BORN OF HEROES

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 54
 

Transit time from Joplin to Dennier lasted a little over three weeks and the group spent another week acclimating to a different way of life. Tisane Binfurr had provided guards to protect the Tambor estate, the two monitoring teams being led by the human Erwin Hammer and Aran Deurman, Rovi’s associates that had helped protect the crew of the Guiding Angel after the attack at the starport.

  “I think I owe you some beer. We hit your fridge pretty hard,” Erwin had told the older fox with a grin when the entire group arrived by two air taxis. “And we used the Dragonfly quite a bit. It was a little less obtrusive than the Binfurr VTOL, so we probably owe about as much for fuel.”

  “Erwin, you don’t owe anything,” Rovi told the human with an embrace, glad that his friends had continued to help while he’d been away. “I am going to assume you were comfortable here?”

  Aran scratched his head through his thick mane and grinned. “Of course. We should probably show you the new security system that Mister Binfurr had installed. He also wanted us to tell you that he’s not looking for you to be back for a couple of weeks still. Something about a proper vacation before getting production started on a large order of those new rifles we were working on for the SPF and a couple of planetary defense forces. Oh, and he said something about a bonus, too.”

  “How many orders did we get?” the black fox asked as he helped the others in with their luggage.

  “Well, the SPF had ordered twelve thousand of the rifles, and the three planetary armies that have put in requests bring the shipping total up to over four hundred thousand units to ship at the end of the year,” the lion said with a grin.

  Rovi shook his head in wonder. “That’s the largest bulk order we’ve ever had at one time from our division.”

  “Well, we did kind of leak the information that the rifles were tested in actual combat conditions,” Erwin chuckled. “Which reminds me, Tisane had the cabin restored, and he also put in a security system there, too.” The human then turned to Elias. “A Jak Macklin from Okami came by. Something about a salvage refit that’s being held for you at the shipyards. Wanted you to call him after you got in and caught a little rest.”

  Everyone turned to Elias for an explanation and the fox shrugged as he looked at the others and grinned. “I told Sandy when we were done with the operation that we were looking at going into the courier and specialized transport business. He suggested us keeping the Guiding Angel as it had proven itself and that we could pick it up after it was refit.”

  Elias sighed and headed to one of the stools near the bar and sat down with Renee in his arms.

  “I was reluctant at first with everything that had happened on the ship, but Sandy pointed out that a lot of good things had happened on board as well. The funding for purchasing, outfitting and registering has been taken out of the ship’s fund that we set up last year. As it is, we have more than enough to get us going and keep us flying for the next three years.”

  “We’re in,” Randy said as he and Lena stepped forward, their arms about each other.

  Odette and Sonja nodded with wide grins. “You better believe it!” the bear said with a chuckle.

  Lemuel looked down at Keena. “Fancy kicking about the alignment with me, darling?”

  The russet vixen simply wrapped her arms around her tiger with a grin and squeal of delight.

  “Surely you won’t be taking the children?” Sharan asked, her eyes wide and ears drooping in disbelief.

  “Absolutely!” Cerise said with a smile. “We want them to learn about the PA. What better than seeing the different worlds and meeting the people there? It’s better than some stuffy book, and they’ll get a lot more out of seeing those places than some video. There are plenty of home schooling programs for us to make sure we get the basics, but the other stuff? You can’t replace being there.”

  Saul and Treena stepped up. “I don’t know how to say this, but…well, we won’t be going with you,” the jaguar said looking at the floor. “We…we feel we still have a lot to do with the SPF, and I’m ready for my own command.” He looked up and there was an actual tear in the large cat’s eye. “We’ll be heading out with the Chamkata when she lifts next week.”

  “You know you’re going to be missed, right?” Elias said. He’d had an idea that Saul wasn’t going to go with them but hadn’t said anything. “It won’t be the same without you.”

  “I didn’t want to let you down,” Saul said softly, his head dropping again. “You took a chance on me and I can’t begin to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, but…I’m just not ready to leave the force yet.”

  The fox stepped up to his friend and put his hands on the other fur’s arms. “You haven’t let me down, Saul. Just remember that you and Treena have always got a berth with us when you decide it’s time to do something else.”

  The jaguar nodded before the two embraced in a brotherly fashion. You didn’t go through what they had without forming a bond that transcended the normal friendships most people develop with others.

  “Thanks, Elias,” Saul said as he wiped at an eye.” You wouldn’t want to do me a favor, would you?”

  The fox chuckled, “If I can, you name it and it’s yours.”

  “Would…would you stand at my side as my second?” the cat asked hopefully. “I…I asked Treena to be my wife…and…”

   “Of course I said yes,” the ocelot said with a grin before being mobbed by the other females, save Pala, though the Kastan smiled from where she was fussing with changing Van’s diaper.

  “And of course we’ll have the ceremony here,” Sharan said firmly.

  Erwin shook his head. “Considering this group’s universal plunge to matrimony, why don’t all of you go to Kantus and just do a full family bonding to each other?” The man stepped behind the bar and helped himself to a glass of Rovi’s whiskey. “I just hope this marriage thing isn’t catching!” he exclaimed with a shudder before tossing the contents of his glass back.

***

   It was a small, informal ceremony for the two felines, surrounded by friends and family. Then it seemed as if the days passed far too quickly and they were gone, heading out with the frigate SPF Chamkata and back to Joplin. As things settled down, it didn’t seem the same without the two that had left, returning to the life that the others had opted to walk away from.

  Elias, Cerise, Lena and Randal used the Dragonfly to commute to the Okami shipyards to inspect the refit of the Guiding Angel. On the outside of the hull that was stripped down to the metal alloy of the external plating, workers were moving around with lifts and on scaffolding and applying a primer undercoat base.

  “It doesn’t look any different, really,” Randy said as he scrutinized the ship. “Apart from the paint missing, that is.”

  All of them were in the office of Jak Macklin which overlooked the repair bay. “To be honest, it is the same ship,” the Okami employed wolf said. “We stripped out the cargo and engine bays, blasted the interior with glass beads to clean the bulkheads and finished putting in the same class engines she had before. Because of the casting of the ceramic composite armor a few of the conduits we replaced are in external tubing.”

  The wolf coughed lightly and dropped his voice.

  “I received a message from both Colonel Brees and Commander Janes from Joplin. It still has the…ah…original equipment, save live warheads in the missile racks. Everything else is…um, still there. Though there is no secondary craft in the cargo bay.” Macklin scratched his neck in a nervous gesture. “Oh, and we removed the fixtures from the suites that were converted into holding cells and returned them to their original state.”

  “Well, we are going to tout ourselves as a protective courier and transport service,” Elias said with a grin. “I don’t think we’ll need a brig. Which reminds me, did you get my message about paint scheme and name?”

  “I did,” Macklin said with a nod. “Oh, and I should go ahead and tell you as soon as she was brought in by the recovery vehicle that I was personally with the engineering and inspection teams. The cabins were all sealed by me once it was determined there was no damage to the living quarters. There may still be some…personal effects in certain cabins.”

  “Thank you, Mister Macklin,” Elias said with a nod. There was enough time and distance from the event that claimed the lives of their three shipmates that it no longer felt like a knife in the gut of the fox. It might be a different story when they went through the cabins, but for now it didn’t hurt so much anymore, though Elias would always lament the loss of his friends.

  “We’re looking at another week and a half of refit, painting and the like. I’ll contact you two days before we get ready to transfer her to Grandstorm Spaceport.” The wolf picked up a DataPak and made a notation. “Is there anything else we can do while she’s in the bay?”

  “I think that’ll do it for the time being,” Elias said holding out his hand. “This should give us enough time to put the call out for the positions we need filled.”

  “Some of those positions wouldn’t be ship’s engineers, would it?” Macklin inquired with a glance.

  Elias nodded. “I’d like one experienced mechanic at least. Two would be better.”

  The wolf chuckled. “I have four applications from individuals that would prefer a shipboard posting, but I only have room for two on my crews. Why don’t I forward them to you and you can select the ones that’ll go best with your group, I’ll hire the others. Win-win for all.”

  “That sounds like a plan,” the fox conceded. “If you’re letting me have first pick it means that all of them are probably qualified for all of the systems they’ll have to tend to.”

  “Oh, yes,” Macklin said with a smile. “They’ll be put in the military section of the yard as it is, so yes. I think they’ll suit you quite well. Look for their information tonight.”

  The quartet headed for the small executive landing pad were the helicopter sat and Elias slid into the copilot seat as Cerise took the pilot’s position and brought the engine up to speed before engaging the rotors.

  “So who do we need besides mechanics?” Lena asked curiously from the back seat.

  Elias turned his head to look at the rabbit. “I was thinking about a dedicated chef. I know I don’t trust my cooking! I’d wind up giving everyone bellyaches and worse!” the fox said with a laugh.

  “It would also be nice to have something other than jellybeans,” Randy told his partner with a smile.

  “Lay off my jellybeans,” Lena said before leaning over for a kiss. “You didn’t gripe about them last night.”

  “So that’s what that noise was!” Cerise interjected as she looked over the instruments and her hands took the stick and cyclic. “I thought someone was beating on a drum while playing a tin whistle. Badly.”

  All three of the others turned to look at the doe as the inside of her ears turned a deep pink in embarrassment.

— NEXT CHAPTER —

Unless otherwise noted, all material © Ted R. Blasingame. All rights reserved.