded; that is, until Venscottie here arrived. That was yesterday or the day before. I'm getting confused about how long we have been out here now.

 I had heard of Jay Jay, of course, but only as a bandit. I knew nothing of his vendetta against the people of Rigadoon. My only interest is finding my family whom I had left on Sigadon for safety. I thought Light Star would mean I could find Sigadon quickly, because my time was running out.”

"Time running out?" queried Sillosees.

"Radiation from the Monitor’s engines,” said Raftos. "I just wanted to be with my wife and daughter before time finally ran out. But our mood is much more to do with finding Light Star 2 half embedded in an asteroid. Harris knows, he went aboard to rescue the few survivors. When you see a ship destroyed like that, it stays in the mind. It is not easy to forget, especially when you are on a sister ship. In respect to your traditions, we had to blow it up to release the souls of the dead. We had no explosives so we had to use the remaining neutron generator that was still active. You probably detected the resulting explosion.”

"It was monitored but not identified, as there were no suns anywhere near that location so it could not have been a nova,” said Sillosees.

"Well, we then learned that Jay Jay had picked up three of these neutron generators, thinking they were from a doomsday bomb,” Raftos carried on. "Going by the vague description, we think what he found was Light Star 1. It had suffered the same fate as the second, only this time the crew modules were hit; the jump ring was intact along with the three generators. So, in a way, we are responsible for this whole mess.”

"I can see why your hearts are so heavy,” said Sillosees.

"We have formulated a plan,” said Venscottie. “But we have so little information about our foe, I do feel it may not be enough.”

"Do not despair, any of you, especially you Venscottie,” said Sillosees. "Many years ago, I attended one of your lectures where you said good information is worth five battalions of soldiers. It is a phrase that is at the heart of our ranger mantra.”  

 Just then, as if by some signal, the door at the far end of the room opened and two rangers came in carrying trays with bowls of hot food, cake, sandwiches and more hot tea.

"We will put some hot food inside us then we will start making plans,” said Sillosees. "You may be surprised just how much information there is about Jay Jay and what he is doing. But we cannot work on an empty stomach.”

 When everyone at the table had finished their meal, three of the young Rangers cleared away the dining table. As they did so, Harris realised just what rubbish they had been eating for the past days. Basic rations were for survival, not enjoyment. Even the tea was very pleasant. Perhaps the tea the Timmerons made on Light Star was extra strong because they had to put up with Raftos all the time.

 When the table was cleared, a group of cadets entered carrying rolls of maps and folios of papers and some instruments. They started lying out the papers and charts on the long table, holding them down with small magnetic cylinders. The table must have some metal content, thought Harris, although it looked and felt quite organic. Harris was watching all this when it suddenly struck him that half the group of cadets were girls. It took him quite by surprise; of course, there had to be Timmeron women, but the only Timmeron he had actually ever met – the ones on Raftos's crew –were all men. He had not thought of rangers being girls as well as boys.

 The chairs were pushed back and Sillosees, Raftos, Venscottie, and Harris watched as star maps were pieced together at one end of the long table. Small magnetic holders were then placed on the maps representing the players in the current scenario. One with a small model of the ship they were now on was placed against the Droystean Belt. Next to it a quickly drawn image of Light Star was fixed to a smaller holder. At the other end of the map was a larger model on a holder rather like a herb sprinkler. This was painted a very dark red and had six or seven golden lines running from its pointy nose to its stubby rear end. Harris assumed correctly that this was the Taxion. Alongside this model were several holders with plain rectangular labels of different colours; each had groups of numbers and writing on them.

 Three-quarters of the way between the two sets of models was a long white model: Banbridge's battle cruiser. Off to one side, heading to toward the asteroid, was a smaller dull looking ship – Raftos's Monitor.

 Sillosees walked to the other end of the table where there were papers and sheets of data. He picked up a large folder of papers, selected a large colour image from the centre, and slid it across the table to where Raftos, Harris and Venscottie were standing. "Have you ever seen one of these?” he said. It was an image of a Taxion battle cruiser.

"I saw one briefly when I shot at it on Jay Jay's first attempt to invade Rigadoon,” said Raftos. "But I don't think the others have.”  Harris and Venscottie shook their heads.

"Before we go any further,” said Sillosees. "I must make one thing clear. The rangers are not – and I have to emphasise this – we are not a military organisation. We train our youth about our history, instil a moral compass and teach them to be good citizens. We try to give them confidence in their own abilities and how to work well with others. Yes, we train them about handling military equipment, also the use of rescue and medical equipment. We want them to be able to cope with the trials and tribulations that are bound to come in their future lives.

 We were there when Rigadoon exploded. We saved many lives, but alas lost two ships and their crews. You may be asking yourselves why am I mentioning this. Well, those crews were not rangers but had been rangers in their youth, and when the time came they stepped up to the line to help others. They will be remembered well for that.”

"Look,” said Raftos. "We are not looking for an army, just enough hands to get some weapons onto our ships. It is the time we need, to get that done and then back to stop Jay Jay setting off the bombs he is carrying on board that bloody great ship he has found.”

"Don't misunderstand me,” said Sillosees. "I have brought all the men you need with me on this ship. As we speak they are readying the transport shuttles and moving into position above the asteroid. They are young rangers, but I have also on board two full complements of crew for both the Monitor and for the Bainbridge ship. The crews are experienced men who are about to leave the rangers; they have been in battles and know what to expect. They have all volunteered.”

"That's the first bit of good news I have heard for a while,” said Raftos. "That Bainbridge ship is a good vessel but I was worried that the crew could not handle it. That gives us slightly better odds of success. We are still relying on Light Star, however, and on Mick not going potty under the stress, seeing as he is the only one who can handle it.”

"I can't help you on that one,” said Sillosees. "I haven't the faintest idea what that machine is or does.”

"I don't think anyone else on board does either,” said Raftos. "Except for Mick.” Raftos gave one of his big smiles.

"You are playing with fire, Raftos, don't get too far out of your depth,” said Sillosees.

 Sillosees walked down the table and picked up the small model of the Taxion. "We have been taking quite an interest in Jay Jay ever since his failed attempt to invade Rigadoon, which was, of course, a revenge attack. We thought he was bound to regroup and try again, especially after losing his brother in that attack. For a while he just went crazy ,then Rigadoon exploded and Jay Jay seemed to disappear. We thought perhaps his vengeance had been slated, although not by his hand.

 Then stories of the massive evacuation that had taken place began to trickle through sector five. The Arolloans had survived and gone back to the old home planet, but no one knew where that was.”  Sillosees looked at Raftos. "You should not be so famous; rumours began to circulate that you were looking for the old Arolloan planet in your souped up space ship. Jay Jay hired mercenaries to keep track of your movements. They were not very good, so apparently they made stuff up. Suddenly you disappeared, then talk started that you had stolen this new wondrous star ship.

 At that point, Bainbridge sent the new Hyper Star battle cruiser into sector five so it could be seen and take any interest away from your real Light Star. So far it seems to have worked.”

"This is all very well,” said Raftos, "but what is Jay Jay doing now, and can we predict what he intends to do, so we can stop him?”

"I was coming to that,” said Sillosees, putting the little model of the Taxion back on the map. "Jay Jay has a big ego and has gathered around him a large fleet of ships which looks very impressive. It is, however, a real mistake on his part.

 There is a core of about twenty ships that are paid mercenaries, of these about six are manned by relatives of those killed during the first invasion of Rigadoon, or hardened thugs who just want a fight. The others are opportunists and con men. Jay Jay had to pay them up front to join in, so ninety percent will just disappear when the fighting starts.

 The rest are a rag tag bunch made up of young men out for a bit of fun, a couple of Vidicon documentary ships and, would you believe, a load of tourist and pleasure cruisers. Most of which have joined to see the famous Light Star, or rather Bainbridge’s Hyper Star battle cruiser. Which of course now has mythical status. Few of these ships will stick around for long, having neither the fuel or stamina for a long haul. Nor, in fact, any intention to be around when any fighting starts,”

"This sounds like a real mess,” said Harris. “No one will know who's who"

"I suggest that the Bainbridge ship does a rapid pass over this fleet as soon as possible so the tourists get a sight of it then go home,” said Sillosees. “There is one advantage to us, however, about Jay Jay having so many ships around him. One can slip in the odd spy ship without it being noticed. We think we have identified four, and one of them is ours.”

 As they were talking, the rangers were moving the models of the Bainbridge ship and the Monitor closer to the position where they were now, just off the asteroid .

"You say you have a plan,” said Sillosees. "So you must have some idea about what you are up against and how to deal with it.”

"I love your optimism,” said Venscottie, walking over to the star map. "I think I can say we are all quite perturbed by the number of ships you say Jay Jay has gathered around himself. Our plan is quite simple. We have put up an electronic field around a small planetoid about here." He pointed to a position on the map. "This electronic field stops any scanners detecting the planet. It does not, however, stop telescopes.”

"It's pretty useless then,” said Sillosees.

"Telescopes can only be used at relatively short range,” continued Venscottie. "So when they do focus in on the planet they will see a heavily populated green planet with cities and seas. This is not the planetoid but a three-dimensional image of our home world projected into it. When Jay Jay sees this, he will be convinced he has found our home world and attack. An attack which we think is a suicide run, where he will fly straight into the planet thus detonating the bombs on board."

"So, he wastes his bombs on a useless piece of rock far away from your real home planet,” said Sillosees. "Interesting, but if just one neutron generator is as powerful as the one we detected a couple of days ago, which you say was when you blew up Light Star 2, then three together will devastate billions of miles of space. I hope your home planet is far enough away.”

"No,” said Venscottie. "It is not. We were not aware that they were neutron generators or what such things could do when they exploded.”

"If that is all the plan you have got," said Sillosees, looking very angry, "then I withdraw all my assistance and my men! That is not a plan, it is Armageddon. You are worse than Jay Jay – at least he has vengeance driving him.”

 Harris quickly stepped in.

"Venscottie is not telling you the whole story,” said Harris. "His head is in conflict with his code of honour as a Star Knight and an oath he took long ago not to reveal the secrets of that planetoid and the others like it.” Harris pointed to the planet Venscottie had just indicated.

 “That little bit of rock behind the electronic shield is, in fact, something we have been calling a green moon. It is a small artificial planet; no one knows who made them, but the Star Knights discovered some time ago that they act just like Light Star. These moons allow a solid space ship to jump across space instantly. You may have come across them – they are quite dangerous to land on, toxic and explosive.”

"Yes, I think I do recall reports of ships and crew being lost. Now they are just avoided by everyone and any found marked as hazardous on all charts,” said Sillosees.

"The intention is not to get Jay Jay and his ship to crash into the moon,” said Harris. "But to push him through the electro-magnetic field the moon generates. This will throw Jay Jay and his ship way out beyond sector five. There it can explode out of harm's way.”

"And this is possible?” said Sillosees.

"The Star Knights used this procedure to evacuate Rigadoon to their old home world. Without using the moons, they would not have saved so many people," said Harris.

"Having said that, it is not a plan without some major dangers.”

"Those dangers do stack up rather alarmingly,” added Raftos. "Firstly, we do not know exactly what Jay Jay intends to do. Second, the moon gate may not work, however, I took the Monitor through the one on the evacuation eight times so they seem quite reliable. I take it the Star Knights have chosen one they know to be working reliably?” Venscottie nodded his head at this.

"Third,” continued Raftos, "we have to get the Taxion to a much higher speed than it can go under its own power to trigger the moon’s jump mechanism. Fourth, how is he going to trigger the bombs?”

"This is a very long list of pessimism,” said Sillosees.

"Sorry,” said Raftos. "Just sort of thinking aloud.”

"Don't be sorry,” said Sillosees. "A good general thinks of all possibilities before the battle, for when it starts there is no time to think things out, just to act.”

Just then a door opened and a ranger came up to Sillosees and told him that Central's Hyper Liner had arrived alongside. Sillosees told her to give the order to start arming the ship as agreed. She then said the Monitor will be arriving in a few hours. Sillosees said the same orders applied to that. The ranger then departed.

"Well, Raftos, how do you rate the situation now?” said Sillosees.

"A lot better than I thought I would before I came aboard,” said Raftos. "We have to be flexible and cover for every eventuality as it crops up and not fix our minds on any one thing. The really big thing in our favour is that Central's Hyper Liner is captained by Crazy Ben Adams, who has the knack of picking the best action to take out of several worst options at a split second’s notice.”

 Just then one of the rangers, who had been moving the symbols of the ships around on the star chart, suddenly spoke. He was receiving messages through an ear piece.

"Sir, there are reports of a large ship following Jay Jay's fleet. It was detected some time ago and thought to be just passing through space behind Jay Jay's fleet. Now, however, it has turned and is following them just beyond their scanning range. It is a massive hospital ship.”

"Now where has that come from?” said Sillosees. "You had better get back to your ship,” he said to Raftos. “Tell the armourer what you need to be fitted to your machine and he will see to it that everything gets done. Get some rest if you can. I'll keep you posted about that hospital ship.” Then he shook hands with everyone. "I sincerely hope we meet again.”

As Harris passed the end of the table he saw the folder about the Taxion and ask if he could borrow it. Sillosees said he could have it; there were copies in files.

 On his way back to Light Star in the small shuttle, Harris sat wondering why he was not feeling sick or claustrophobic in the small shuttle at all. He gave a big smile at Raftos, who seemed rather surprised. Harris didn't say it, but thought it. "I gave up a good library job for this.”

Chapter 24 - The Best Laid Plans

 As Harris squeezed himself out of the docking chamber back into the main link passage of Light Star, he founded it rather crowded. Raftos and Venscottie were still standing there, confronted by a rather agitated Packet.

"Am I glad you three are back,” started Packet. "It's Mick – I think he's on the verge of burnout. Since you went he has read all those papers you gave him and others he's asked me to get him. He's taking in sheets of data at a glance and writing lots of stuff – I have no idea what it's about. All the time, he's also been talking to this chap of yours, Venscottie, and seems to have learnt Arolloan as he’s doing it. It's not normal, he's only been drinking that sugary drink and eating fudge bars.”

"OK calm down or you'll be doing the same,” said Raftos. "Where is Mick now?”

"He's in the control room; he wanted the table to spread out all the papers," said Packet

"Harris, you had better get down to him and see what the situation is,” said Raftos.

"Will do, but you find Kimlon and tell him to bring two bowls of stew and some of that tea to the control room. Tea not as strong as he usually makes, but more like we had on Sillosees’ ship,” said Harris. "Kuu, can you contact this chap Frank, or whatever his name is, that Mick was talking to, without Mick knowing?”

"That should not be a problem, why do you want me to?" said Venscottie.

"I want a general round up of their conversation, and what he thinks of Mick and if there were any important conclusions reached in his mind which might have gone over Mick's head,” said Harris.

"I think I understand what you mean,” said Venscottie.

"Let's get to it,” said Raftos. "Kuu, you go with Packet. I'll make sure everyone keeps clear of the control room for the time being.”  

 Harris made his way through the labyrinth of passages to the control room. Harris was surprised how quickly he had got to know his way around this strange ship. He casually strolled into the control room.

"Hi Mick, got a present for you,” said Harris as he sat down on a chair opposite Mick. Harris opened the folder he had been carrying. He took out the colour photograph of the Taxion and put it on the table in front of Mick.

"Wow! So that what they look like,” said Mick, picking it up and studying it closely. "I read all the stuff you got but all the images were very small or grainy. Your guys did a brilliant job of selecting just the most relevant material.”

"Well that is their job,” said Harris. "Pity that photograph has not got anything on to indicate the scale of the thing.”

"It has,” said Mick. "Look at that row of windows – above the front nose you can just see the outline of the top half of some people, probably the pilots. If that is the size of the people it's gigantic.” Mick passed the photo back to Harris with a magnifying glass.

"You are right,” said Harris, looking through the magnifying glass. "That makes it even bigger than I thought it was. Pushing that thing around is not going to be an easy matter.” Harris had a horrible sinking feeling inside, but was not going to say anything to Mick.

 There was a rattling sound in the passage and Kimlon came in carrying a steel tray with the food on it. Harris cleared some space and Kimlon put the tray down and left without saying anything.

"Haven't had much to eat all morning,” said Harris. "So took the liberty to order some of the Timmeron food. I'm fed up with rations. I bet you haven't had much either, have you?”

"Now you mention it,” said Mick, "I can't remember, so probably not – push one of those bowls over.”

Harris passed over a bowl, spoon and a beaker of tea. Mick started eating as if he had not eaten for days. Harris idly had a few spoons full.

"Thought you were hungry,” said Mick.

"I am,” said Harris. "But I’ve got that nausea feeling I get when I travel in small shuttles. I thought food would help, but now I think I’ll be sick if I try to force it down.”

"If you really don't want it,” said Mick, who was soaking up the gravy from his bowl with a piece of Timmeron cake.

 Harris pushed his bowl over the table to Mick. Harris could see Mick beginning to calm down and he was eating and talking more slowly. Harris pulled the picture of the Taxion ship in front of him and looked at it as Mick made light work of the second bowl of stew. Harris looked at the ship. It was truly a colossal thing.

"It really has a fascinating history,” said Mick, slowing down his rate of eating. "They are not battle cruisers at all, they were Sentinels.”

"Sentinels!" Harris looked up at Mick.

"It seems that the Taxion people were very much like the Arolloans, peaceful farming communities,” said Mick. “They inhabited a string of systems in the middle of sector five. When the Eastern sectors began the outward expansion, all the pirates and bandits got pushed further and further out of the East and into sector five.

 Eventually they bumped into the Taxion people. Initially they traded, then the raids started. Unlike the Arolloans they were a space going people, as they were strung out over many stars and traded with each other. They did not, however, have any military – they had not needed it – but they were technologically advanced.

 They looked at all aspects of defending such a large area. To continuously patrol the whole string of planetary systems would take thousands of war ships and tens of thousands of men and supply systems. They had neither the manpower, money nor resources to keep such a system continuously in place. They then came up with the Sentinel system. Large ships with very small crews, not, however, space stations, these ships could move around so no one would know exactly where they were at any one time.

 They would scan sectors for intruders, and if any approaching ships did not have permission to enter their space they would be attacked. The Sentinel had four large cargo bays, inside which were very fast attack ships, a bit like military streaks only much larger. Two large doors would open and two attack ships would see off the intruder. If necessary the second pair would be sent while the first was rearmed.

 The system was so effective it led to the eventual downfall of the whole Taxion society. That, however, is another story altogether. The point here is the Sentinel ships themselves.

 To work the Sentinel ships had to be almost invincible. They were so feared that all details of their construction were systematically destroyed after their defeat. One reference, however, managed to slip through, a very simple description from a children's picture book on how things are made. The hull was made up of thirty very thin layers of different materials. As it was a children's book no reference was made as to what these materials were. The interesting thing, however, was that it mentioned the layers were held together with a black clay-like conductive material, which was spread between each sheet before being compressed together.”

"Now that sounds sort of familiar,” said Harris.

"Yes indeed," said Mick, finishing his stew by wiping the bowl with some cake again. He then took a long drink of his tea.

"Even that would not make them invincible,” said Harris. "It's the electronic shield that's the big thing.”

"It's all part of the same thing,” said Mick. "All the clay bonding collects together at a large gold covered boss at the nose. From there, sixteen gold covered pipes filled with the clay substance fan out and run the length of the ship. When these pipes reach the back of the ship they terminate with a gold conductor rod sticking out just beyond the engine conductor plates. The engines are eight ion thrusters powered by a single nuclear generator, these give very low thrust but enough to move the ship about so it has no fixed position." Mick took a drink of his tea. "This is better than usual,” he said.

"Never mind the tea,” said Harris. "Go on about the shield. The tea, I asked Kimlon to make the same way it was done on Sillosees’ ship.”

"Well it's much better,” said Mick. "Anyway, using the engine’s power unit they charge the outer hull, which sends a reverse charge through the gold pipes. Each pipe takes up a charge opposite to the charge of the pipe next to it. They then alternate the rotating charge around the ship, giving a shield some twenty SM meters above the ship.”

"Clever,” said Harris. "I wonder why no one else has done it.”

"That's simple,” said Mick. "Because it really doesn't work! Enough fire power and you can blast it to pieces. Raftos stopped one with a few Taxion javelins. Which were not invented by the Taxions but by their enemies. You see, the shields were designed not simply to stop explosives, but to move the ship rapidly out of the way when under attack. There does not seem to be any record of this actually happening, but that was their intention. When a rocket hit the shield it would explode, and the energy of the explosion was absorbed by the hull. This energy charge is then channelled via the external pipes to the engine thruster plates where it is used to accelerate the Taxion. The more it was fired upon the faster it moved.”

 Mick unfolded a side view drawing of a Taxion ship.

"This means we can accelerate the Taxion without using Light Star to create a vortex ,” said Harris.

"What's this about not using Light Star's vortex?” said Raftos, entering with Venscottie.

"Apparently you can accelerate the Taxion by simply firing at its electronic shield with missiles,” said Harris.

 Raftos and Venscottie sat down at the table.

"This makes all the difference,” said Raftos. "We don't have to use Light Star at the last minute to create a vortex above the planet. I never did like that idea.”

"It would not have worked anyway,” said Mick. "Those shields would be up as his ship hit the vortex; the Taxion would instantly have all the energy from the shield and hull sucked into the vortex. The Taxion ship would simply stop dead where it was.”

"Well that certainly passed us by,” said Venscottie.

"But if we can't use the vortex, we can at least blast it with rockets and still push it up to speed into the moon,” said Raftos

"I doubt that very much,” said Mick. "It is a very complex thing to do, convert energy directly into thrust. That Taxion is a very old ship and has been in some scrap yard for over a hundred years gradually rotting away. They have got it moving, even the shields working, but anything beyond that would be very, very risky.”

"Any more bad news?” said Raftos.

"The ship is not important,” said Mick. "What is going to stop us are the bombs he is carrying in his hold. The neutron generators,”

"Why is that?” said Raftos. "Is there yet something else I don't know about?”

"As you know, I had a very long chat with Avessitopn Corrisketog, or Frank as we call him,” said Mick. "The Star Knights have given these green moons a lot of thought, and made many, many experiments. They came to the conclusion they were designed as a safety feature from a time when sector five was still in the process of forming. Small suns would form and then explode, wiping out whole sectors. But they could not predict where this may happen.”

 As he was remembering his conversations with Frank, Mick was drawing on a piece of paper a rough sketch of the sector five arc of stars as it could have been then.

"Somehow they had the technology and ability to come up with the green moon idea. They couldn't place them everywhere, so they put a grid of them through the populated areas, extending it as they expanded,” Mick paused and turned the piece of paper over and drew a round moon. "You see, it is all to do with this metallic black clay substance. The moons act like the most primitive energy node. The electro-magnetic field of each moon 'feels' the presence of the other moons so holds its position in the grid without the need for any navigation aids.”

"I wonder who these people were,” said Raftos.

"That is further back than we can even imagine,” said Venscottie.

"The magic part is that these moons hold vast amounts of energy,” said Mick. "This energy forms a field which protects it and absorbs energy. When a sun begins to turn nova it gives out energy which the moons detect. Negative energy in the moon collects on the side facing the nova, and when it reaches a certain level the negative pressure makes the moon jump to the nova, and an energy cord starts draining the nova's energy. The moon then explodes, surrounding the nova with its magnetic field which expands like a balloon. When the nova disintegrates, the magnetic field expands then collapses, containing the damage. If more moons arrive, the better the containment.”

"So the jumping capacity is really only meant to provide a way of moving the moons around,” said Venscottie.

"The gates the Star Knights use is simply a by-product of the system. Which explains some of the odd behaviour. The moons work differently from Light Star’s system,” said Mick. "This was always worrying me – how could you jump from outside the flux area of the magnetic field?”

 After a while, Raftos spoke. "You mean we can jump because we are inside the doughnut shaped magnet thing?”

"Yes,” said Mick. "The doughnut ring creates a ball shaped flux, and anything within the ball jumps with us. If you tried to fly into that flux as we were jumping, you would be shredded to pieces at the atomic level.”

"How have we been able to get through from the outside of the moons and still jump and survive?” said Venscottie

"Because if you tune the field with a signal and hit it very fast, you are through within a fraction of a second,” said Mick. "The moons are big compared to a space ship, even a Taxion. The reaction time of a moon is comparatively slow; by the time its defensive shield is triggered you are through.”

"You said the neutron generator bombs he has got on board will stop us, what did you mean by that?” said Raftos.

"The moons jump the ship entering the shield by mistaking it for its own jump. It slices it up atom by atom and re-assembles it at another point,” said Mick. "It is over so fast the moon doesn't know what's happened so sinks back into its dormant state.”

"But the generators are pressurised energy,” said Harris.

"As soon as a generator hits the moon’s energy boundary, it will slice the atomic bonding of the pressure casing releasing the pressurised neutron core. It will instantly explode, combining with the moon’s energy, and nothing can stop it,” said Mick.

"And do you have a solution?” said Venscottie. "You can't have been thinking all this out without having some idea of a way out this situation.”

"Well," said Mick. He put a few more lines and notes on the drawing he had been working on while he was talking. He spun it around and pushed it in front of Venscottie and Raftos, sitting on the opposite side of the table.

 Harris looked at the drawing upside down but understood what it meant.

"Are the Knights in accord with this thinking?” said Venscottie, not looking up from the drawing.

"The last bullet in the gun,” said Mick. "They agree. Talk about it; I'm going for a kip, I'm shattered.”

Mick picked up a few papers and went round the table to the upper door. “Any chance of another beaker of that tea?” he said as he passed Kimlon.

"No problem,” said Kimlon. "I'll bring it to you.” He got up and followed Mick out the door.

"Well, what do you make of that,” said Raftos after a while, when Mick was out of hearing distance. "Kuu, what did this chap of yours have to say?”

Venscottie leaned back in his chair. "For starters, he said that Mick was not learning Arolloan on the fly, they were just using the Arolloan names the Star Knights had given to parts of the green moons.

It was quicker than translating the terms.

As to Mick himself, Avessitopn thought he was one of few people who had the comprehension to understand the working of these moons. He also made the comment that someone with that kind of brain power had to be treated with care.

So although he would have liked to have had a very deep discussion with Mick, he terminated the call when they had both agreed on the capacity of the moon to do what was suggested. He said the numbers Mick had been using were as close as you could get to predicting a successful outcome.”

 Packet came into the control room carrying some papers with notes on them. He sat down near Raftos.

"I agree about treating Mick with care,” said Raftos. "Anything interesting in the airwaves?” said Raftos to Packet. “Any new titbits that that we can make any use of?”

"Well, good news on that front: Sillosees has been updating us as information is coming in. It seems he has a ship hiding amid the throng following Jay Jay's ship fleet, and they say it's chaos. It seems Adams’ Light Star has left that area after giving a close pass over Jay Jay's fleet and taking out two of the ships protecting the Taxion. After that a lot of the non-combatant ships started drifting away. Estimated half the followers will leave.

 It seems Jay Jay is still on course to the false location Harris put in that transmission. So it would seem Adams has not transmitted the new location to central yet.”

“Or, Jay Jay wants to check out that first location before giving up,” said Raftos. “I expect he is feeling pretty confident with that fleet behind him. He might be thinking the second location is a decoy to turn him away from where he is going.”  

“If that is the case,” said Venscottie, “we may gain ourselves four days which are much needed.”

"That's the first good news we've really had,” said Raftos.

"It seems we've got some time now to revise our plan,” said Venscottie, as he pulled a few sheets filled with Mick's numbers across the table. "We will let Mick sleep for a while, then when he awakes he will have to translate these numbers into times and then we must alert everyone.”

"I think we had all better get some rest,” said Raftos. “These are dark days and things are not looking much brighter.”

"I'll go to communications and talk to Avessitopn again,” said Venscottie. “I think we need to know a lot more about this particular green moon.”

 With that, everyone slowly left the control room.

 Mick was sitting on his bunk doing some drawing on a pad and making notes when Kimlon arrived carrying a large beaker of tea.

"Thanks,” said Mick, taking a large drink. "I don't like talking that much. Here, have a look at this.” Mick handed Kimlon the piece of paper he had been drawing on. "Do you think you could organise getting this done before we have to move again?”

 Kimlon looked at the paper while Mick sipped his tea.

"Do you think this is absolutely necessary?” said Kimlon.

"I hope not, but when all else fails. . .” said Mick. "Nobody must know.”

" I wouldn't think anyone would want to know. I'll have to tell Predling; he's trustworthy and will not say anything. I will need him if it comes to this,” said Kimlon.

"Can it be done?” said Mick.

"I will make certain it's done,” said Kimlon. "Now you rest. I'll make sure you're not disturbed. Also from now on you eat what I bring you, no more sugary stuff, agreed?”

" OK,” said Mick, finishing his tea. "I know that sugary stuff is not good for me. I'm not very clever when it comes to looking after myself. As a matter of interest, why is the tea suddenly better?”

"All the Timmeron on board are quite old and they need it stronger to taste it; we just forget that you all find it far too strong. I'll tell everybody to remember from now on.” Kimlon took the beaker, winked at Mick and wandered off down the passage.

Mick lay on his bunk looking at the hull of the ship above him. “Must remember 17,” he said to himself. “Must remember 17.” Then he was fast asleep.

Chapter 25 - Little Friend Bad Egg

"Harris here, receiving you loud and clear. What is your position?”

 Harris was sitting in the control centre by a small portable communications terminal that had been installed there. The room was beginning to look more like a proper control centre every day as more bits of machinery were brought in. It just happened to be Harris's turn to sit by the communication module when it crackled into life.

"We've been down to the freighter to see what stuff could be of use to on the Light Star; we have left a list with the rangers.” It was Packet reporting; his face appeared on the vision panel.

"Before we come back on board, however, we are going to investigate something we have seen hovering two hundred metres above the Light Star. We can't see from here what it is. Keep the channel open while we investigate. I'm switching you to the forward cameras and putting the forward lights on so you can see the object as we approach.”

 The screen in front of Harris changed, showing nothing except the blackness of the sky, then slowly he could make out the arc of Light Star in one corner of the picture. Even that disappeared as the shuttle headed away from the ship; now there was blackness again, a couple of distant stars shone and the grey outline of an asteroid could just be made out.

 Then, at the top corner, was a brighter object. As the shuttle adjusted its course and got closer, the shape of an object become sharper in the shuttle’s bright lights. It was definitely man made, octagonal in shape with a long antenna sticking out of four of the sides. Below this box was a Streamer drive unit. On a thick jointed arm on top of the device were seven long tubes – scanning probes.

 The intercom crackled again and Packet’s voice came on. "It seems to be some kind of satellite, a fairly big one at that.”

"Transmit a request for its identity code,” said Harris. "It is probably dead, but it's worth trying.”

There was a pause at the other end and Harris could hear signals being sent. The intercom crackled again and Packet read out the identity numbers returned from the satellite.

"TEV1564HL0759, class Centaur Drone and switched into dormant mode.”

"Are you sure that is the correct number?” said Harris.

Packet read the numbers again.

"Is there some kind of problem with that?” said Packet.

"If those numbers are correct,” said Harris, "that is the same satellite we met two days ago near the crashed Light Star 2.”

"Well it's travelled a long way or it's got a twin,” said Packet. "I'll try and remove the memory core with the robot arm and bring it back.”

 As the shuttle got closer, the object on the screen got bigger and bigger until Harris could make out some of the writing on its sides, large letters but in a language he couldn't read. The shuttle edged round the satellite until it came to one of the flat sides, with ‘DC’ written on it in big letters. Harris saw the robot arm slowly extend out into the edge of the picture. The claw locked into a slot in the panel and slowly rotated. The panel opened.

 The robot arm manipulated itself into the dark opening. Although he could not see into the recess, Packet knew the arm would automatically lock onto the memory core. The memory cores were designed specifically to be retrieved by the mechanical hand of a robot. With a small jolt, the memory core was released and the mechanical arm withdrew back into the shuttle with its precious object gripped tightly in its claw.

 Packet placed the memory core on the table in the control room.

"Now let's find out who this little baby is and if it  really has been following us about,” said Packet.

 Harris and Packet started linking up the memory core to several of the terminals with various long pieces of connection cabling, and it was becoming hard to move about without tripping up on them.

 Harris and Packet were getting rather excited about finding the memory core of this old satellite amid the junk of the asteroid belt. Raftos wandered in and was a little perplexed as to why they should be paying so much attention to the thing.

 They had not told Raftos about finding just such a satellite at the crash site of Light Star 2. Harris plugged a cable into the memory core and linked it to the Navigon computer, while Packet explained to Raftos what had happened with their last encounter with it. Harris quickly downloaded the primary navigation data confirming it was, in fact, the same satellite they had found before.

 The question was how had it followed them into the asteroid belt? This was answered by Mick, who had now come into the control room and was chewing on a piece of Timmeron cake. He asked if they had known its position when they first located it. Harris told him they did not know as they had only communicated with it by radio and shut it down the same way. There had been no thought of finding its location.

 Mick said that if it had been within the magnetic sphere of the jump coils and light enough to have been caught in the magnetic flux of the Light Star, it quite simply hitched a ride.

 Raftos then wondered if it could have been a plant, some kind of tracking device sent to spy on them. Harris said it would not be much good now anyway, as he had switched it off. Packet chipped in with the thought that perhaps it only appeared to have been switched off.

 Harris worked away on the computer to access more of the memory core. Everything confirmed that it was what it said it was. Harris then opened its flight log and plotted its logged flight path from when it was first put into service in the Trillion sector.

 Although this was of no relevance to their present plans, Harris and Packet found it was rather interesting. Looking at its flight log, Harris could see the satellite had in fact made multiple unexplained jumps across space, long before it met with Light Star. These jumps had thrown the satellite's navigation system into complete confusion as it had no internal map of sector five. It had been wandering randomly all over sector five for the past two hundred and fifty years.

 Harris read out a few numbers from the screen; there was still spare capacity in the core. This meant that it still had all the data it had collected on all the planets it visited over the past two hundred and fifty years. It was a few moments before Harris looked away from the screen towards Packet.

 Slowly, it began to dawn on Harris and Packet what this data core was worth. Inside this lump sitting on the table was years of surveying data from all over sector five. This small object was more valuable than a pot full of gold; perhaps this was the pot of gold at the end of this mission.

 After unplugging everything from the memory core, Harris decided to take the core to the technical service pod where all this kind of spare equipment was kept. He went down various passages and came to a module similar to the food module but in a weightless area with lockers covering all the walls. Harris went over to one of the furthermost lockers and opened the door. Inside were two rows of padded boxes each holding five cylindrical data core units. Harris pulled one out and inserted the one he had brought from the satellite. He then went further up near the entrance hatch and opened another locker, this again had two rows of padded boxes but held only three cores. Harris placed the core from the other locker in an empty slot and closed the door.

 Harris lay on his bunk. He was very tired, but sleep would not come. It was officially a rest period, but with all the noise, not only of the ship but the extra work being done by the rangers, Harris knew the chances of sleep were remote.

 Harris was surprised how used he had got to this ship after so short a time. He could not even remember how many days he had been on the ship. It was not many, yet somehow it almost seemed as if this had been his whole life. The ship, the people on board, they had all been so close – almost a family. Almost all were here for a different reason, none because they wanted to be, except perhaps for Mick, whose child this ship was. Even Mick was holding something back, thought Harris, something in his eyes seemed to show he knew some terrible secret he dare not give expression to.

 Harris pondered about Raftos; he was looking for his family, that was simple enough to understand, and according to Kimlon he did not have time to wait for Sigadon to reveal itself. So he stole the only ship capable of spanning sector five in double quick time. If Raftos could not find Sigadon, he was going to go out with a bang fighting.

 Packet a curious, easy going fellow who somehow did not fit in with the rest of the crew. Yet this guy was vital to the success of the mission. How had Raftos found him? Who was this mysterious woman who kept saving him? Was he being used or was he using the rest of them? His story was true; Harris had checked with central command records, everything was as Packet had told it, except for this woman, Syd Peru, or whatever she called herself. Yet strangely, she was tied up with Mick. There was no record of her, but then Harris had nothing to go on except the name Jane Seru and what Mick had told them. What were the adventures of Jane, Harris pondered?

 Then there was Kimlon, now he was the one person on the ship Harris decided he could trust. He and his fellow Timmeron were not here for any other reason than to help Raftos find Sigadon. They were playing by Timmeron rules of not questioning motives in such a small space with such a small crew. Harris liked Kimlon even though he was Timmeron, whom most Eastern Sector people despised. Harris had the feeling, even though he had no grounds for the feeling, that Kimlon possessed a sixth sense, that when the chips were down Kimlon would be the one to follow.

 Then there was Harris, Harris thought. He had analysed why everyone else was on the ship, but what about himself, what was he doing on board this ship? It seemed so long ago that he was sitting behind his desk on Astor. What were his own motives for being here, what did he hope to get out of it?

 He decided he ought to sort that one out, because judging by the armament being attached to the ship, this might be the last chance he would ever get.

 Harris thought of the smiling Raftos when they met for that interview in the Central Command building. The Admiral, the way he talked about his daughter. Then Harris's mind shot back suddenly to the Eller Rose, standing on that huge steel frame covering the massive engine array. He was in one of those radiation space suits, he could almost feel that sensation again. He was facing Captain Leamington, their eyes looking at each other in that moment when words could not express what had to be said.

 Harris suddenly knew why he was here. Deep inside, very deep inside, was a yearning for adventure, excitement. He and Raftos were the same, only he had become a librarian and Raftos had become the adventurer. Unlike Mick, however, Harris was looking forward to the next jump, a leap into the unknown armed to the teeth to do battle with 'Quendred Vendredgoid', the unknown dragons.

Suddenly Harris was vibrating all over. He opened his eyes, and a face was inches from his.

"Sorry if I woke you up,” said Mick, who had been shaking his arm earnestly.

"What, where, who?” said Harris as he began to focus his eyes on the face of the person standing next to him. "Oh, Mick, it's you. What's up?”

"I want you to come up to the control centre with me, I want to show you something,” said Mick.

Harris jumped down from his bunk and went to put his boots on.

"I think we ought to go quietly,” said Mick

"You must be joking,” said Harris, then noticed that Mick was in his stocking feet. "OK lead the way.”

 It was fairly dim in the control room, as things were in rest mode and only the safety bulkhead lights were on. Four or five screens were still flickering with data, among them  the Navigon unit. Mick indicated Harris to sit on its operator's seat while he grabbed a chair and came to sit close.

"Earlier I came in here as I couldn't sleep,” said Mick. "I thought it was you in here, but instead I found Venscottie operating the Navigon. I did not think he knew how to operate it.”

"I didn't think anyone on this ship knew how to operate it,” said Harris. "Not even Packet.”

"He did not seem annoyed or surprised when I walked in,” said Mick. "I stood and watched him for a while. He was muttering to himself, then he sat back.

 'Good' he said, then the turned to me saying it was not his cup of tea really, but it was working properly now. I said I did not know it was broken. Venscottie then said it wasn't. He had been adding a small receiver fixed to the back of the casing. It is a Star Knight device which will update the star maps in real time as they collect more data on the ever-changing situation. I was to tell you but no one else.

 He then suggested that you should look at the position where Rigadoon had been, then at the position of Jay Jay's fleet. He then said he was going to get some rest. After several minutes of stunned silence, wondering what to do, I decided I had better get you and tell you what has happened.”

"You did right,” said Harris.  

 Harris looked at the Navigon and started typing. He moved the star map to the coordinates of Rigadoon. Somehow it looked different. He placed an overlay on top of the chart containing a scan of the area they took when they first went there.

 Slowing fading the overlay chart, he saw there were big differences. The debris field had shrunk and there seemed to be four new small planets. The was no data on these planets. Harris opened a small compartment on the side of the Navigon and pulled out a small data stick. He pushed this into a port on the front of the machine and downloaded the coordinates of the planets.

"What do you suppose happened there?” said Mick.

"I don't know,” said Harris. "It's very strange but there doesn't seem to be any ships out there. Let's see where Jay Jay is.” Harris punched more numbers in and the map changed to where Jay Jay's fleet was.

"Oh shit,” said Harris almost under his breath. He typed long sequences of numbers into the Navigon, and the recent updates disappeared and were locked down. No updates could now be seen by prying eyes.

"What the matter?” said Mick.

Harris spun round on the Navigon seat and looked at Mick for a few moments in silence. "Go get Raftos, wake him up if you have to,” said Harris. "Tell him to meet me in the shuttle and tell him to bring Packet with him and it is urgent.”

"Has the shit hit the fan?” said Mick.

"Not quite yet,” said Harris. “But it is certainly heading that way.”

Chapter 26 - Delivery Of Odd Packet

 The shuttle had docked in the large transfer hanger of Bainbridge's Hyper Liner battle cruiser. Harris, Raftos and Packet followed a young ranger to a large meeting room which had a long table in the centre of it. Captain Ben Adams was standing at the table leaning over some star charts. He looked up as they entered.

 Adams smiled and walked over to greet them.  “John, it's been a long time,” he said giving Harris a hug.

 Adams turned to Raftos. "You’ll be Raftos, I take it,” he said, shaking his hand.

"Believe me I heard a lot about you recently and none of it any good. I'm glad we're on the same side.” Then he turned Packet.

"That only leaves C D Looms, I take it you are he?” said Adams.

"That's right,” said Packet.  “But everybody calls me Packet.”

"Sorry about the short notice,” said Adams. "But we are fully armed and will be moving off within the hour and I wanted to show you the strategy we have decided to undertake. If we all know what we are doing we can integrate our attack and not get in each other's way. If we look at the charts on the table here. . ."They all went over to the table. "We have marked the track we expect Jay Jay to take with his fleet and the other ships following. We have laid up a time line with common reference points we can use. We will give—”

 At this point, an officer came in from a door at the opposite end of the room. He went up to Adams and saluted. "Excuse me, Captain, there is communication just come in from Central Command and it is marked most urgent.”

"Excuse me gentlemen,” said Adams. "This shouldn't take long,” Adams left the room with the officer.

"Wonder what that's all about,” said Packet.

"Central getting nervous,” said Harris. “They can't afford to lose this ship as well as two Light Stars in one year. There are probably a few careers at stake.”

"If that's all they've got to worry about perhaps they would like to exchange places with us,” said Packet.

 They looked at the charts on the table for a while. Harris realised they were not up to date but said nothing. Then the door at the end of the room opened and Adams came briskly in, followed by the officer. "Harris,” said Adams. "There is a message for you from central – it’s in Arolloan. They were going to send it to Light Star but I said you were here, they seem to think it is important.”

 Harris went toward the door.

"Officer Serrian here will show you the way,” said Adams as he held the door open for Harris.

 The officer quickly moved down a long passage which led to a large oval shaped room with a series of doors leading off in different directions. They went through one of the open doors into a room full of very sophisticated communications equipment.

 An officer looked round from one of the terminals and got up to greet Harris.

"Ah, John Harris, pleased to meet you,” he said and they shook hands. "The communication links are all set up as you requested.”

 Without saying anything Harris sat down at the terminal and started typing. His level one security cut through all other traffic as he jumped from database to database. As he did so his worst fears were being realised: even this wondrous Hyper Liner battle cruiser might not be able to get them out of this one. Harris sat back in his chair as pages began to churn out of the printer.

"What is your name?” said Harris to the officer who was still standing behind him.

"Second lieutenant Quintant Tratant Thatcher, sir,” he said.

"Well, Quintant, do you know who I am?” said Harris slowly.

"Yes sir, Central confirmed your identity, you are Fleet Commander John Harris from Astor,” said Quintant

"Can you be sure of that?” said Harris.

"Central sent your photograph, and you did not flinch when you read the instructions I left on the screen when you sat down, even though they were in Arolloan,” said Quintant.

"Well done,” said Harris. “So you are aware I outrank even your captain, and that you must follow my orders without question.”

"Yes sir,” said Quintant. "And the captain knows that as well, we did checks on you as soon as we got your call. We could not have made some of those connections without it being on your authority. Although your casual clothes somewhat threw me when I first saw you.”  

"Well going aboard a ship full of bandits I thought the posh uniform would make both them and me rather nervous. I had to borrow these,” said Harris.

 Harris got up and walked over to the printing machine and picked up the pile of paper it had just printed. "Now you will need these top forms,” Harris handed Quintant the top five papers from the file. "The rest should be locked in the captain's safe until this is all over when he can read them at his leisure. As to the rest of my instructions, carry them out exactly as Captain Adams instructed. Give me five minutes to get back to the meeting then start things rolling.”

 Harris then walked back to the meeting room. As he entered the others were gathered around the charts talking about ship movements. They looked up.

 Harris closed the door. "Would you believe Central is getting nervous, bloody lot of good that is going to do us out here,” he said as he went over to where they were looking at the maps.

 Captain Adams was giving very detailed accounts of possible movements that could be taken to achieve maximum impact with a first strike, and where he thought the following ships would disperse to.

 The door Harris had just come in through opened and three officers walked in. The first officer looked at his clipboard as they approached, then looked up.

"Packet Gee C D Looms,” said the officer.

 Packet looked a bit surprised.

"I have here a warrant from Central Command for your immediate arrest, for escaping from the prison colony on Verger and for the killing of two prison officers and another inmate of said colony.”

"There must be some mistake,” said Packet. "I know nothing about—.”

"That might be the case if you were Packet Gee C D Looms,” said the officer.

 Packet suddenly bolted for the door at the other end of the room. As he passed Raftos, however, with one quick movement Raftos lifted his arm and hit Packet hard on the side of the head. Packet fell to the floor unconscious.

"Well I think that establishes that we have the right man," said Adams, then to the officers who had just come in. "Take him to the brig, strip him and check all his clothes for any electronic devices, then put him through the scanner in case he has any tracking or communication devices or such like embedded. After that lock him up in a padded cell.”

 The officers lifted the unconscious Packet up and took him away.

"Well,” said Adams. "I'm glad that's over with. I was beginning to struggle trying to make this attack plan sound convincing, making it up as I was going along.”

 Raftos stood in silence for a while looking at Harris and Adams.

"Would somebody mind very much telling me what the hell has just happened here?”  said Raftos.

"I think we had better go somewhere more comfortable,” said Adams. “My office is not too far away and I think we could all do with a drink.”

 Raftos, Adams and Harris were all sat in very comfortable arm chairs around a small low table in a very smart office. A bottle of fine wine stood on the table and the three sipped from elegant stemmed goblets.

"It's a fine wine, expensive, but I think it is worth it,” said Adams.

"Have to admit I had almost forgotten what good wine tasted like,” said Raftos. "It's not something you can get hold of out in sector five.” Raftos looked across at Adams. "I thought you said you were moving off within the hour.”

"We are but not that fast,” said Adams. "We needed an excuse to get you here in a bit of a rush so Packet, or whoever he is, would not suspect anything odd was happening. I'm as much in the dark as you are.”

"That signal in the middle of the meeting – was that direct orders from central? Had they done some back checking? It is very bad timing if they have,” said Raftos. "He's vital to our mission.”

"Central do not know yet,” said Adams.

"Then who gave the order to arrest Packet?” said Raftos. "You must have given the order, you're the captain,”

"Afraid not,” said Harris. "It's got all very complicated again and I certainly needed that drink.” Harris looked at Raftos. " It was me who gave the order.”

"You?" said Raftos.

"He outranks me,” said Adams. "But I would have given the order even if it had only been a request. You have to remember, you know John, and unlike myself, he is far from an impulsive character – if he says something, you listen. So now, John, we are listening.”

 Harris finished his glass of wine, put down the goblet and leant back in the chair. "Last night,” said Harris, “well only a few hours ago really, during our rest period, I was woken by Mick shaking my arm. He was desperate that I follow him to the control room. He had gone there to check over some figures he had been working on. Mick's sleep patterns are odd at the best of times.

 Well, Mick was surprised to find Venscottie in there working away on the Navigon unit. He did not think Venscottie could use it, it surprised me somewhat when Mick told me. Well, Venscottie had been putting one of the Star Knights’ receivers on the unit so it would update in real time as the Knights in their Skidders got more information.

 Venscottie told Mick that I should look where Rigadoon had been and where Jay Jay's fleet should be. Mick did not know what to do but decided he should wake me with the message.

 I looked at the machine. The Rigadoon area had changed but that was not important. The important thing was that Jay Jay's fleet of ships was not where we thought it should be. I typed some numbers into the screen but Mick was way ahead of me in his head. They turned around thirty-six hours before we thought they would. We have not gained three days, we have lost a day and a half. They turned around as soon as the Bainbridge Hyper Liner contacted Light Star. Someone on board Light Star was keeping Jay Jay informed of our movements. There was only one person who was in a position to do that unnoticed: Packet.”

"I could pick a lot of holes in that accusation,” said Adams.

"So could I,” said Harris. "I had checked his story out on Central's database, but I needed to check further and I couldn't do it from our ship. I took a chance and went to the shuttle so I could talk ship to ship, in private. Fortunately, I got through to Ben who remembered me. In the few minutes we had to talk, Ben agreed to play along while I used their communications room.”  

"Why could you not have gone on your own?” said Raftos. "Without the charade?”

"Well firstly, it would have looked suspicious, and second if my suspicions were correct and we needed to arrest Packet, doing it in the confined spaces of Light Star would have been difficult,” said Harris. "Who knows what damage he could have caused, possibly destroyed the ship. On the other hand, if I had not found anything, I would have just walked back into the meeting, his officer would have called the captain to another meeting, and we would have gone home.”

"Well, what did you find that made it so urgent?” said Adams.

 Harris leant forward to the small table, picked up the wine bottle and poured himself some more wine. He offered the bottle and the others put down their goblets to be refilled. Harris took a drink and put down the goblet.

"When I first checked out Packet, I was mostly checking on public records as I only had senior officer security clearance. While on Light Star my rating was upgraded to the highest level because of the mix up with that data file. I think Packet would have been worried if he had known that. Now I could access the police and prison files where there were photographs and medical details.

 The photographs were not of the man we knew; his face, height and weight were wrong. Also, the real Packet had a shattered knee which happened on the pirate raid and left him with a severe limp. He could not have moved round Light Star. Finally, the prison file on the breakout said two guards were killed out at the camp and a prisoner killed in a cell. The prisoner was the real Packet; the DNA profile confirmed it.”  

"Who have we arrested then?” said Adams.

"I don't know,” said Harris. "I suppose we will find out eventually. The problem is, all the information we have that passed through Packet’s hands is compromised, we can't trust any of it.”

"Then that last message he gave us about Jay Jay still heading for the decoy position was a lie?” asked Raftos. "This puts in doubt any of that information he has given us.”

"I think all we can rely on is information from the Star Knights and Sillosees’ rangers,” said Captain Adams. "Beyond that, nothing.”

"Slightly worse than nothing,” said Harris. "Packet helped Mick blow up Light Star 2, so we can be fairly sure he would have passed that information on to Jay Jay. I think we were all hoping he did not know how to do that.”

"There is one thing for certain,” said Adams. "We have got to act and act fast. I'll send two of my best communications officers over to Light Star. Raftos, you had better take charge of your old ship, the Monitor – you will be more use there than on Light Star. Harris, you are in charge of Light Star. Plans will have to be made on the fly. I'll give you a communications officer, Raftos, with some equipment. We'll use Central military codes to keep in contact, but none of the codes Packet had any contact with.”

Adams stood up “Let us hope the fortunes are with us, gentlemen. We are going to need good fortune and some good luck.”

Chapter 27 - Reviewing The Situation

 Harris flew the shuttle back to Light Star, and on the way he left Raftos at his ship the Monitor. There was no talk on the short trip, neither of them knew quite what to say. Raftos had thought he knew what he was doing; now he did not know what to think. Harris was thinking there were more questions than answers and time was most definitely running out.

 Back on board Light Star, Harris called a meeting in the control room for all the crew on board and their guest Venscottie. The room was crowded, all the chairs around the table were soon taken and the rest had to stand wherever they could. As soon as everyone was there, Harris started to explain what was going on.

"Well you will all be wondering what is going on. I went away on the shuttle with Raftos and Packet and return alone. Well, it turns out that our communications officer was the spy in our midst. Who ever he is, it seems he is not C D Looms, who was found dead on the penal planet of Verger along with two prison guards. He is wanted for three counts of murder and one of escaping from Verger. He has been arrested and is now locked up in a secure cell on the Bainbridge ship. Who he really is we don't know yet, but that does not matter. What matters is that he has been passing information over to Jay Jay. This means we are going to have review the whole situation, and do it quickly.”

 Harris paused and looked around at everybody. No one knew quite what to say. Mick and Venscottie were sitting opposite each other looking very serious. The Timmeron crew were mostly standing; only Kimlon, Predling and Ottam were sitting.

Then Kimlon said, "Where is Raftos, has he gone over to the Monitor to brief that crew?”

"Yes,” said Harris. “Captain Adams thought he would be far more use commanding his own ship which he knows how to handle in this sort of situation. Now, that brings me to the crew for this ship. You are all volunteers; if any of you want to leave and join Raftos on the Monitor, you are free to do so. Captain Adams has essentially put me in charge here, but I cannot give you orders. I know you don't really like this ship.”

"I think I can speak for the rest of the Timmeron crew here,” said Kimlon. “This trip has not turned out the way any of us had expected, and I imagine that goes for you as well. But we know what is at stake here – the very existence of the Arolloan race. If we walked away and the worst happened, none of us could live with ourselves ever again. If we stay and die, we would have at least done our duty and died with honour. We stay, and I think you will make a good captain.”

" I concur with what has just been said,” Venscottie added. "I suppose we shall never know, however, what information Packet did in fact send or how much damage he has done to our plans.”

"We can't think it was just the information that passed through his hands which is at risk here,” added Harris. "He may have put listening devices in here or anywhere in fact. There is one thing for sure – Jay Jay knew about this Light Star from the beginning. That would explain the rocket attack a few days ago when we had only just arrived.”

"We may. . .” said Mick slowly.

He was thinking and tapping the end of his nose. "Be able to do exactly that .”

"To do exactly what?" said Harris, looking at Mick. The room went quiet as everyone gazed at Mick. Mick didn't move but kept tapping his nose and looking at Venscottie.

 Eventually, he said. "There's the crash box.”

"What is the crash box?” said Harris. "And don't just say it's a box that survives a crash, that rather obvious from its name. What is the relevance here?”

"They don't record transmissions either to or from other ships,” said Venscottie, who was staring intently back at Mick.

"The crash box is as you say,” started Mick, looking at Harris. "A large memory core sealed in a heavy casing that can withstand almost any kind of explosion crash or fire. They are put onto nearly all experimental craft and record all control movements, critical component conditions and activity. So when a prototype gets destroyed, which is highly likely, they don't lose all the data with it. This saves a lot of money in the long run. They are very sophisticated, expensive things.”

"Are you saying there is one on this ship?” said Harris. "If so, and Kuu here says they don't record transmissions, what help is that to us?”

"You are quite correct in saying that they don't save any transmissions,” said Mick. "But when the equipment was being installed, some of the people doing the work were the same ones who worked on the original building of the Light Stars. They recognised me from the original project. They told no one because they all knew, like Raftos did, if it was known I was onboard the enemies of the project at central would have had me arrested. Anything to cover their backsides for losing the first two machines.

 These fitter guys did, however, come to talk to me, and one of the things they said was that they did not like or trust Packet. He was ordering all sorts of stuff that was not necessary. Now these were the experts they knew what the stuff was but when questioned Packet would lose his temper and say he was in charge and they should do what he said.

 They knew something was wrong but were not in a position to question anything. There was tremendous pressure on everyone. They did say something, however, that I was to keep totally to myself until absolutely necessary. All the new and existing communications equipment were being wired into the crash box; everything would be recorded.”

"Now that is useful,” said Harris. "But don't these things only record the last hour or so before the crash or whatever?”

"No, they are flight recorders,” said Mick. "A crash box is something else, they are a bit like that memory core you took off that satellite, they store massive amounts of data and these were the very best units and could store full years’ worth of data.”

"Yes,” said Venscottie. "But don't you need a special retrieval terminal and codes to get the data out, if I am not mistaken?”

"You do indeed,” said Mick. "And the fitter guys knew that, so they smuggled one on board without anyone knowing. I suspect it was stolen so it would not show up on any invoice or equipment list. They put it in the one place where nobody would go or try to mess with: the switch room.”

"I've not seen any terminals in there,” said Kimlon. "A lot of empty Kloo packets but nothing like that, there's not much room.”

"There is an extra cabinet on the modular damper control unit. If you squeeze behind it and take off the back panel with a special screwdriver, the terminal is inside,” said Mick. "They told me the codes which I had to memorise.”

"Do you still remember them?” said Harris.

"Yes of course I do,” said Mick.

"Then I think we all know what your next move is, Mick, find that screwdriver and let's see what the damage is,” said Harris. "Kimlon, you organise a complete search of the ship – we don't know if Packet left any kind of sabotage device to disable or even destroy the ship as a last resort. Venscottie, you get yourself up to date with your Star Knight friends but don't mention anything about Packet. It may be to our advantage that Jay Jay does not know his spy has been caught. Captain Adams and Raftos have briefed their crews on this.”

"What about a communications officer?” said Kimlon. "There is no one to do the advance scanning.”

"Captain Adams is sending over two of his best officers,” said Harris. "I know Adams; they will be good men. His Hyper Liner will be leaving within the hour and Raftos not long after. We can hang around here until they are in place; we are safe here and it gives us time to analyse the situation. Before we do leave I will go over to the Sillosees ship and give him a final briefing. Any questions before we all go and do what we have to do?” Harris looked around. "No? Let's get on then.”

 The room quickly emptied until only Venscottie remained. Harris sat down opposite him. They looked at each other in silence for a while.

"Well, what do you think ?" said Harris at length.

"Oh I wish I did not have to think,” said Venscottie. "I don't think my old brain can take all this in, it seems to be getting very messy. I won't say anything stupid like I never trusted Packet – I think he fooled us all, except Mick who had been pre-warned. Which I think accounts for that haunted look he had in his eyes; they seemed to brighten up slightly when the secret was out and we all now know.”

"I always thought there was something troubling him,” said Harris. "I think that was one thing, but somehow I suspect there is something else. He was so insistent that we blow up Light Star 2; he said this is dangerous technology. Somehow I don't think he was just meaning the neutron generators,”

"It is probably the same feeling I have about those little moons,” said Venscottie. “That inner feeling you are playing with something we shouldn't be messing with. Which brings me to a feeling I have that you never quite trusted Packet.”

"Well, since the beginning I have felt no one was telling me everything,” said Harris. "No one at central seemed to trust anyone else there at all, then I get messages in a language no one else could understand. When I saw what Packet had in the communications room and the scanning pod I began to wonder. I had been around that sort of equipment for many years but there were things I did not recognise at all. I said nothing, however; you have to run by Kimlon's rules – don't make waves in a small ship. It could all have been just  in the imagination.”

Predling appeared at the upper hatch.

"Two officers have been brought over from the Hyper Liner, sir,” said Predling, entering the room. He was followed by two young officers.

"Captain Harris,” said the first young lady. Harris stood up and put out his hand in greeting, she, however, stood to attention.

"Senior Officer Caravunatous Faliqueni reporting for duty, sir,” she said, giving a smart salute.

"We don't actually do saluting on this ship,” said Harris. "We are a somewhat casual ship.”

"Sorry, sir, we were sort of told but did not know quite what to expect. We were told, however, not to wear our uniforms,” she said, dropping her hand and shaking Harris's. "This is Senior Officer Jelicadira Drakjofkos.”

She came forward and shook Harris's hand.  "I'm afraid we both have rather unpronounceable names, but generally we are known by our call signs. Mine is Jelica and Caravunatous's is Caracl. If that helps any.”

"That helps,” said Venscottie, swivelling round in his chair.

"May I introduce you to Kuu Venscottie,” said Harris. "He is a Star Knight and our link with their organisation.”

 The two girls shook his hand “It is a great honour to meet you, sir,” said Caracl, giving a slight bow as she shook his hand. "You are the first Star Knight we have ever met.”

"Well I hope you find your time aboard this ship interesting,” said Venscottie. "It will certainly be eventful.”

"Well,” said Harris. "Predling, you take the ladies and find them a place to bunk down. Then take them to the communications section and show them how to find their way around. I think the best bit of advice I can give you about this ship is to mind your head, there are a lot of bulkheads where you least expect them. Now carry on and welcome aboard.”

 When they had left, Harris sat down again and looked at Venscottie.

Venscottie sighed "I hope we succeed in our venture. They are so young and have their whole lives in front of them. So many like them depending upon us.”

"Well look on the bright side,” said Harris.

"You think there is a bright side?” said Venscottie.

"I've been out in the scanning pod,” said Harris. "In a universe this size there must be a bright side somewhere.”

 Venscottie picked up an empty carton of Koko-kolo from the floor, put it on the table and played around with it, looking at all its sides.

"Do you know, I had never had a sugary drink till I came on board here," said Venscottie.

"Was it worth the trip?” said Harris.

"Oh definitely,” said Venscottie. "Definitely.”

Harris and Venscottie sat silently at the table looking at the carton, as Light Star sat deep in the blackness of space, waiting.

Chapter 28 - Good Plan You Think

 Harris lay on his back in his bunk staring up at the bulkhead but not seeing it. A thousand things were going round in his head. A thousand questions, a thousand what ifs, a million faces looking towards him. However, there were no answers in his head, no way through the labyrinth of boulders. Would they all die there among the debris and trash of older forgotten civilisations?

 Suddenly the ship was rolling, shaking from side to side, and something was pressing on his chest.

"Sorry to wake you, but I think it is time we had another meeting with the senior staff.” It was Venscottie, who had his hand on Harris's chest shaking him.

"Oh dear, I didn't mean to fall off like that. How long have I been asleep?" said Harris.

"About an hour and a half,” said Venscottie. “You needed it. I'll go and fetch Jelica and Caracl and take them to the command centre. I think you had better go to the switch room and get Mick.”

"OK,” said Harris, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with a moist wipe. "Have you any news?”

"Interesting things,” said Venscottie. "But I'll tell you at the meeting.” He wandered off down the passage.

 Harris went to the switch room but Mick didn't seem to be there. "Mick!” shouted Harris.

"Here,” came a muffled reply from somewhere behind the damper control unit.

 Harris looked into the narrow gap behind the unit, and there behind a small open panel door, sitting on a wooden box, was Mick, his head halfway inside the unit.

"Found anything interesting?” said Harris.

 Mick pushed the metal panel door fully open against the back of the damper unit, sat up and stretched. "Rather too much really,” said Mick, shuffling round on his box to face Harris. "I'm really feeling sorry for poor old Packet. He seems to have been trapped between a rock and a hard place. It was like reading his personal private diary. I think he was arrested just in time – he was on the verge of having a breakdown. What would have happened then, I don't know. I know everyone thinks I'm on the verge but I think he was standing on the edge of a precipice.”

"Well we are having a meeting in the command centre; you can tell us all what you have found,” said Harris.

"Right, I will lock this up,” said Mick, swivelling round again to the hidden terminal. He typed in a long string of numbers and the machine shut down. He moved the box and shut the panel door and started screwing it shut again. " That data core is amazing,” he said while putting the screws in. "Somehow it seems to have recorded the jumps we have made, not just that we are at this position then there. It has the physical changes taking place as it happens. You can't imagine how important that data is going to be.”

"I'm not sure I want to know,” said Harris. “But that can wait for later. Let's deal with the first problem we've got.”

 Mick picked up a clipboard and a bundle of papers he had scribbled notes on, then followed Harris to the command room.

When Harris and Mick entered, the others were already sitting at the long table. Venscottie at the top on the near side, next to him Jelica and Caracl, then Kimlon. Opposite Kimlon was Predling and Ottam, Ottam was operating a stenograph. Harris took a seat opposite Venscottie and Mick sat next to Harris.

 A star map of the area between the Star Knights’ moon and Jay Jay's fleet was rolled out along the table.

"Very well, let's get started,” said Harris. "We will have a quick round to briefly say what everyone has found out about the situation. Venscottie, you can start.”

"Two things. There seems to be a realignment in the Jay Jay fleet, with a good many ships slipping back from the main body of craft. We have also found we can fly our Skidders right into their fleet undetected. They obviously have no scanners that can detect Skidders.”

"Well neither do we,” said Harris. "Jelica, anything?”

"Captain Adams has arrived at the green moon in the Hyper Liner and is standing stationary just behind the moon, where the Star Knights’ electronic screen cloaks them from any scanning by Jay Jay's fleet. We have set up a constant link with both him and Raftos on the Monitor.”

"Predling?” said Harris.

"Same here – constant link with Raftos on the Monitor so all three ships can call in real time. Raftos says the new ranger crew are excellent and even with the full complement of heavy weaponry they will arrive in the area of the moon in five to six hours. Raftos will stand off high and in front of the Star Knight shield so they can monitor Jay Jay's fleet. He suggests a Vidicon strategy conference with the three captains in about four hours. He awaits reply on that. That's basically it,” said Predling.

"Now, Mick, I think you have more to report than anyone. So you have the floor,” said Harris.

"The floor,” said Mick. “What do I want with the floor? I don't understand.”

"It's just a phrase, a saying, it means we are all listening. Start your story,” said Harris.

"Well, if anyone was going to be a spy I suppose it would have to be Packet; he was the only one with free access to the communications,” Mick started.

"I had suspicions but I'll come to that later. He was good at his job and a fairly amiable fellow, also helped us save the survivors from Light Star 2.

 Like the rest of you, I wondered why he would spy on us. Well, the messages gave some answers. When I said I would look at the message records in the crash box, I thought there would be say twenty or so,” Mick paused for a moment to look at his notes.

"With a quick automated search, I found one hundred and seventy-three,” said Mick, looking around at everybody. "I've not read them all fully yet and there may be a lot more.”

"Our little Packet seems to have been a busy little boy,” said Venscottie.

"Busy, but not a very good spy,” said Mick. "Some of us on this ship may not have trusted Packet much, but ironically  neither did Jay Jay. He seemed to think Packet was trying to confuse him. Packet’s messages were long and rambling, but I will just mention the main points that seem relevant to us now.

Firstly, I'll deal with the ‘why’, because Packet, we'll call him that as we don't have any other name, was a very conflicted person. He liked being aboard this ship; it's small and like any small crews a bond quickly forms; he felt safe here. Yet there was this other side – a loyalty to Jay Jay and his mission.

Packet seems to have grown up knowing Jay Jay, and had been a close friend of Kalhidejac, Jay Jay’s brother. Jay Jay's messages are like that of an older brother, trying to put him straight on things and wanting to protect him. However, one phrase jumped out, in reply to one of Packet’s confusing rambles. Jay Jay said 'It is our duty to avenge our fathers’ deaths'. Note the plural. That suggests Packet’s father was perhaps leader on the second ship that got destroyed on that first attempted invasion of Rigadoon.

The other interesting thing is that Jay Jay did not believe Packet was on Light Star at all. Packet’s first message to Jay Jay was when we were stationed just outside the debris field of old Rigadoon. The message was long and detailed, describing Light Star and who was on board.

 By the time of this message, however, Jay Jay had found Light Star one and decided it was a very sophisticated doomsday bomb. It's easy to see why he thought this; there are three very large neutron generators fixed to it, each one with large warning notices in several languages. He would have heard the destruction these could cause, stories which of course get exaggerated over time. He knew the Eastern empire wanted to clear out all the bandits and criminals in certain parts of sector five. He thought this was how they were going to do it in one big go.

Jay Jay now thought he had thwarted their plan by removing the bombs, and was going to turn them on the Arolloans as a glorious act of revenge. Shortly after his first aborted try, however, when his brother was killed, Rigadoon exploded.

 News then broke that Raftos had stolen the Light Star and Jay Jay suspected he would use it to find the Arolloan’s old planet. Jay Jay got a small fast ship and went searching, and eventually saw the Light Star. It was not, of course, this Light Star – it was Banbridge's Hyper Liner. That was before it had ‘Light Star’ painted on it. He saw how fast it could move and just knew it was Light Star – it just looked like a super ship. The sort of thing Raftos would steal.

You have to remember, no Hyper Liner had ever been anywhere near sector five and they certainly did not advertise here.

Packet’s final loss of credibility was when he told Jay Jay that the Light Star he was on had jumped instantly across space. Jay Jay did not, in fact could not, believe it. Why should he, after all – such a thing just cannot happen. Messages from then on were more Jay Jay trying to reassure Packet, thinking he had been spotted as a spy and given or taken hallucinogenic drugs.

You could imagine the stress Jay Jay was now under. Trying to deliver the bombs he had found and trying to calm down this wild thinking surrogate little brother who was living in a bomb.”

Mick paused to open a carton of Koko and pour some into a beaker.

"That's  a very good psychoanalysis of two very disturbed individuals,” said Venscottie.

"It was one of the things I studded at at med school,” said Mick.

"Does this advance our situation any?” said Venscottie.

"Surely this makes the whole situation a lot worse,” said Kimlon. "We do not know what Jay Jay may think is true or just lies. He won't know if we fed Packet stories to send or if Packet was having a breakdown like his brother did.”

"Some things you could tell Jay Jay thought true by the tone of language,” said Mick. "Packet described the rescue of Light Star 2 and Jay Jay said how proud he was of Packet for doing this, especially given how frightened he used to be of going out in a space suit.

Also, Packet told him about the blowing up of Light Star 2. Here Jay Jay asks for more details of how they achieved this, which Packet sent – how they made the device and fitted it. This we can only assume he took on board, as he posted back that he was originally going to attach shaped explosive charges to each bomb with a timed detonator to set them off. Now he could do the same as they did on Light Star 2 and be in full control and set them off as and when he wanted.”

"So now we have told him how to blow up the bombs,” said Venscottie. "Any more good news?”

"Yes,” said Mick. "It doesn't work. That device we made and fitted wouldn't blow the lid of a tin of Scuzzy rice.”

"But we saw it blow,” said Harris.

"Eventually, if you remember, a long time after we had sent the signal. Everyone thought it hadn't worked. Then boom,” said Mick.

"How?" asked Harris.

"Well, I did not want to go out into space on my own in a space suit. I always feel I'm going to freak out. I also did not want anyone else to know how it could be done.”

"Nobody goes out in a suit on their own,” said Harris. "Somebody would have gone with you.”

"You were on your own during the rescue,” said Predling

"That was on solid ground,” said Mick. "It's the floating around that gets me, and if someone had just accompanied me they would have watched everything I did.

 Packet designed this terminal block that would loop five testing connections together on a long array of testing blocks on the outside of the generator. A large box held the remote triggering device that would complete the circuit to overload the generator. That is, if the testing blocks were live. They were disconnected after testing for safety.

While Packet was screwing in the wiring, I strapped the terminal box we had made to the front of the testing block array. To do this I had to push a cargo strap behind the terminal block. Behind the block, where you can't see it, is a lever with a button on top; depress the button, push the lever and a bus bar locks into place. This was used to start the generator for testing. There is no safety device; leave it closed long enough and the generator will overload and blow.”

"What's to stop Jay Jay or whoever wires it up from seeing the lever and pushing it?” said Predling.

"If you saw a strange lever with a red button on top, on the side of a neutron generator, and did not know what it did – would you press it?” said Mick.

"Well, it seems inadvertently our spy seems to have been working in our favour. Also, no one knows we are here. Adams is now the Light Star,” said Harris.

"Things are looking up,” said Venscottie. "What's the next move do you think?”

"I will go and see Sillosees on his ship and get some updates,” said Harris. "He will be stationed here for some time emptying that freighter of its cargo. I want to see if he will give us a constant link. After that, I think Raftos will be in position. So we have little option but to jump into the position between the Star Knights’ electronic screen and the little green moon.”  

"What will we do then?” said Kimlon.

"I expect our actions will be forced upon us by circumstances,” said Harris.

 Harris raised his eyebrows and looked around at everybody. "Good plan, don't you think,” he said smiling.

"Brilliant, simple, straight to the point,” said Venscottie. “Don't think I've heard a better plan in years.”

Chapter 29 - Old Ships New Maps

 Light Star 3 had made the long jump from the Droystean Belt to a position half way between the green moon and the Star Knights’ electronic shield. They were hidden from Jay Jay's battle fleet by the shield, which had also masked the energy shift caused by the sudden appearance of Light Star. Now Light Star 3 hung motionless above the moon. Its green mass almost matched the green of the moss thousands of kilometres below.  

 Harris stood at the end of the long table in the control room. On the table in front of him was a long star chart showing the area they were now stationed in. Just in front of where he stood was a small circle of green indicating the small moon. Light Star’s position on the map was marked a little further down the table by a round counter with spokes and green ring drawn on it.

 At the far end of the table, Jelica and Caracl were taking out small metal card holders from a box with partitioned sections. Into these holders they were placing different coloured rectangles of card on which they wrote numbers. These they placed on the map to show the positions and types of ships following Jay Jay's Taxion. The Taxion was a large red block with a simple large T on the top.

 The room was quiet apart from the occasional clicking from the terminals placed around the room. Jelica and Caracl were receiving information about Jay Jay's fleet through ear communicators and writing the codes down on the small cards. They then placed these in the correct positions on the star chart. Above the table was a single camera transmitting a continuous image of the chart to the ships of Captain Adams, Raftos and Sillosees.

 As Harris watched the scene with fascinated curiosity his mind started to drift into a memory, something he had seen long ago.

 There were ships, beautiful model ships, very old ships, galleons in full sail placed on a large hand drawn map. The map was on a large oak table and it was dark except for one oil lamp hanging over the map. The lamp was swinging from side to side –no! the lamp was still, the room was swaying from side to side. It was the cabin of a ship, men in uniforms were standing around the table, only just visible in the light of the single lamp. It was quiet in that room but it couldn't have been, there would have been the wind, crashing seas, rain. Harris could see it all, but he could not possibly have been there.

 A voice: 'Your dinner’s ready.' It was the voice of his mother. Harris was back on the floor in the main room of their house; he was seven and looking at a very large flaxen cloth covered book of his grandfather’s. On the cover, in faded gold letters, was the title 'debet servire aliis'. The book was written in a language he did not understand, but on the third page, before the text started, was a full-page coloured picture, the only picture in the book. It was of a painting showing a cabin in an old ship, and the men were looking at a map with small model galleons on it. This picture had fascinated Harris as a boy; he wanted to know more about it but never found out. What were the ships, who were the men, what happened so long ago, so far away?

 He had forgotten all about it until now. Seeing the star map, the little flags indicating ships of a far different kind, somehow it had taken his memory back to that picture. Did they die in battle, would we die in the coming battle? Have we learnt nothing between then and now?

"Where do you want me to sit?” Harris was shaken out of his daydream. It was Venscottie, just entering from the far end of the room.

"Just up from the girls in the middle of the table,” said Harris.

"Right opposite our nemesis, I see,” said Venscottie, sitting down.

"Well at least we know his weapons have had their teeth pulled and that they won't be exploding anywhere,” said Harris. "All we have to do is stop him reaching the little moon or that will do the job for him.”

 There was a clattering from the far hatch as Predling struggled through it carrying a large piece of equipment trailing several cables.

"Thought I should bring this in here – it’s the listening scanner picking up all the radio chatter between the ships. There is a lot more activity,” said Predling. "I think something is starting. I'll keep it low and put it up if anything interesting is said.” He put the machine on a metal stand behind Mick and started to plug all the cables in.

"Are you still in contact with all your chaps?" Harris asked Venscottie.

 Venscottie pushed back the hair from his right ear showing an ear piece with a wire going down to his communicator. “All channels on line, two way, continuous. Annoying things but essential in situations like this,” he said.

"Do you think your fellows should pull out now if things are beginning to happen? Those Skidders would be destroyed even by a nearby explosion,” said Harris.

"I would not even suggest it,” said Venscottie. “This time we are in the thick of it, we will do whatever is necessary and take the casualties. Whatever happens, we are here to the finish. Our small ships could make all the difference.”

"Are all your Skidders armed?” said Harris.

"Small short range, but we can get very close,” said Venscottie.

Kimlon entered the room and sat down at the main console.

"Pipe the other captains into the main speakers,” said Harris to Kimlon as he logged on all the incoming channels. "Send ship movement to the girls. Do you two want a separate channel each or can you handle multiple channels?”

" We are quite used to handling several lines,” said Jelica. "There is not that much traffic at the moment.”

"Right, testing the links,” said Harris.  “Captain Adams, Sillosees, Raftos, Do you all hear, and do you have visual?”

"Loud and clear and vision good,” Sillosees came over the speakers.

"Adams – all lines OK,” came Adams' voice.

"Same here,” said Raftos. “But looking at the chart I smell trouble.”

"Haven't I told you before you can't smell across space,” said Harris, grinning at Venscottie. "But I agree with you about some kind of trouble brewing. There are at least two or three groups playing here and I don't think they are all on the same side. We are going to have to make the first move or lose the initiative.”

"Agreed,” said Raftos. "Any suggestions?”

"I could go in all guns blazing and knock out most of that bunch around the Taxion,” chipped in Adams.

"That would just cause chaos,” said Harris. "There is a third party here and I want to find out who that is. Captain Sillosees, your ship is indicated in the second group. Can it feign engine trouble and fall back out of the way?”

"They can but they won't like it – they are fully armed and ready to play their part. It is a practised manoeuvre, however, and they can make it look convincing," said Sillosees.

"They're not backing out,” said Harris. "When they drop back far enough I want them to start looking for that hospital ship that was following. It seems to have disappeared. I think it  must be hiding behind a planet or asteroid somewhere. If they find it, see if they can make contact. I think they are important.”

"Will do,” said Sillosees.

"Now, Venscottie, can your men take out the engines of the two Vidicon ships – a small rocket up close should do it. Hopefully, no one will see your fellows doing it. I don't want any of this recorded for posterity, or Jay Jay becoming a cult figure.” Harris sat down on a chair opposite Venscottie.

"No problem. It's being done now," said Venscottie.

The low sound of background chatter from all the surrounding ships began as Predling switched on his terminal and sat down in front of it with some large head phones on.

"Two ships have pulled out of line and seem to be pushing the two Vidicon ships back to the rear,” said Caracl.

"Mark those two ships as tugs,” said Harris

"Those Vidicon ships seem to have a total electrical failure,” said Caracl.

"Good, they will be too worried about survival to be recording anything,” said Kimlon.

"Mark the vector where those tugs are pushing the Vidicon ships,” said Harris. "Then tell Sillosees ‘ships to trace the vector. I'm betting it leads to where the hospital ship is hiding.”

"Tugs are returning to the main body of ships,” said Caracl. "Changing the number and colour of their markers.”

"There seem to be instructions coming from one of the following ships,” said Predling

 The background chatter faded as Predling isolated the signal and put it on the speakers“ … red take the high position and spread indicated in chart 12. Wing blue take a low position. All other ships retreat to the rear, undesignated ships leave the area immediately. Red and blue acknowledge when in position." Predling pushed some switches and all the other voices came back. Mixed among the chatter were acknowledgements of the instructions.

"How come we can hear all the communications everyone is making at the same time?" asked Harris.

"It is one of the machines Packet had brought on board,” said Predling.

"Can they hear what we are saying?” said Harris.

"No,” said Jelica. " We are using encrypted military code. Even if they found the signal they would only hear static.”

"Some of the Taxion fleet are beginning to move,” said Caracl.

"There is a signal coming from the Taxion,” said Predling. "I'll pipe it up.”

"Chriliton, what's going on – I'm seeing dots all over my scanner screens.” There was a long pause.

"Only getting one side of the conversation,” said Predling. “The reply must be on a narrow beam.”

"Repeat that . . .,” said the voice. “They appear to be doing what . . . forming a battle wall formation . . .  against whom . . . great blather blustering buttocks, I paid half of that lot to join us . . ..”  There was silence again.

 In the relative quiet of the control room, Venscottie softly said, "That's Jay Jay's voice. He sounds stressed.”

"I really do hope so,” said Kimlon.

"Let's see if we can put him under more pressure,” said Harris. "Mick, do you think you can you send Jay Jay a message on the channel used by Packet and make it sound as if you really are Packet?”

"I think so, it helps that they were always in the form of text messages,” said Mick. "I have read enough of his messages to get a handle on his tone and way of putting things.”

"Tell him you are really frightened,” said Harris. "Say everyone here is rushing around frantically, you don't know what is going on, there seems to be another Light Star, and we have arrived somewhere near the Arolloan planet Sigadon. Say you don't know what to do.”

"Do you think he will bother to reply?” said Venscottie.

"Getting a message from one of the ships around the Taxion; it must have come out of the shadow of it,” said Predling, putting the channel on speaker. “ . . . other two will stand off two clicks around your belly to start the bombardment. I've told the other ships to stand nine clicks out, we don't know what the engine flare will be like.”

"That's the bastard Chriliton," said Caracl, suddenly startled by the voice. She stood still looking up at the speakers. She was visibly shaken and dropped the flags she was holding as her hand shook.

"You know that voice?” said Venscottie softly.

"Burnt into my mind with a rod of hate,” she said. "That evil devil destroyed my family and my home world.”

"Is that Corninous Ollidous Chriliton?” said Raftos from the main speakers.

"Spit when you say that name,” replied Caracl.

"Venscottie, have you identified the ship he's on?” said Raftos.

"We have,” said Venscottie. "One of our men had just placed a transponder on the ship. It's a KN550xxn battle cruiser, he thinks they were too busy to have noticed. He also reports there are seven of that class around the Taxion, all a bit old. Have you got one of our men on the Monitor?”

"Came aboard a while ago, he says he can trace the signal from anywhere,” said Raftos.

"Three of your fellows came aboard here,” said Captain Adams. "They have the signal even though the planet’s in the way. They are also making notes of all reports coming in. They are passing the relevant information to Jelica and Caracl. They have just begun to get some rather odd data from that fleet following; something's happening.”

"I'm hearing it direct,” said Venscottie. "Our Skidders are having to get out the way. Lots of small round objects are being ejected from the ships in the vanguard.

"Describe,” shouted Harris.

Venscottie pressed a small button on his communicator and a voice came over the main speakers.

"They are all identical, the main body is a round ball the height of a small man. Suspended an arm's length below on a thin rod is a small ball, the size you could hold in two hands. Top front are three aerials curved forward, at the rear a long tube with a triangular fin attached.”

" Target drones,” said Harris and Captain Adams simultaneously.

"Well that confirms it then,” said Adams. "Very clever. Who the hell are they?”

 Predling still had his channel speakers on and they crackled back to life.

"Jay, do you want us to start the bombardment? Something's happening back there, shall we accelerate?” It was Chriliton's voice.

"Caracl, do you want a break for while, it's been a shock to hear that voice?” said Harris.

"No, I want to be here when that bastard is blown to pieces,” said Caracl, picking up the flags she had dropped. She put a large black mark on Chriliton's ship.

"I will personally promise you that,” said Adams.

Jay Jay's voice came over Predling's other speakers. "Not just yet, there is time before we drop the bombs. Young Qarrieon seems to have got himself trapped in one of those doomsday machines. I'm sending him an update and instructions to escape so I can pick him up on our way out.”  

Chriliton’s voice chipped in. "You realise how far we have to get away?”

"If I don't meet up with you just go,” said Jay Jay casually.

"Transmission stopped,” said Predling.

"The target drones have formed up as a grid in front of the following ships,” said Venscottie.

"That makes some kind of sense,” said Harris. "Anybody got a strategy, or any thoughts for that matter?”

 An almost silent static came through the speakers; even Predling's open channels were silent. The silence before the storm, thought Harris. Then suddenly he realised he had said it out aloud when he saw everyone was looking at him.

 Predling suddenly broke the silence.

"Multi-channel hailing call coming in,” Predling threw a switch to put it on the main speakers. A deep, threatening voice spoke slowly and clearly.

"This is the defence force of the United Mining Federation and Settlement Foundation. This is a message to the Taxion and the accompanying fleet. You are committing a hostile action against a member state, withdraw immediately or you will be destroyed.”

The message was repeated several times and in several languages.

"Well, that is clear enough; they should know where they stand,” said Predling as he turned the speakers off.

"I wonder who that was,” said Harris

"Syd Peru, perhaps,” suggested Kimlon

"Not unless she's dropped her voice about three octaves,” said Mick.

A small titter went round the room, lightening the mood a bit.

"What's with the target drones?” asked Venscottie. “I don't get why they have deployed them.”

"Partly protection but mostly a show of strength,” said Harris. "Missiles are all semi-autonomous, but they always see a target drone as their first target if there is one around, no matter what else is about. Deploying so many means you have a lot of money and forces backing you. No one could have enough rockets to shoot that many drones down.”

"Why do they not just attack?” said Mick. "And why hasn't Jay Jay's fleet reacted?”

"Quick, Predling, Jay Jay's channel,” said Harris. Predling flipped a switch.  

"… check. Twelve between salvos then forty but keep station. Time we were going, Chriliton. When we reach 117 clicks.”

"Incoming message from Jay Jay for Packet,” said Mick, looking at his terminal on the table. "Oh, Bodleian Brangles!"

"Language, Timothy,” said Venscottie. "There are ladies present.”

"Oh sorry,” said Mick going slightly red.

"Don't worry, we don't know what it means,” said Jelica as the girls tried to suppress a giggle.

"Well I don't know what it means,” said Harris. "But that doesn't matter – what made you say it?”

"Packet's left a bomb on board,” said Mick.

Chapter 30 - Have You Seen My Bomb

 There was silence in the control room as everybody stopped what they were doing and looked with horror at Mick. The words "Packet has left a bomb on board,” had just left his lips.

"Read the whole message,” shouted Harris.

"When we get up to speed we are going to release the bombs, they are on a timer this time. Our bomb expert found the terminal blocks were not connected to anything, that is probably why it did not explode, someone somewhere made a mistake. We have gone back to fixing shaped explosive charges strapped to the casing of each bomb. They will be on a timer, as he thought if the Arolloans could build that electronic screen they could easily stop a radio detonator signal.

 Timing is critical – once the bombs are released there will only just be enough time to get a safe distance away. I have a Streak on board. You must get to a shuttle and fly it to BU11789 CH345 LM8971. I will take you aboard the Streak then rendezvous with Chriliton's ship – it's very fast.

 Have you got the gun that was with the bomb – you may need to fight your way to the shuttle. Have you planted the bomb yet? Set the timer to give yourself enough time to get out. Unless you are going to use it as a diversion so you can get to the shuttle safely.”

"That's all,” said Mick.

"Quick reply,” said Harris. “Before he puts his shields up and can't receive. Say ‘never been left alone to retrieve the bomb and with all that's been going on forgotten where it is. I am all alone now’.”

"Incoming,” said Mick almost instantly. He read the message out loud as it was coming in. "Scanner decoder – below the keyboard is a panel with sticker marked  ‘radiation –do not remove the panel’. There is no radiation. Remove panel, bomb and gun there.”

"Signal stopped,” said Predling.

"Shield gone up around Taxion,” said Kimlon.

"Mayat, Kesa!” shouted Harris.

Mayat answered over the intercom speakers. "We are on to it, we are just entering the communication compartment now.”

"Talk us through,” said Harris

"Found the panel. Two screws top edge of the panel, removing now. The panel is folding out from the top, lifting it out of the bottom flange. One large recess behind, no wires of any kind. Two card boxes inside; one large square, one small rectangular. Pulling out the smaller one, quite light. Simple tape holding lid, slitting and opening. Contains small police stun pistol. Pulling out a large box, not taped, opening top flap.” There was a pause, some scraping sounds and the sound of paper moving.

 In the main control room you could hear a feather drop. Then Mayat's commentary continued.

"Large box contains a bomb, well packaged, professionally made, time clock on the front with a safety key lock. A single key in a small clear plastic bag attached to a piece of string. It is perfectly safe so I don't think I need to take it apart, that would be more dangerous than leaving it. I suggest we get it off the ship as soon as possible.”

"I agree,” said Harris. “But easier said than done. We should take it out of the communication compartment to somewhere less important for the moment.”

"Passage G5,” said Mick. “Place in the centre and strap it down. Close the bulkhead doors each end and lock. Then decompress the passage. There is a breakout panel in the middle where a module was to be fitted; it never was. If it did go off it would not take out anything vital to the ship.”

"Did you hear that?” said Harris.  

"Will do,” said Mayat.

Everybody in the command centre began to breathe again.

"One of Chriliton's ships had just begun to attack the Taxion," said Jelica.

"Can anyone get me a link to whoever is commanding that mining fleet?” said Harris. "They're no good sitting on their arses back there – they need to do something,”

"Language, John,” said Venscottie.

"Oh shut up, Kuu,” snapped Harris. "We've got two battle fleets facing each other, one intent on blowing up this part of the universe and the other too frightened to do anything. And we're sat here on a bloody green doughnut with a few pea shooters and a bomb.”

"Oh, how elegantly put,” said Mick.

"The second ship is firing on the Taxion,” said Jelica. "Taxion has speeded up ten percent.”

"They're trying to accelerate to get further away from that following fleet,” said Harris. "Caracl, keep a time and inertia level count from the Taxion to the point where it reaches the Arolloan shield.”

"Third ship firing on the Taxion,” said Jelica. "Taxion speeding up eighteen percent. Large flare reported in engine plume.”

"We have got to slow it down,” said Harris. “Raftos, do you think you can take out those ships doing the firing?”

"Think so, but they have the other ships as out riders so I will have to swing in down between the two fleets and attack from the rear of the Taxion.”

"Hang on,” said Jelica. "The Taxion is beginning to change its heading, rotating to port.”

"Getting the same reports,” said Venscottie. "It seems to be in trouble; it is continuing to rotate in a circle. It's still moving in the general direction of the moon, however, the ships around are standing off and have stopped the bombardment.”

"Some conduits on the outside must have broken or stopped working; they are very old,” said Mick. " He'll have to switch off the shield.”

"The clay in the pipes could have dried and lost conductivity,” said Venscottie.

"That's it,” said Mick. "The rain.” Everyone looked at Mick.

"I've got that ship online,” said Kimlon. "It's the captain that made that statement.”

"Pipe him through and switch all other channels off,” said Harris. "Including personal communications. Absolute quiet.”

As all noise stopped Kimlon threw the switch connected the line to the large mining ship leading the second group.

"This is Captain More Troysan of the deep space protection vessel DSP PoPoTarto. To whom am I talking?”

"This is Admiral Fleet Commander Harris, from Central Command of the Eastern Federation. We are answering a request for assistance from the Arolloans who say their planet is coming under attack.”

"Are you close to this planet?” the voice coming from the speakers was sounding a little shaken at this news; it did not have that deep assured tone it had when they first heard it.

 Caracl had been writing on a piece of paper which she held up to Harris. It read, ‘need background sounds to sound convincing’. She showed this round to everybody. Caracl then spoke. "Excuse me, Captain there is an urgent message.”

Predling put some chatter softly on in the background, too low to be made out.  

Caracl rattled some papers and held another note up in front of Harris. This one simply read, ‘that is the voice of Chriliton’.

"Is this information correct?” said Harris.

"Yes sir,” said Caracl.

"Sorry, Captain, new information has just come through,” said Harris. "We are quite close but I am sending a group of heavy strike craft forward as they are much faster than the rest of the group. They should be within striking range in less than fifteen minutes.”

"Is that planet behind the electronic screen really Sigadon?” said the voice from the speakers.

 Harris paused before answering very slowly. "Yes, it is,” he said. "Some of our ships are in a position to swing round the back of the planet now.”

"No, leave this to us,” shouted the voice from the speakers. The voice had risen in tone now, almost to the same tone as when they had first heard Chriliton.

"I cannot do that,” replied Harris. "We have launched high-speed rocket drones. Remove yourselves out of the vicinity of the action." Harris signalled Kimlon to cut the connection.

"The big mining ship is now moving forward from the rear group toward Jay Jay's Taxion,” said Jelica, pushing its small marker up the star chart toward the Taxion. "The Taxion looks as if it is still having trouble with its controls,” she said.

"Well, I'm glad we have a battle fleet of ships with us now,” said Mick. "You've been keeping them very quiet,”

"I'm not sure they are going to be much use either,” said Harris.

"You mean they are real?” said Jelica.

"No,” said Harris. "I just wanted to see how much of that fleet was with Jay Jay and it seems all of it.”

"That's too many to take on in one bunch over such an area,” said Raftos over the speakers.

"I concur,” added Captain Adams. “We need a demoralising first strike that will take them by surprise. Which will be hard now because they are expecting rocket drones to appear at any moment.”

"I think I have it,” said Venscottie. "What they are also expecting is that Packet is going to escape from here in the shuttle and meet up with them before they make their escape.”

"Only this time the shuttle will be carrying that bomb,” said Predling.

"Mayat, how much damage could that bomb do to that big mining ship?” called Harris.

"Depends on where you put it. If you are going to place it using the shuttle, the best thing would be to throw it down the docking bay hatch,” said Mayat. "There are usually fuel and oxygen lines near there. If so it could easily cripple the ship.”

"I will fly the shuttle,” said Caracl.

"No you won't,” said Venscottie.

"I'm a good pilot,” said Caracl.

"You want vengeance,” said Venscottie. "And vengeance is a hard pill to swallow; if you survive it will haunt you for the rest of your days. I will go and do it out of duty and honour, that is my privilege. Not only that, but I am the only one who could probably escape. I can take my Skidder with me.”

"Venscottie, is it raining on that moon?” said Mick.

"They heard you, Mick, and the place is covered in a thick mist, so there is gas down there as well. Been raining for over twenty days, apparently,” said Venscottie.

"Mayat, get that bomb out of that passage and take it to shuttle two,” said Harris. "Venscottie will bring his Skidder over, that will need to be linked to the upper escape hatch.”

"We'll get straight onto that,” said Mayat.

"It's not like this in training,” said Jelica. "There is usually some kind of plan.”

"Oh there is a plan,” said Harris. "It just keeps changing.”

"Welcome to the real world,” said Venscottie, getting up from the table and moving slowly past Jelica and Caracl. As they turned to look at him he put a hand on each of their shoulders and smiled. "May the stars shine on you,” he said, then turned to go out the upper hatchway. "Warm up your coils Mick,” he shouted as he disappeared along the passage.

Jelica looked at Harris “Do you think we'll ever see him again?” she said.

Raftos's voice came over the speaker. "He did not get to be over 300 without knowing how to survive,” said Raftos. "Sometimes I wonder if he is actually real.”

There was a loud noise as Mick made a great play of blowing his nose on his handkerchief, while at the same time wiping his eyes. "I had better get to the switch room,” said Mick. "When we have to move we are going to have to go very quickly.”

"I'm still getting movement reports,” said Jelica. "The mining ship is nudging into the Taxion, it looks like he is trying to stop the rotation with his mass.”

"What's the count to screens?” said Harris.

"Twenty minutes and dropping fast,” replied Caracl.

"Adams, tell your Star Knights to alert their men in the area to get out and as far as they can,” said Harris.  

"Sillosees, has your scout made contact with that hospital ship?” said Harris.

"They have and it is a long way back, out of blast range they hope and behind a large barren planet. They have voice contact but they are not getting any useful information from them," said Sillosees.

"Tell your ship to pass a message on, that if they have any of their own ships embedded in the Jay Jay fleet to get them out immediately,” said Harris.

 Mick's voice came over the internal speakers. "Say also, Syd, if you're there, Micckleton Jones says it is urgent.”

"Our shuttle has just flown through the Arolloan shield and is heading for the mining ship," said Jelica. "Expect three minutes to contact.”

"Sixteen minutes to shield,” said Caracl. “There also seems to be activity in the rear formation; some ships are turning and accelerating to the rear.”

"We have just been given a coded transponder signal that the friendly ships will transmit. It has come from the hospital ship via our vessel.” Sillosees’ voice came over the speakers. “It is confirmed genuine. Passing it on to your ships.” At the same time, Kimlon received the data.

"Raftos, Adams, swing round to avoid the target drones, then hit and destroy anything trying to follow any of the ships with that transponder signal you have just received,” said Harris.

"Shuttle has made contact with the mining ship and locked on,” said Jelica.

 Kimlon had opened the main telescope and put the image from it on the screen over the Navigon unit. In the faint reflected light from a glowing sun far below them, the outlines of the Taxion and the mining ship could be seen, almost as if they were kissing. Everything seemed to be moving very slowly but they were, in fact, moving very fast.

As they watched, Caracl asked Harris, "Why did Chriliton make that statement about being a defence force if he wasn't?”

"To flush out any forces in the area who may be on the side of the Arolloans,” said Harris.

"Like the force you said you had,” said Caracl.

"He was not expecting that,” said Harris. "He probably thought perhaps ten to fifteen craft may have been assembled. After all, the Arolloans had built the electronic screen, so it would be logical that there would be a defence force behind it. If any such ships had responded he would have destroyed them. A squadron of battle cruisers, however, is another matter.”

"Is that why you said you had a squadron?” asked Caracl.

"Exactly, only my bluff worked. They may not have believed it but they could not ignore it. They began to panic,” said Harris. "Now, there she goes,” he said as they watched the monitor.

Everyone in the control centre was watching the screen on the wall in silence, Jelica, Caracl, Predling, Kimlon, Harris, even Mayat and Craso who had just entered.

A very small flash was seen and the docked shuttle lifted its nose upwards as if it wanted to fly but was caught by the rear half of the flange. Dust and condensing vapour rolled out of the gaping hole beneath the shuttle. In slow motion, metal plates began to fold away or fly off in a long line extending from the shuttle bay towards the rear engine compartment. Dust and vapour followed the line of the ripping metal. The engine compartment seemed to swell then rupture, huge plates spun into space as one of the big engines broke loose and rotated slowly off into the dark.  

The Taxion and the mining ship were still locked together, but the dynamics had changed and they were beginning to roll very slowly over. An escape vessel launched from the mining ship but there were still people on board trying desperately to pull the ship away from the Taxion.

"If they can't separate,” said Harris, "there is going to be too much mass for the shields to slow them down before they hit the moon.”

"I'm onto it,” came a voice over the speakers.

"Ben, what the heck are you still doing here?” said Harris.

"What and miss the party?” said Adams. "This thing is fast – we can still get clear.”

A ghostly white shape seemed to shimmer across the telescope monitor. Three very accurately placed missiles hit the mining ship, twisting it away from the Taxion. The white shape seemed to instantly vanish.

"Good luck to you,” came Adams’ voice over the speakers.

 The large telescope began to zoom on to the Taxion as the mining ship slowly spun helplessly into space.

"We are still getting updates from the Star Knights,” said Caracl holding her ear piece closer to her ear. "Can that be correct?”

"Sillosees?” said Harris

"There are still four Skidders staying in case they are needed. Two are four-man, acting as the relay to the electronic grid. They can also trigger it themselves, which is quicker. They will not leave. They will now report directly to you,” said Sillosees.  

"OK, I'm Captain John Harris,” said Harris. "Just address me as John. Who have we got and where are you? As you know we can't track you.”

Kimlon turned some dials so they could hear the Star Knight Skidders directly.

"This is Sarius from four-man Skidder one; we are above you on the port side and just on the inside of the shield. Caymos is the leader on the other four-man on your starboard and also just inside the shield. We operate the shield in tandem.”

"This is Prestos from single Skidder hovering around the Taxion to keep you updated on its position. Classos in the other Skidder coming back from looking at the tail enders, most gone but there are several still following. We suspect that most of the ones hanging around are paid mercenaries and don't know what's going on or what Jay Jay intends doing.”

"Basically, I need the Taxion time-to-shield updates and a warning if anyone else tries to assist him or get in the way,” said Harris.

"The Taxion has just started to rotate using thrusters,” said Prestos. “He seems to be slowing rotation; it seems he wants to hit the shield sideways on. Estimate nine minutes to shield.”

Caracl pushed the Taxion counter on the map closer to the moon. Jelica made a new Skidder flag and put it further down the table.

"You needn't bother with that anymore,” said Harris. “Come and sit down, it will all be verbal from now on.”

The two girls came and sat opposite Harris. Harris pulled a bar of Hershey from his pocket, opened it and offered it to the girls. They each broke a piece off and put it in their mouths. Harris then took a piece.

"What do we do now?” said Caracl.

"Wait,” said Harris.

Everything was very quiet, the machines gave a low ticking now and then, even the hum of the fans seemed lower than normal. Light Star itself seemed to be holding its breath, the usual creaking and distant moaning of metal expanding and contracting had stopped.

"There is a large cargo bay door opening on the side of the Taxion facing the screen,” Prestos broke the silence. "I am going to go round and see if I can see inside.”

Everyone in the control room looked up at the monitor in the corner. Very slowly, the big cargo bay door opened revealing a large cavernous space.

"Avoid any sight line with the front cabin windows, Prestos, remember he can't scan you but he can see you,” said Harris.

 From their position above the moon, Light Star had a direct line of sight into the cargo bay of the Taxion. However, with the small sun so far away below them, the inside of the bay was in complete darkness.

"It's too dark in there,” reported Prestos. "Going to stand off in the shadow of the Taxion and see what transpires.”

 Harris and the others waited. Prestos reported that the Taxion had begun to vibrate, shaking from side to side like a fish on a hook trying to set itself free. Then, with one big last shake, it stopped and out of the cargo bay came a large shape slowly emerging into the light.

"Great mushrooms what's that!” shouted Prestos.

 Three large green sausage shaped objects began to fall into the gravity of the small moon. The objects were strapped together and were moving faster than the Taxion.

"They are the bombs,” said Harris in answer to Prestos.

 Harris turned to Kimlon. “Kimlon, take Predling – you two have got things to do. Mayat, move over to the communication controls. Craso, do the rounds, make sure everyone is at their safety station and bulkhead doors are closed.”

"Three minutes for those things to hit the shield,” said Prestos.

"Sarius, two minutes then drop shield; thirty seconds after it is through, raise shield,” said Harris.

"Will do,” said Sarius.

 The image of the Taxion on the screen in the corner slowly faded as the main telescope retracted into its protective casing.

"Mick!” shouted Harris.

"Rotating twenty-seven degrees on main axes with gyros,” said Mick.

 Light Star began to groan as it was once again asked to move.

"In position,” said Mick . “Eject when ready, Kimlon.”

 Kimlon was manoeuvring the remaining shuttle craft into position at the end of one of the large neutron generators attached to the outside of Light Star. He extended the robot arm and locked its grab onto a large hexagonal nut sticking out from a newly fitted bracket. As the grab rotated, a large bolt slowly withdrew from a retaining bracket attached to the generator. The grab stopped rotating and released its hold on the bolt. Kimlon gently reversed the shuttle, went to the other end of the generator and repeated the process.

Having finished this, he went to the centre of the generator where there was a heavy lifting bracket used to hold it during construction. Using the grip, he locked onto this and gently, using only thrusters, reversed away from Light Star. The large generator slowly moved as the shuttle pulled it away from the huge green wheel. As the unit moved, the electrical connecting cables pulled from their connecting blocks.

Free from its mount the generator was easily towed by the shuttle. Kimlon pulled the generator to a position half way between the shield and the moon’s surface, directly in line with the bombs Jay Jay had released. Then, very slowly, he parked the generator and flew back to Light Star.

"Shields down,” came the voice of Sarius over the speakers.

"Bring the shield up as close to the bombs as you can when they are through, without actually touching them,” said Harris. "We don't want to push them, we want the breaking effect,”

"Can do,” said Sarius. "I can get close in and see it in detail from the moment it passes through.”

A few moments later Sarius reported the shield was up. The bombs had slowed but it would be a few moments till they knew by how much.

 Prestos advised that the Taxion had bounced back when the shield reformed;, it was still moving forward, although from a point further away, perhaps reaching the shield again in eight to ten minutes.

"Sarius, I think you should collapse the shield and make your getaway,” said Harris.

"Bad idea,” said Prestos. “There are still a few of Jay Jay's fleet hanging around out here. As soon as that shield goes down they will see Light Star and attack. They are shaken and I'll bet hopping mad. That shield has to stay until a few seconds before you jump.”  

"Were you intending to use the moon as an escape route to get away?” asked Harris.

"I agree with Prestos,” said Sarius. “Whatever happens, we stay till you jump.”

"You can't use the moon that close to detonation,” said Harris. "Bring your Skidders in and park or latch on top of us. Switch off the shield from there and we will carry you away with us.”

"You can do that?" asked Sarius.

"Yes, we've done it before,” said Harris.

"I estimate about eleven minutes before everything is in position,” said Sarius.

"Everyone hear that?” said Harris. "Mick, is everything checking out down there, do you any need help? We're looking at ten minutes to jump – does that match with your calculations?”

"All is well here,” said Mick. "Timing sounds about right. Just time for a Scuzzy Rice.”

"OK, but Mick, just the one,” said Harris.

 Harris picked up the Hershey and broke another piece off. It was very quiet in the control room as he put it in his mouth.

"What is that sound?” said Caracl.

 In the background there was a small tinkling sound like a small bell.

"I've not heard that sound before,” said Harris, turning round in his chair to see where the sound was coming from. He got up and went over to Predling's radio receiver console. The noise was coming out of the headphones Predling had been wearing, which now lay on his chair. Harris flipped a switch and the noise came out of the speaker on the console.  

 Caracl, Jelica and Harris listened as a tune was played out on what seemed like a series of small bells. When it finished it repeated the tune over and over.

 "It's a Calandron,” said Caracl. "A child's toy. I had one when I was a little girl. It is a small wooden box with a series of silver tubes struck by small hammers, it plays when you wind it up. My mother put it by the bed and it repeated until it wound down by which time I was asleep. It played that exact same tune, there are words to it.”

As they listened they could just make out someone whispering the words softly to themselves as the music played.

Caracl, without thinking, softly joined in. "Let the stars shine, To your dreams of the night, Let them catch worries, And drift them away, Starlight protects you, Through darkest of hours, Till a dawn touch you, To fill sleepy eyes, Yet stars will await, When the day ends, To catch a new dream, So drift you to sleep.”

"I wonder who's singing it,” said Jelica.

"It's on Jay Jay's channel – Predling must have left it recording when he left,” said Harris. "That must be Jay Jay. He must know it's the end and is just remembering happier times. Perhaps that was Kalhidejac's toy that Jay Jay played to keep him calm, and he's playing it remembering his brother.”

"I almost feel sorry for him, all alone on that big ship,” said Caracl  

 Harris turned off the signal. "Well don't,” said Harris. "There can't be any distractions. We have to get this right and we only have one chance.”

"What's happening?" said Jelica. "All this is so strange, so far from anything we have ever been told; it is like a dream – really we haven't the faintest idea what is going on. Are we going to survive this?”

Chapter 31 - Zero Minus Nine Seconds

 Harris looked into the eyes of the two girls, and a great sadness filled his heart. They were so young for this. He had seen that look before in the eyes of even hardened soldiers, steadfast they would do their duty but they knew they may never see another dawn.

 After a short pause, Harris answered. "Yes, 'we' on this ship are going to survive, that is not the problem.”

 Harris looked down at the table and put his finger on the small green circle that indicated the green moon they were hovering above.

"This,” said Harris, "is what we on this ship refer to as a green moon. The Arolloans have a different name for them, but it is unpronounceable and long.

 They are man-made but not by the Arolloans. Nor, for that matter, by any known empire. They seem to be older than anything else in the known areas of our galaxy. The Arolloans found that they could be used as jump gates; if they flew a Skidder at them at a particular speed and transmitted a particular signal, suddenly you would be transmitted to another place. This is a very closely guarded secret known only to the Star Knights.

 Many years ago, Rigadoon was invaded by an army of bandits lead by Jay Jay's father Shen Caroo. Shen Caroo and two of Jay Jay's brothers were killed along with most of the bandits. Not by deliberate action by the Arolloans but by a gas explosion the bandits set off themselves. Jay Jay and his brother Kalhidejac were there but survived. Jay Jay went crazy and swore vengeance on the Arolloans.

 Jay Jay then found Light Star 1 and decided it was a doomsday bomb that had failed to explode. He decided to use what he thought were bombs to blow up Rigadoon. He was defeated that time because Admiral Bainbridge just happened to be in the area and they were tipped off by Syd Peru.  

 The Star Knights realised they were defenceless against attack. They had no army and could not rely on the eastern sector sending a defence force. By this time Rigadoon had exploded because of geological instability. They decided their only option was to hide the position of their old planet Sigadon. They realised that sooner or later it would be discovered, and heard Jay Jay was looking for it and so was Raftos.

 The Star Knights came up with a cunning plan utilising one of these green moons. They started a rumour that they had hidden Sigadon with an electronic grid. They were in fact quite good at that sort of thing. Using a string of satellites, they set up an electronic grid around a suitable moon. They then made it slightly detectable. Obviously Jay Jay would check, which he did. Now you cannot scan through the electronic grid, but you can see through it with a telescope – or perhaps I should say, appear to. When Jay Jay did this from a fast scout ship, he saw a large civilised planet. It was in fact a three-dimensional image of the real Sigadon. Very clever stuff.

Now the Arolloans had not chosen this moon by chance. They knew it was no good just sending Jay Jay across the sector; he would just come back, more unhinged and more determined than before. He would also then know about the jump gates.

 The Star Knights had lost a lot of men trying to figure out how the jump gates worked. One thing they did find out, was that at times some of the moons become unstable. Sometimes they can build up such a charge that if you try to use it as a jump gate the craft not only disappears but so does the moon. It goes to the far jump point as energy and there dissipates in a large flash. There is nothing, no ship, no moon, all energy is dissipated.

The moon below us is in that condition,” Harris paused.

"So, we are going to jump those bombs and Jay Jay across the galaxy out of harm's way and into oblivion,” said Caracl.

"That was the plan,” said Harris. "Then something happened to upset everything.”

"What was that?” said Caracl.

"Light Star 3 happened; we came along,” said Harris.

"Would the plan have worked if you hadn't?” said Caracl.

 "No,” said Harris. "The Arolloans would have vanished in an explosion of unimaginable proportions. No one had seen or detected a neutron explosion in living memory, and they were unaware of their destructive power. Not until we set one off to destroy Light Star 2.”

"What difference does us sitting here make?” said Jelica. " We just seem to be in the way.”

"Well when Raftos stole Light Star—” said Harris

"Stole!" said Caracl. “I thought you were on official business from Central Command?”

"That's another story,” said Harris. "We arrived in sector five not knowing Jay Jay was, in fact, looking for us. He knew Raftos was looking for the Arolloan planet because his wife and daughter were there. Jay Jay thought he could just follow Raftos then strike a blow, not only at the Arolloans but at Raftos as well for killing his brother.”

"Thick plot'ens,” said Jelica.

"Thick plot'ens indeed,” said Harris. "We found Light Star 2 and had to blow it up for reasons I won't go into now. Only we don't carry any explosives, so Mick said he could do it by exploding the neutron generator. The explosion was detected all through sector five. The Star Knights came to find out what had happened.

 Over the next couple of days, the Star Knights found out that Jay Jay had three of these neutron generators, thinking they were bombs. The Taxion ship he was flying was carrying them. The problem was, a Taxion cannot travel fast enough to be jumped through a moon gate. Not only that, if the neutron generators so much as touched a moon’s defensive forcefield they would explode immediately. Lastly, but most importantly, the moon they had chosen was not far enough away from the Arolloan planetary system to save it from three neutron explosions set off at the same time.”

As Harris had been talking, Jelica had been turning very pale; suddenly she turned sideways, put her head down and was sick on the floor.

"Kesa, to the command centre with bucket and mop,” shouted Mayat into the intercom.

"I did not mean to scare you,” said Harris.

"No, it's not that,” said Jelica. “I think I'm allergic to the chocolate.”

"Are you Trissioion?" asked Mayat, turning to look at Jelica.

"Yes,” she said. "Why?".

"You are allergic then,” he said, and pressed the intercom again. "Kesa, bring some tea as well.”

"You'll be fine in no time – that tea cures anything,” said Harris.

"I'm a Trissioion as well,” said Caracl. "And I feel fine.”

"Make that two teas,” said Mayat, who still had his finger on the intercom button.

Jelica wiped her mouth with a tissue. "Carry on,” she said. "I want to know how this ends.”

"Seven minutes before jump time,” said Sarius from his Skidder. "And we all want to know how this is going to end.”

"I didn't know everyone was listening,” said Harris.

"It's boring sitting out here,” said Sarius. "Come on, you've got six minutes.”

"We found out, as you heard earlier, that Jay Jay did not intend to crash into the planet but to drop the bombs and escape,” continued Harris. "He had set a timer on the generators to give him time to do this, a time which we calculated would have to be about fifteen minutes from now. His plan to escape has now gone, scuppered when the Taxion started to malfunction and we destroyed the mining vessel with their own bomb.

 There was only one chance we had left. Mick has been in continuous contact with the Star Knights who have been studying these moons for many years. They came to the conclusion that they were not, primarily, jump gates. If you had that technology you could do it in a much simpler way, as we have done. They thought the moons were for something much bigger.

They decided their main purpose was to suppress novas. You see, we now think sector five is the way it is because many small suns exploded. These caused chain reactions with other suns making the place a huge debris field.

 The Star Knights decided the small green moons were really nova extinguishers. They can build up massive amounts charge, and this static field is what the Star Knights use as jump gates. This charge causes a massive gravitational force – hence the difficulty everyone has with taking off from one.

 When the moon detects the beginning of a nova, which emits a massive positive charge, the negative gravity of the moon wants a bit of it and reaches out with an energy cord. The sun does the same and they hurl themselves together. There is a massive explosion but the combined gravity forces contain the explosive force within a small area, allowing only the initial flash of light to be seen. The dangerous radiation pressure wave is suppressed.”

"Are they sure this is what they do?” asked Caracl.

"No," said Harris. "That is simply their best guess.”

"When will we know for certain?” said Jelica. "And why have we just added one of our neutron generators to it? Don't we need it, or is it just empty?”

"No, it is not empty,” said Harris. “In fact, it is set to explode in . . .”

"Four minutes,” chipped in Sarius.

 "We have been running it down, however,” said Harris. "So it will blow rather slowly, for a neutron bomb that is. First, it will give off massive amounts of positive radiation; this will rapidly increase. The moon will detect this as a nova and shoot out a negative energy cord. Our bomb is relatively close so the cord will shoot out way beyond our bomb and beyond Jay Jay’s triple bomb. This means his triple bombs do not pass the energy field of the moon so will not explode until triggered by its internal clock detonator.

 The negative pull of the energy cord spreads out surrounding the moon. Our bomb will detonate, triggering the moon’s graviton vortex which will increase its gravity ten to a hundred times. This increase in gravity should prevent Jay Jay’s bombs from any nuclear reaction. The physical body of the bombs will be broken down and converted into energy which is absorbed by the black clay of the moon. Even if it does explode, the energy will be absorbed as the moon is already in the process of doing that because of the first explosion that we will detonate. It will either jump to some unknown place and dissipate or contain the explosions within a reasonable area”

"Three minutes,” said Sarius over the speakers.

"Now it's time to see if it actually works,” said Harris.

 Mayat entered the room with a tray with several mugs of tea.

"Mick, is everything there ready for the jump?” said Harris.

 Over the intercom came the noise of a loud bang, followed by things falling and sudden expletives that sounded like Mick. Then silence.

"Mick, Mick!” shouted Harris.

 Harris was out his seat and rushing towards the upper door, knocking a few beakers of tea over.

"Keep verbal count down going, Sarius!” shouted Harris as he ran up the passage ways to the switch room.

 As Harris entered the switch room he was greeted with the smell of burning wire and an acrid smoke. There was paper and boxes strewn all over, intermingled with pieces of sharp metal and glass. "Mick!” shouted Harris as he put his handkerchief over his nose and mouth. He went over to the vent and pushed the emergency vent button. "Mick!” he shouted again and looked around. There was no sign of him.

 Harris then went to the jump panels; they seemed undamaged. He tried to assess the situation. Of the three damper controls from the generators, one was showing zero, the second was showing almost full power, the third half power.

"Two minutes,” said Sarius over the speakers.

 Harris turned to the jump panel. The charge indicator needle was hovering slightly below half way. He then looked up to that switch Mick had made a point of showing him, called, Modular Damper 24, the jump back switch. But where to jump, thought, Harris. Then Harris saw something new that he had not seen last time he was in here with Mick. Under the jump back control was some fresh marks scratched through the paint onto the metal of the panel. Two numerals – one and seven, seventeen. At the moment the arrow on the switch was on number 23; where would number 17 take them? There was no time to think.

"One minute,” said Sarius.

 Harris grabbed the switch and turned it back to 17. Time was running out – he had to press the jump switch. He looked at the charge indicator and saw it had dropped slightly. Stooping down, Harris reached for the big red jump switch; its cover was still in place. But the key was gone – it must have fallen out and be among the rubbish on the floor. Harris dropped down to his knees and with both hands starting sweeping around among the rubbish below the switch. He did not find the key but he did find a large solid tin of something. "You'll have to do,” Harris said to it as he got up.

"Thirty seconds,” said Sarius, fortunately with no hint of panic in his voice.

 Harris smashed the large tin down on the switch cover, and there was an explosion of thick red liquid covering Harris and part of the panel. But the cover was gone and the red button looked intact. Harris stabbed it with his thumb.

"Fifteen seconds,” said Sarius.

 Harris waited for the static sensation. There was nothing. He looked up at the charge indicator, and saw it was almost into purple area. There was not enough power. Harris turned to the damper controls – the third one was almost at the bottom of the scale and still going down. He grabbed the big wheel next to it and turned it upward.

"Ten seconds,” said Sarius.

 Harris knew you were supposed to turn the generators up gently but there was no time for that. He slammed the wheel up to maximum, and the ship began to vibrate.

"Five seconds,” said Sarius.

 Harris jabbed the jump button again. The vibration was getting worse.

"Struth’s teeth, the balance is out with only two gens,” he said to himself. He looked at the charge indicator – it was only very slowly creeping upward.

"Zero seconds,” said Sarius.

"Come on, come on,” shouted Harris banging his fist on the metal cabinet next to the charge indicator as it slowly crept upward.

"Zero minus two seconds,” said Sarius.

 Harris steadied himself between the two  banks of switch units by hanging onto the large control knobs. He couldn't hang on any longer, the indicator was only one-third up the dial but the ship would pull itself apart if they did not go this time. Harris almost threw himself down and pushed the button.

 The static in the room suddenly peaked then was gone, but then the ship seemed to lurch sideways throwing Harris across the room against the upper steel bulkhead door. The door slammed shut as his whole body went flying backwards against it.

"Zero minus nine seconds,” was the last thing Harris heard as he slid back down unconscious to the floor.

Chapter 32 - Aftermath

 Cold water dripping down Harris’s face made him give a sudden shudder, and he felt sick as he opened his eyes. He thought for a moment he was imagining things; he was looking into the soft brown eyes of a young woman. The cold water ran around his eyes, down his cheeks and moistened his lips. He rubbed his tongue along his lips tasting the refreshing water. Harris blinked his eyes several times.

 The young woman withdrew her arm; she had been bathing his forehead with a cloth of cool water. She had dark hair framing her pale face, she was quite beautiful even though her face was very thin and showed she had been under a lot of stress recently.

"Thank goodness you're alive,” said the girl in a soft voice. "You are the first person I have found and I thought you might be dead.”

"Who are you, where have you come from?” said Harris rather slowly. His throat was very dry.

"I was going to ask you those very same questions,” she said in a soft warm tone. The look of stress was replaced by one of extreme tiredness as she sat on the floor near Harris.

 Harris tried to sit up but a pain shot up his right leg. He gave a little cry. Harris apologised.

"Don't apologise,” said the girl. "You have a nasty wound in your leg.”

 Harris looked down at where his leg was hurting and saw a large piece of steel had embedded itself in the muscle just below the knee. Blood was soaking into his trouser leg.

"Now I know you're alive I'll see what I can do with it,” said the girl. "I once did a field medic course so I won't faint, although you might when I touch it. Are you part of some rescue party come aboard the ship?”

 The girl rummaged about on the floor among the rubbish where she  thought she had seen a green medical kit. She found one among the chocolate wrappers and Scuzzy cartons. She took out some scissors and started cutting the material away from Harris's trousers around where the piece of metal was sticking out.

"I'm not sure how much of a rescue this is,” said Harris. "It all got very complicated. Do I take it you're Rachael, the Admiral’s daughter?”

"That's right,” said the girl, attending to the wound on Harris's leg in a very professional way. "All I remember is a loud noise and suddenly I'm lying on the floor in the passage by my bunk. There were strange sounds all around me – it was almost as if we were in the middle of a small war.  

 I lay there on the floor quite frightened for a long time wondering what to do. I assumed there was some kind of rescue mission under way but then it all went quiet, I mean very quiet. Eventually, I decided no one was going to come and find me so thought I would get up and try and find somebody myself. The place seems to have changed and a lot of stuff brought in, so I knew someone had come aboard. You are the first person I found, I thought you were dead. Have they managed to get Light Star out of the rock – is that what all the noise was about?”

  Harris looked at Rachael as she started cleaning up the wound in his leg. Scruffy as she was, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Harris had always been book man, not much of a people person, but here was one person who Harris thought was better than any book. Now that, thought Harris, coming from him was some compliment.

Rachael asked the question again, bringing Harris back out of his daydream.

"I was hoping we would get you home before you woke up,” said Harris. "You must have been through hell these past months.”

 Rachael stopped cutting the cloth from round the wound in Harris's leg; she sat still then looked straight at Harris. Her eyes began to fill with tears. Her mouth moved as if she was trying to say something but the words would not come. She dropped her gaze to the floor and gave a little noise like a sob, then she took some gauze from the medical box and dabbed her eyes.

"We did not know what had happened,” Rachael's voice was scarcely a whisper. "All the alarms sounded, the ship was plunged into darkness, the sound of venting gas, screams that seemed to go on forever. It was like hours before for the emergency lights flickered on, but it must have been only minutes. Even then we could not work out what had happened, half the ship was blocked off by a rock like substance. We could not see out as there are very few port holes in the structure. Those we could see out of looked onto total blackness.

 It took us weeks to come to the truth and full horror of what had really happened. Only one generator was working so there was no question of attempting a jump. We were too far away to communicate with anyone. The situation was pretty hopeless. No one at central knew where we had gone, it was very much an unofficial trip. There were seven of us still alive, two committed suicide with Sterracol from the medical kits. That did not help.

 The rest of us decided to wait, the best we could, on the off chance of rescue. Mick knew where we would have gone and I had left some clues in my papers and diaries. I knew they would look through all those when we did not return. The bodies presented a problem – there was no way out of the ship, the only two air lock hatches were in the half of the ship embedded in the rock.

 We eventually decided to seal them in space suits. That would slow the decay and prevent bacteria infecting the rest of the ship. We had not prepared for a long trip so there was little food, water or oxygen. Infection and injury took its toll; these were mostly elderly scientists. Deep down we all knew there was little hope of rescue.” Rachael paused for a long time.

"How many others survived?” she asked.

"Two," said Harris. "But we are still a long way from home.”

"What are you saying?” asked Rachael. "Are we not rescued at all? Your identity tag says central records, but you are a long way from your library. Why are you lying here bleeding all alone?”

"You are rescued, Rachael." Harris leant forward and took hold of Rachael's hand. "We are a million miles from that asteroid. This is Light Star 3.”

Rachael looked up again at Harris, the news making her give a little smile. Rachael took Harris’s hand in both hers, causing the medical box to fall against Harris's leg and making him give a small cry of pain. Rachael apologised and busied herself with cleaning up the wound again. She injected a pain killer into the leg and Harris relaxed a little.

"I thought Light Star 3 was not finished,” said Rachael. "What happened here, everything is wrecked? You haven't suffered the same fate as our ship.”

"That would be too easy,” said Harris. "Oddly enough, you hit the nail on the head when you said that when you woke up it sounded as if we were in the middle of a small war. We were in fact in the middle of a small war. Or rather, a vendetta by a chap called Jay Jay. I had never heard of him either. He had found Light Star 1 and was using the generators as mega bombs to wipe out the Arolloan people. We were pretty lucky to get out of there alive.”

Rachael looked slightly startled. She then looked slightly puzzled, wondering if Harris was having hallucinations because of his injury.

"The generators are not bombs,” said Rachael

"You didn't know they were neutron generators then?” said Harris.

"I thought they were illegal and had been for a long time!” said Rachael. "It is a wonder we were not all killed instantly in that crash!”

"That truly is a wonder,” said Harris.

"Is that how you found Light Star 2?” said Rachael. "Because we were looking for the Old Rigadoon. Were we close to it when we crashed.”

"You were a long way away,” said Harris. "But looking for you was part of an unspoken deal between me and the Admiral; somehow I think also part of a bigger deal between Raftos and Central. We were not a rescue mission, but the Admiral dropped a strong hint that he would like us to look. The main mission was to find the Old Rigadoon. There was a suspicion that your destination was Old Rigadoon and, fortunately, you had left enough clues in your personal logs, enough to follow. We found in your diaries what you had discovered and how you had interpreted it.

 I knew you had got the position wrong, but at least it was a start. It was not far from the mission plan and there was an unspoken anxiety with everyone on board about what had happened to the other ships. If we could find your Light Star we would have a happier crew and somehow it was the least we could do for your father.”

Harris started to tell Rachael the story of what had happened, about Raftos, Light Star 3, the Admiral, finding the wrecked ship, the search for the Old Rigadoon. The sudden attack and finding out about Jay Jay and his vendetta against the Arolloan people.

As Harris talked in the silence of the switch room, everything seemed so far away, as if he were telling the story from some book he had read a long time ago. It all seemed so remote.

 Rachael attended the wound in Harris's leg. She told him the best thing to do was remove the steel shard and bind the wounded leg until a surgeon could look at it.

The two of them talked quietly and Harris tried to fill in the details of what he knew and what he did not know. There was one small pause in the conversation while Harris screamed as Rachael pulled the shard of metal out of Harris's leg.

 Harris complained, saying he thought Rachael had given him a pain killing injection. She smiled, saying it depended on the level of pain. Rachael was just finishing putting a plastic self-hardening net around the bandage on Harris's leg when there was the sudden noise. An empty box was falling down the side of the switch room.

"It's all right for some, they get a medical nurse to look after them.”

The voice came from where the box had fallen, revealing Mick, mostly pinned down by a tatty mattress, his face and shirt covered in blood.

 "I thought you were dead,” said Harris

"Think I probably am,” said Mick.

"I didn't notice you there,” said Rachael turning round to look at Mick. “Heavens, don't move, you look awful.”

 “Hi Rachael,” said Mick. "Nice seeing you too. I don't think I could move if I wanted to. I'm not quite sure what's happened. What are you doing up anyway, last time I saw you, you were unconscious and securely strapped flat out on your bunk.”

 Rachael went over to Mick, who was still laying against the lockers where he had fallen. His face was so covered in blood it was a wonder he could see. Rachael used an antiseptic moist wipe to clean his face up and then started to look at the gash on his head.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt,” said Mick.

"Well it should,” said Rachael "If it doesn't hurt then it is very serious and you could have severe brain damage.” She used a sterile swab and touched the gash on the side of his head.

"Yeoooow, now that hurt,” Mick flinched.

"Well I glad of that at least,” said Rachael. She sprayed the area of the wound with an antiseptic gel then started bandaging Mick's head.

"Your friend here,” said Rachael, looking towards Harris.

"Harris,” said Harris. "John Harris.”

"Has been telling me about your adventure and the battle you have just come out of.”

"Who won?” said Mick.

"Don't know,” said Harris. "I jumped us out of there as soon as I could, about ten seconds after detonation time.”

"I did allow a bit for wobbles,” said Mick.

"You look as if you had a big wobble,” said Harris. "Any idea what happened? It looked as if there had been an explosion, the place was full of smoke when I got in here.”

"Oh yes, was that real, I think I remember now,” said Mick. "I was sitting here on my mattress and just putting my empty Scuzzy Rice box down when I saw smoke coming out of the panel where the data logger machine was. I was just getting up to inspect it when the door blew off, then flames and smoke filled the room. I was thrown backwards and under the mattress. That saved me from a lot of debris that was flying around, although I got knocked unconscious as I hit the metal floor panel.”

"Why do you suppose it blew?" asked Harris

"Well I had only logged it off, putting in standby, normally that's fine but it was not designed to be in an enclosed space. I suppose its fans could not cope. Those damper controls also give out a lot of heat. Fortunately, there are fire suppressors in there for the damper controls, they stopped the fire,” said Mick.

"The whole thing could have gone up,” said Harris. "If it had blown up a minute later it would have been too late for me to get to the switch room to make the jump. Then it would have been more than just the panel blowing up.”

"Where did we jump to?" asked Mick.

"I don't know,” said Harris. "There was the number 17 scratched on the panel.”

"Seventeen – that was important, it was . . .” Mick's eyes started rolling and his head began to sag.

"Quick," said Rachael. "He's blacking out.”

She grabbed the medical bag, ripped a syringe from a packet and injected it into Mick's arm.” That will make him sleep until we get some proper medical help,” she said, pushing some screwed up paper behind his head to protect it from the steel bulkhead.

As Rachael made Mick as comfortable as she could, there was some banging coming from the closed bulkhead door on the upper side of the switch room.

"Harris, are you still in there?” came a voice through the door. It was Kimlon.

"Yes, he's still in here,” shouted Rachael.

"Your voice has got a lot higher, John,” said Kimlon.

Rachael smiled at Harris on hearing that.

"That is the first time you've smiled,” said Harris.

"Have you got some company in there?” said Kimlon.

"It's Rachael, she came down the other passage,” shouted Harris.

 "We couldn't get that way,” said Kimlon. “One of the passages had to be sealed off when a plate got loose This door’s jammed so we are going to use hydraulic jaws to prise it open. Stand back – things might snap.”

 Harris used his arms to push himself sideways away from the door while Rachael held his injured leg up and moved it with him out the way.  

"OK, we are all well out the way,” shouted Harris.

 Rachael lay on the floor between Harris and Mick on the side furthest from the door to be opened. Harris put his arm over Rachael and covered her head with his upper arm. She curled up into a small ball, and Harris felt her trembling slightly.

"Don't worry,” he whispered. "These guys know what they are doing.”

 They heard a low throb as the hydraulic jaws slowly eased apart the jammed door from the twisted metal frame. Suddenly there was a very loud crack and a bolt shot across the room, hitting the far side wall and rebounding into the end panel of the damper control unit, denting it heavily before falling to the floor.

 As Kimlon and Craso pushed open the heavy door and stepped into the control room, the vibration caused the heavy end panel of the damper control unit to slowly topple forward. Before Kimlon or Craso realised what was happening or could do anything to stop it, the heavy panel crashed down onto Harris's injured leg.

"Ahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..,” shrieked Harris, then he fell back unconscious.

Chapter 33 - Visitors

 Harris opened his eyes then closed them very quickly. A blinding white light made them hurt. He involuntary made an "Ooooh" sound.

"Ah, Mr Harris, you are awake.”

 The voice came from nearby. Harris opened his eyes more slowly. As they grew accustomed to the light he realised that he was looking directly at a white ceiling. He rolled his eyes around and realised he was in a white room but he couldn't move.

 Harris could not tell who had spoken, so moved his head to the side the sound had come from. As he did so, a young woman seemed to rise up beside him. She must have been sitting on a chair by his bed. Harris tried to say something but it only came out as a croak, his mouth was so dry.

"Don't try and move until I loosen your covers a bit,” said the woman. She pressed a button on the side of the bed and the top half folded forward so Harris was then in a reclined sitting position. She lifted a bottle from a trolley beside her, with a drinking tube protruding from its top. She held it up to Harris's mouth and he took a long drink.

"Slowly, Mr Harris,” she said.

 Harris tried to move his arm to hold the bottle but found he couldn't move either arm. He stopped drinking and looked down at the bed. There were three wide fabric straps holding him down, one over his arms and two over his legs. Harris must have looked a bit alarmed.

"Don't worry, they are there for your safety,” said the woman.  “You have been under sedation for three days. You have had surgery on your legs and your left arm. You had to be kept still while you slept – we couldn't have you falling out of bed.”

Harris looked at the woman. She wore a red and green uniform with a small green beret on her head. A small tag on her chest said she was Nurse Boation.

"Where are we?" asked Harris.

"We are on the hospital ship Debet Servire Aliis,” she said. “It is an old Timmeron name meaning, our duty to serve others.” As she said this she took out a small communicator from a side pocket. She touched some points on the screen.

"I have just called for the senior nurse who ask to be informed as soon as you woke up. I'll undo your chest strap and you will be able to use your right arm, but your left arm is bandaged to your chest; it will have to be there for a few days before they can take it off.”

 She moved around the bed, removed the upper strap then loosened the bed sheets and turned them down so Harris could lift his right arm slightly.

"Don't try to move too much yet,” she said and placed the drinking bottle on a trolley where he could reach it without stretching.

 As she was folding the bed strap, a woman walked through the opening from the passage into the room. She was a moderately tall woman dressed in a black uniform with green trimming. She had dark close-cropped hair and did not wear a beret. Her eyes were sharp clear and hazel brown. She walked with an air of confidence, and there was no name tag, just a green five trees logo. Harris couldn't quite remember where he had seen that before, but knew she was someone of importance. Nurse Boation had quietly moved out the room by the time the woman arrived at Harris's bedside.

"I'm glad you are awake, Mr Harris,” she said. "We were beginning to think you might not wake up at all.”

"Call me John,” said Harris. "I think I must have been catching up. I don't think I got more than a few hours during the past week. Or was it a month? I lost track.”

"Well, you will have plenty of time to rest now to get your senses back and your body clock reset. I've arranged for a meal to be brought,” she said.

"Not basic rations I hope?” said Harris.

"Definitely not,” she said. "I've talked to the others and no Timmeron tea either. We've got to get your strength back, there will be no chocolate bars either.”  

 She put her hand on his forehead then felt the pulse in his good arm. " I think you'll live,” she smiled at Harris. " Apparently, you gave up a good library job to come on this mission,” she said.

"You have been talking to the crew, haven't you,” said Harris.

"Yes, I have and I heard a lot about you. I am the senior nurse on this ship. Jane Seru,” she said.

"Are you the Jane Seru, alias Syd Peru, that Mick has told me so much about?” said Harris.

"I am indeed,” said Jane. "However, Syd Peru has retired and got a library job on a distant data planet,”

"Well I hope she is very happy,” said Harris.

"Jane Seru is now devoting her energies to helping build and run ships like these, along with support from the United Mining Federation and Settlement Foundation,” said Jane.

"You mean that organisation really exists? I thought it was just made up by Jay Jay's cronies to flush out collaborators,” said Harris.

"I'm not here to talk to you about all that sort of thing,” said Jane. "There will be enough time for you to get a de-briefing with your military friends when you have your strength back and are well rested.”

 "Well, I am very pleased to meet you at last,” said Harris. "I've heard a lot about you from Mick – you were probably his best friend. How is Mick, by the way?”

"He's in surgery at the moment having a blood clot removed from his brain where he banged his head,” said Jane. "That's one of the reasons I'm pleased that you are awake. When they have finished we will put him in a bed next to you so when he wakes up he will be comforted to see you nearby. He likes you a lot, I think you are a bit of a father figure to him. He will not able to talk straight away and there may be some memory loss, but it will help him to see that you are here.”

"What happened to everyone else?" asked Harris.

"Look, I have told you, all that is for later – you have to rest and eat, I am not going to let you have any visitors just yet. Having said that, however, I couldn't refuse one rather insistent lady – I'll send her in.” Jane started to leave the room. Just before she turned the corner she looked at Harris. "After all, she is family.”

"Who?” said Harris.

"Your wife,” said Jane, who then disappeared round the corner leaving Harris staring at the opening with a somewhat surprised expression on his face.

 A few moments later the silhouette of a young woman appeared against the brighter lighting of the corridor.

 In a voice obviously meant to be heard down the passage she said, "Darling, I just had to come when I heard you were awake. I've been so worried.”

 The woman walked slowly into the room, her shoes made no sound and it was as if she was just gliding towards him. The lights in the room allowed Harris to have a more detailed look at her. She had light brown hair cut to shoulder length and it swung as she walked. A three-quarter length light blue pleated skirt with silver flecks swung in rhythm with her hair, a pink and white checked blouse with the top two buttons undone topped the outfit. Her face was a little thin and pale, the lips a little too red, perhaps to compensate for her pale complexion, but her eyes sparkled with a thousand promises.

 She smiled as she got closer. Rather than sitting down, however, she stood close to the bedside then leant over, put her hand gently behind his head and gave him a large kiss on the lips. "Thank you,” she whispered as she withdrew a little, still holding Harris's head. She then gave him another kiss, and this time Harris reciprocated. This was rather a long kiss.

 The woman stood up.

 At that moment there was the sound of feet running down the passage outside the room. They both looked round. Nurse Boation was hurrying through the opening; halfway into the room she stopped.

 Slightly out of breath she said, "We were monitoring your blood pressure and heart in the office.” She then looked straight at Harris. "Oh, that explains it,” she said.

"Sorry, but you must take it steady, Mr Harris.”

Nurse Boation went over to a trolley and took two large paper wipes from a box and handed them to Harris. "You may need these,” she said, then walked slowly out the room smiling.

"What was that all about?” said Harris, holding the wipes in his free hand.

"You have got two large smudges of red lipstick round your mouth and I don't think for one minute she thought you had put them there yourself,” said the woman.

"Perhaps I have had some sort of breakdown and memory loss,” said Harris. "I seem to feel I know you yet somehow . . .”

"Can't you even remember our children, Peter, Paul and Mary?” said the women.

Harris looked perplexed and worried. “It seems . . .” he trailed off, looking deep into her eyes. They flickered briefly. "Rachael.”

"Yes,” said Rachael. "I didn't mean to make fun of you. We did not meet under the best of circumstances last time, you were in great pain and I must have looked like a ghost. Of course, you wouldn't recognise me.” She held onto Harris's good hand, took the wipes and wiped the lipstick from his mouth.

"When they said you were awake I just had to see you and thank you so much for saving my life,” she said.

"There were a lot more people involved in that than just me,” said Harris.

"But you saved me twice,” said Rachael. "In the switch room, when they were trying to open the door and a rivet hit that large steel panel and it started to drop. The two Timmeron pushed the door open quickly to try to catch it.

 At that moment another bolt snapped and ricocheted round the room then embedded itself in your upper arm. That is why it is bandaged up and strapped to your chest. It broke the bone near your shoulder. You saved my life again because you had put that arm over my head to protect me. If you had not done that the bolt would have gone right through my skull.”

"Heavens,” said Harris. "I don't remember any of that.”

 Rachael and Harris looked at each other for a while in silence. There was the noise of a trolley coming down the passage. Rachael was crying slightly; she took a handkerchief from a pocket in her skirt and dabbed her eyes.

"I wanted to be the one to tell you and thank you,” said Rachael. "And they were not allowing visitors unless you were family so I said I was your wife.”

"They believed you,” said Harris.

"Well that lady in black let me in,” said Rachael.

"Does that mean the children are orphans now?" said Harris.

They were both laughing as Nurse Boation pushed a food trolley into the room.

"Looks like a bit of an emotional reunion,” said Nurse Boation, seeing the tears on Rachael's cheeks. Rachael quickly wiped them away.

The nurse set up the food trolley across Harris's bed and raised the top half of the bed so he was in a sitting position. She unrolled a bib attached to the edge of the trolley and tied it round Harris's neck. “Can't have you spilling food all over yourself can we?” she said, then looked at Rachael. “I was supposed to stay and help Mr Harris with his food, but if you would like to do that it will give you a bit more time together,” she smiled.

"I'd love to,” said Rachael. "And I will make sure he eats it all up.”

 Fortunately, the cooks in the hospital kitchens knew what they were doing and all the food was in bowls and could be eaten with a spoon. After Rachael had given Harris the first few spoonfuls he took the spoon and quickly finished the first bowl of food.

"Heavens you don't know how much better that tastes than basic rations or Scuzzy rice, or even Timmeron food,” said Harris.

"Well don't gobble it, take your time or you'll get indigestion,” said Rachael

Harris started on the second bowl. "I have to ask,” said Harris. "Do you know what happened, was the plan successful? We obviously got out but did we save the Arolloans and Sigadon?”

"I don't know the full details,” said Rachael. "Like you I have been kept in recovery for a while, but I did get to talk to Captain Adams. He has been going round with Jelica de-briefing everyone and making a report. Apparently, the plan went almost exactly as the Star Knights hoped, there was an explosion which seemed to be expanding too far, then suddenly it simply disappeared. The moon was gone there was no debris, nothing, just empty space.”

"Well,” said Harris. "That's a relief and a great weight off my mind." He finished the last bowl of food and Rachael untied the bib from round his neck and let it roll back into the trolley. "Perhaps I can get back to my library job now.”

"That sounds like a nice idea,” said Rachael. “Somewhere quiet. I think I'll work in a library from now on.” As she leant over to pull the trolley away she gave him another big kiss on the lips, leaving another red smudge.

"I think that is enough excitement for one day, Mrs Harris, give the poor man a chance to recover.”  Jane Seru walked into the room guiding a mobile bed being pushed by two orderlies.

"This is Mick, he's just out of surgery. I'm putting him fairly close to you, John, so he is aware of your presence. You can sit up for an hour or so and use the Vidicon unit with an earpiece. Then three hours sleep then another meal. If Mick wakes up give the duty nurse a call with the emergency button on your bed and she will come and give him a check up She will then probably call me.”

The orderlies took the food trolley and left. Jane guided Rachael out through the opening into the passage. "Is Mick going to be alright?" said Rachael.

"I think we had better go to the cafeteria,” said Jane. "You and me have a rather a lot to talk about and I am also very hungry. I am sure you are as well, it's my treat.”

They walked slowly down the passage together. When they reached the cafeteria the doors slid open.

"After you, Mrs Harris,” said Jane, giving a big smile. Rachael looked away, blushed slightly, then gave a small smile and looked back at Jane.

"Thank you, Syd,” she said, as they both walked into the canteen.

THE END

About the Author

of

Light Star –  When all else fails

I am old enough to remember the first Sputnik (satellite) being launched. I was around during the cold war, (which is why I always wear a vest) then followed the first men to the moon (on television that is, if I had actually followed them that would have been news). There was the promise of atomic energy and the discovery of more atoms than you could shake your rattle at. Leaving school at 15 with my only skill being that I could draw anything, I was apprenticed in an architect’s office. Eventually qualifying as a technical draughtsman, I drew everything from architectural projects to complex plumbing systems, then large vintage mobile cranes. Computers then came along to steal away my lovely drawing board. So as revenge I started programming them and ended up teaching it.

I followed all the sciences as a dedicated enthusiast. Science fell out of fashion but the cinema took over; I saw the premier showing of 2001. I turned into a nerd, all my mates had girlfriends, I had a rocket and a microscope.

 In my spare time, of which there was not an enough, I would put together a few books. A few history books on cranes, a group of Sub-Molecular studies and some fictional short stories. I even made an early version of this book but, as happens in this story, life had other demands. Like earning a living, getting married, paying the mortgage, counting the kids to make sure you haven't lost one. Something like finishing a book gets pushed down, way down, the to do list, beyond clearing out the attic, fixing the fence that got blown down or mending the gate so the dog doesn't keep running out.

 Eventually, the children leave home, the dog died (I must mend that gate) and I came across this story again. I decided with a little tweaking, with some changes here and there, and with a decent ending, it might be worth finishing.

So that what I decided to do, and this was the result. I hope you enjoyed it.

A J Kemp

Date – 14 July 2016