Take me to Your Leader - 4. Take Me Chapter 4

As I continued to be at the entry gate, to the event, I noticed that a lot of people were walking down the driveway now, parking to one side of the drive, to allow easy access for anyone wanting to leave early or the emergency services vehicles need to leave. Just as it was getting dark, with most of the visitors dropping notes instead of coins into the gumboot, it was starting to get quite heavy, I counted over two hundred people that had gone past me so far. “How are the numbers looking, it is getting a bit crowded down there by the looks of it,” Dad commented when he appeared after going to help out with a small problem with the generators.

“Dad can you go and snuff out the lanterns closest to the highway, I think we have reached capacity,” I suggested, and he jumped into a farm vehicle that he was driving, and headed for the highway, and began extinguishing half of the lanterns on the way back, and he ended extinguishing all of them. “Ok let’s go and have some dinner, before it all gets eaten up,” Dad suggested, and after parking the ute back in the shed, we walked down to the shearing shed, just as the music stopped playing, and it wasn’t recorded music, somehow we had acquired a live country band for the night.

“Good evening, and welcome to you all to the first-ever Bookabie Camp Dinner, to support the remote farmers in the district who are finding it hard to socialise when there is so much to do on the farms, with limited resources available in the district. As most of you know, my name is Dorothy, President of the Isolated Children’s Education Association, and we credit this event to some visitors to the district, who popped by to chat with some local farmers just down the road from here, where they learnt that there was no socialising or communications with other people in the district apart from the occasional shopping trip to Penong or Ceduna.

So a big thank you to Lane and Grace Hamilton and family, for their idea to have this event, to support the family down the road and others in the district, and for all the hard work they have put into getting this even happening in just two short days. Thank you to the Emergency services for travelling from Ceduna to help keep this event safe, your attendance is greatly appreciated. Thanks also to our unexpected live music band, it has been an awesome night with you being here, so thanks. Also a big thanks to all the community members who have provided supplies and equipment to make sure that this event runs smoothly. Now there is a gumboot or two hovering around somewhere, please add some more donations to it, so that we can start supporting our struggling farmers, enjoy your evening and thank you once again for attending,” Dorothy announced.

“Dad, what happened to the gumboot?” I quietly asked after the announcements were finished, “Left it with the local boys in Blue to mind it. Let’s go and get some more gumboots to collect some more donations,” Dad responded, “After I have had some dinner, I am starving,” I replied, and Dad agreed with this. After a delicious meal, that was washed down with plenty of fruit juice, we headed over to the house to borrow another pair of gumboots, which we located near the back door of the house. About an hour later, as the food was all gone and had been cleared away by the local ladies, Dorothy made an appearance, at the machinery shed, where we had delivered the last of the donations.

“How are we looking for our fundraising efforts?” she offered enthusiastically, “So far, over $5,200, and still counting,” one of the Ambulance officers responded. “Holy cow droppings, that is a lot more than I expected. By the way, whose gumboots are we using?” Dorothy asked, “Probably my husband and mine for a guess,” a new voice said, which was our host. “Sorry, I couldn’t find anything suitable, so I just grabbed the boot,” I said apologetically, and Dorothy laughed, “All for a good cause eh,” she said.

By the end of the night, we had raised over $6,158, which was given to the Police officers to take back to Ceduna to be banked. My siblings had gone to bed soon after they had eaten and were fast asleep when I checked on them regularly. I eventually reached my bed just before midnight, and I fell asleep almost straight away and woke up in the morning when I heard Mum telling the kids to quieten down as Dad and I were still asleep due to a late night working. “I am awake now Mum,” I called out, “So am I,” Dad added from the direction of the caravan.

After a hot shower and some breakfast, Dad and I headed off to help with the cleaning up after last night’s successful fundraising event. The fire drums and pits had to be emptied of unburnt wood and ashes, before being stacked together and ready to be collected. Generators had to be brought to one location, and all power cables had to be collected and properly wound up neatly. Tables need to be cleared of any rubbish before being folded down and stacked in piles, as well as all of the chairs and bench seating, and all the rubbish needs to be picked up and bagged ready to be taken to the tip or in case of any bottles or cans, to the nearest recycle centre.

It was nearly lunchtime by the time the majority of the cleanup was completed, with some other locals returning to assist with the cleanup and to cart away the equipment and supplies that needed to be returned. We had an early lunch before saying farewell to our hosts as we packed up our campsite, and set off back east towards Adelaide.

We had decided that we were too tired to do any more sightseeing for this trip and stopped when we needed rest breaks and fuel supplies, before we stopped overnight at Port Pirie, after completing seven hours of driving, with another three hours before we arrived home in Auldana the next morning. Taking just the food supplies out of the camper and caravan, we stored them away in the garages and relaxed for most of the day, and it was late that afternoon before we returned to collect all the luggage, and do a basic clean of both vehicles and the caravan and camper.

For New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, our family just kept it low-key since we had a very long and tiring holiday in the outback, and before heading to bed, Mum reminded me that we both had work to go to in two days, which made me groan, before saying goodnight and heading to my room downstairs. I rested for most of the following day, knowing that I had work to go to the next day, so I spent most of it listening to audio clips of ‘Leaning the Language’, with headphones on, so no one could hear what I was listening to.

Work, as I expected kept me super busy for the two weeks that I was available, as I planned to be back in Sydney at least five days before the start of the first semester of my third year at university. For this semester, I will be finishing my commercial pilot training, and I will also be starting to do some on-the-job work experience at an aircraft maintenance complex.

On my final days back home, I kept busy sorting all my gear and working out what I needed to take back to Sydney with me, which included all of my secret belongings, which I was now getting used to. I had informed work and my parents that I would be remaining in Sydney for all the mid-semester and mid-year holidays, due to study commitments, and that I would be back in Adelaide after the end-of-year exams are complete in early December. As Huon has said, I was allocated one of the three bedrooms with bathrooms that share a wide balcony, with my room being at one end of the three, which I was happy about.

The problem now was that the lads would be popping in regularly, so I had to be extra careful when using all the specialist equipment that I was given late last year, and this was something that concerned me. When Simeon arrived on campus, I managed to convince him to swap rooms with him, so that I had a normal room like I had before, with no connecting door or windows, so no one could just peep through or walk right into my room. Huon was very displeased when he learnt of the room change, and I explained that I needed to concentrate on my studies more, and not have too many distractions, which didn’t go down very well either.

After the first seven weeks of the first semester, I had done very well with my studies, and with just one week before the one-week mid-semester break, my watch vibrated while I was in a tutorial class, so when I could, I took a quick look at the screen. “Ready to do some training at Tethys? Be at these coordinates on Friday evening at 2100 hours, and bring all of the things we gave you plus what you need for your one-week stay, Ambassador.”

After the tutorial was over, I went to the maps app and typed in the coordinates, which showed to be at Cape Banks, right next to the footbridge, which is just a twenty-five-minute taxi ride from my Uni Campus accommodation in Kensington, to the end of Cape Banks Road, and a 600-metre hike, which was perfect. Once I had deleted the map search off my mobile, I headed to my accommodation to start packing, for the trip away.

I had dinner at the dining hall as usual but made sure that I was there a little earlier, so I could get going before 7.15 pm to allow for any delays that may happen. As it turned out, I was on time and had plenty of time to have a bit of a walk around the park until the designated meeting time at the coordinates. With just a minute to go, I found the spot of the exact coordinates and stood there gazing out into the harbour.

My watch vibrated and I looked at the screen. “Ydaer? – Ready? Ybdnats - Standby,” the message read, before there was a light over the top of me, and in seconds, I was teleported onboard the starcruiser, where I was greeted by the Ambassador. “Your Excellency, it is good to see you again,” I said giving a small bow, and the Ambassador smiled, “It is nice to see you know so much about diplomacy and respect, that will take you a long way. Welcome back, let’s get comfortable and in a few hours we will arrive at your new temporary home,” the Ambassador responded. With the EIB, I started a diary of my thoughts and new experiences, starting from the time that I woke up onboard the Cruiser for the first time, and during our journey to Tethys, I continued to make notes in my diary.

About one hour into the journey a message bubble appeared on the screen, which I tapped on with my index finger, and a document appeared, titled - ‘Training Session for Terb Sua at Tethys Space Flight Training Complex’. I glanced at the document and saw that I had a very busy week ahead of me, which included Physical Training, Information Lectures, Space Craft Instrumentation Lectures, Space Navigation Lectures and Introduction to Space Flight. There was a separate document for each subject, and I began reading the first one. “Good to see that you have started on your training information documents Terb Sua,” the Ambassador said when he entered the comfortable lounge area where I was relaxing and reading.

“Well it is all a brand new experience for me, so I felt that I needed to get started right away,” I responded. I chatted with the Ambassador for a few minutes before he headed out of the room, leaving me to continue to read. Time seemed to pass by fast, as I felt a slight bump and I realised that we must have arrived at Tethys, and moments later two men appeared. “Please follow us Terb Sua,” one of the men said and I followed them out of the room and down the passageway until we reached an open doorway. “Welcome to Tethys, we hope you enjoy your stay here,” a woman said from behind me as I looked back to see her smiling before she walked around me and led the way down the ramp off the cruiser, where I saw I was inside a large space terminal, filled with several different kinds of spacecraft.

There was a second Space Cruiser identical to the one I had just travelled on, plus a few dozen space fighters, that looked similar to the F15 Fighter jets on Earth. There are also about half a dozen smaller ships, that I guessed are shuttles of some kind. We came to a stop in front of what looked like a parade of guards, with some people standing on a low platform, and I recognised Ambassador Revilo Leri and Chancellor Sucram Opi as two standing there. I bowed to them before standing up straight and at attention.

“Welcome Terb Sua, as you can see we are in the space terminal hanger, part of the Space Flight Training Complex, where you will be spending your week training. May I present to you Nailuj Tei who will be your Space Training Mentor, this is the District Governor - Sivart Kai, and also the City Administrator - Siwis Padi, who you will see from time to time. Go with Naluj Tei and he will help you get settled in,” the Chancellor said to me, and both of us bowed before taking two steps back and turning.

I followed my mentor through a door and along several passageways in silence until we stopped at a door, which had just a number and letters on it – ‘TS 16938’. “This is your place, you have a few hours to get settled in before we have an evening meal and have some recreation time before the sleep period,” Nailuj Tei said to me before walking off, and entering a room a few doors down from mine. As I took a step closer, the door slid open, and the darkroom was soon filled with soft lighting, enough for me to get a good look at what would be my home for a week.

The room was spacious, with a double bed, that had a wardrobe on one side and a set of drawers on the other side, on the wall opposite the bed there was a long desk with bookshelves, with a desk chair and in the corner, was a larger comfy chair. On the side opposite the main door, was another door, which revealed a bathroom, with a toilet, basin and shower similar to what we have on Earth. What belongings I did have with me, I began to unpack, placing all the electronics on the desk, and as I went to put my clothes away, I found some other clothes hanging in the wardrobe that looked like some kind of uniform, and in the drawers, there were what looked like sleep clothes and some casual clothing.

I decided to have a shower and change into the new casual clothes, which were very comfortable and were loose fitting for easy movement, and once dressed I sat down at the desk to continue my reading of the material that had been sent to me. Sometime later I heard a bell sound coming from the direction of the door, so I called out ‘Enter’ as the door opened, and Nailuj Tei stood there smiling, “Time for dinner?” I asked, and he answered with just a nod of the head and waited for me to join him at the door and follow him to the dining hall. During the meal, I met over 60 people, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember any of their names, especially as they spoke in their language, which I was still trying to learn. I also got to know some of them during recreation time, which was spent just sitting around and chatting.

For the next six days, I attended lectures, practical sessions, as well as meetings with the Council, so I could learn all about Diplomacy as that would be a big part of what I would be doing as the Earth Representative. I had settled into my new environment quite well, and I made a lot of new friends, who were happy to assist me with my language skills, and any other information that I needed to know. When it was time for me to return home to Earth, I was fairly drained of energy with so much information crammed into my brain, as well as the additional physical and practical training, which included experiencing travelling in a shuttlecraft, firstly as a passenger, then as an observer out front in the cockpit.

When it came time to return to Earth, I said farewell to all my new friends before I was teleported back to the same location that I left from, where it was the early evening, on the far side of the footbridge, and soon realised that I was not fully alone, as I heard voices approaching from the direction of the nearby golf course, so I quickly dashed off looking for a place to hide. “I tell you Hob, I saw the light come straight down from the sky, lasting for only a few seconds and landed just near the edge of the cliff over there,” I heard one voice say.

“You are starting to sound a bit like some of the guys in my tutorial group with their alien and UFO conspiracy theories, a second voice said, which sounded familiar as two figures appeared from the hiking path. By now I had jumped down onto the rocks and hidden beneath the bridge to stay out of sight as footsteps came closer, as they crossed the bridge as I listened to them discussing the light, before continuing towards the trail end 400 metres away.