Space Pioneer 1 - 9. Chapter 9

Ezer came to their suite the following morning. Lest apologized to him. Ezer made a dismissive gesture with his hand.

"Nothing to dwell on, Lest. You had a rough time. I know how a long stay in space can stress you out," he said.

Lest smiled briefly, but didn’t reply. He seized his bag instead.

"Ready, Jeff?" he asked. "We’ll be away for one day and one night."

They left the suite, went down to the hotel’s restaurant and had a quick breakfast.

"I’ve spoken with the director of the museum, Duff Alee," Ezer said. "We’ll store Jeff’s ship in a basement room that is not open to visitors. I arranged for a hover container size 3. It will be docked to the ship. I hope, Lest, you can hover Jeff’s ship into the container on your own. I don’t want the clerk of the container company see the cargo."

"We should manage this," Lest replied.

"How will we get the container into the basement of the museum?" Jeff asked.

"Same way," Ezer said. "A ramp leads down to the basement. It was built for this exact reason, transferring cargo down to the store rooms. Once the ship is inside, I will lock the room. Not even Duff will be able to open the door."

"You’ll have a personalized lock system installed?" Lest asked.

"Already have," Ezer said with a smile.

"When did you do this? It’s just about breakfast time," Lest said with surprise.

"I’m an early riser, always have been, you ought to know, Lest," Ezer replied.

"Yes, I remember," Lest said with a grin. He turned to Jeff. "Ezer was my practical trainer. We trained countless times when dawn was breaking. I hated it."

Ezer gave a laugh. "But you have become a good pilot, one of the best. A pity you turned your back on Daglon."

Lest’s grin disappeared. He frowned at Ezer.

Ezer raised his hand. "A good captain learns from his mistakes, else he won’t be a captain for long," he said.

"Right," Lest said curtly. He seized his cup and emptied it.

"You said you left Daglon twelve years ago," Jeff said despite Lest’s annoyance. "You were a pilot at the age of twenty?"

"Yes," Lest replied. "Pilot, navigator, and engineer."

"Our education system allows for it," Ezer explained. "Children start a specialized training at the age of ten. I was a pilot in the service of Daglon, but I was also a trainer. More a trainer than a pilot in my later years. The space flight school has an excellent reputation. 70% of the students are Daglon, 30% come from everywhere in space."

"Awesome," Jeff said. "I received a full training also, but I didn’t start at such a young age."

Ezer looked at Jeff with interest. Lest turned his head to him.

"You had a full training?" he asked.

"Yes," Jeff replied. "We were only four on our mission to Mars. If anyone dropped out for whatever reason, the others had to step in."

"Interesting," Ezer said. He placed his hands together and looked into the room thoughtfully.

"I would like to steer a ship again, but unfortunately I can’t. I don’t understand Daglon space technology. I feel I’m a complete beginner," Jeff said.

"Nonsense," Lest replied. "You steered a spaceship from Earth to Mars. You would have made it there and back, if I had not dragged you through space, that is."

"Lest was always looking for a risky maneuver," Ezer said. "It meant a lot of fun to him."

Lest gave a laugh. "Finished?" he asked. "We ought to go now, I think."

***

They went to the parking lot. The hover container had already arrived. It was hovering in the air and a man stood idly next to it. Lest instructed the man to dock the container to the ship and then he entered the cruise vessel and activated an onboard hover cargo facility. Jeff opened the security locks that kept his ship in the assigned place. It was a tiring work for only two men, but they finally managed to hover the Daidalos into the container. They undocked the container, Jeff and Lest left the cruise vessel and joined Ezer in the parking lot. The container was hovered to the museum. Duff Alee, the director of the museum was waiting for them.

"I heard you picked up some space oddity," the man said curiously.

"An old vessel floating in space," Lest replied. "I thought I’d take it to Daglon."

"We’ll lock the artifact up until I have more time to investigate it," Ezer said. "I fund this museum, Duff, and I personally pick the artifacts that I want to display."

"No need to worry, Honorable Malk, I assure you that nobody will see the ship,"

Duff Alee said, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

The man hastened after the container that was being hovered down the ramp.

"How was I?" Ezer asked. "A true prig and snob. I’m sure Duff won’t try to open the basement room."

Jeff’s spaceship was stored in the basement room and the room was locked. Ezer, Lest, and Jeff went back to the parking lot. Lest opened the hatch of the cruise vessel and they entered the ship.

"Off to the Beliad region," Ezer said, walking to the galley. "Let’s enjoy this trip."

"Enjoy yourself, Ezer. I must go to the cockpit and steer the ship," Lest said drily.

He left. Jeff looked after him and then turned back to Ezer.

"Go, Jeff," Ezer said, waving his hand. "I can occupy myself."

Jeff went into the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilots seat. For the first time since his rescue, he felt like a pilot again.

"Watch the systems, Jeff Caspar," Lest said with a nod.

"Copy that. Watch the systems," Jeff replied with a smile.

A couple of minutes later, ground control gave them clearance for takeoff. The cruise vessel took off and sped up.

Jeff looked at the controls. They were not entirely alien to him. He had seen similar controls on the Daglon warship and a few even reminded him of the Daidalos. An idea occurred to him. He focused on his neural implant and activated the language module that was connected with the Alliance database. The computer had shown him pictures in quick succession during his lessons and the software had associated words and context with them. Jeff wondered if it worked the other way round also. He focused on the displays and the implant at the same time.

"It’s absolutely great," Jeff said.

"What?" Lest asked, looking over.

"I’ve connected to the database," Jeff explained. "It kind of translates what I see. I’m beginning to understand what the displays are there for. I fed the database with Earth context during the lessons on your ship. The database now feeds back to me, in a sense. I’m beginning to understand."

"Very good," Lest replied with a nod. "We should continue to work with this concept."

They arrived at a small airport in the Beliad region three hours later and touched down. The ship rolled down a runway and came to a halt.

"All systems out," Lest said, unstrapped and rose to his feet.

Jeff unstrapped and stood also. They found Ezer sleeping in a chair in the lounge. Lest patted the man’s shoulder. Ezer looked around drowsily.

"Oh," he said. "I think I missed all the flight. What time is it?"

"Late in the afternoon," Lest replied.

"Well, the men should be here already," Ezer said, moving towards a window. "Yes, they’re waiting outside. Lest, can you establish a connection with the hovercraft over there?"

"Do you have a direct line code?" Lest asked.

"Yes, try 77854," Ezer said.

Lest went back into the cockpit to establish a connection. Ezer followed him while Jeff remained in the lounge. A couple of minutes passed, then the hovercraft was hovering towards their ship. Ezer and Lest came back into the lounge. Lest’s face showed a frown. Jeff gave him a questioning look, but Lest ignored him.

"We’ll move on with the hovercraft. An Ephos cruise vessel in the place with the cemetery would attract unwanted attention," Ezer said.

The smaller vehicle docked to their ship. Two men came over and greeted Ezer respectfully. Ezer introduced his friends to Lest and Jeff. The men didn’t ask questions. They had apparently been instructed earlier. They transferred the caskets to the smaller ship. The vehicle undocked. They all climbed into it and the hovercraft left the airport. Ezer’s friends steered the vehicle, the other men were seated in the cabin. None of them spoke for a while.

"Who are these men?" Jeff asked finally.

"Friends of mine," Ezer said. "Combat veterans. They fought also in that unfortunate war twelve years ago. I told them that Lest quit the job. They fought to the end, but believe me, they do understand him. They can relate to your feelings, Lest, and they understand that you want to take your fallen comrades home, Jeff. I didn’t tell them more, because I didn’t want to make up a lie, but they asked no questions. They are honest men."

They reached the cemetery. The hovercraft stopped and Ezer’s friends joined them in the cabin.

"Let’s get this done professionally," Ezer said. He turned to Lest and Jeff. "You’ll stay on board of the hovercraft while we’re arranging things."

Jeff protested, but Lest placed his hand on his arm. "Calm, Jeff," he said. "Let them do what needs to be done."

Ezer and his friends got off the vehicle. Jeff moved to the window and looked out.

"What are they doing?" he asked.

"They’re letting the caskets down," Lest replied.

"What?" Jeff exclaimed, turning around and heading for the hatch. "They can’t just let them down. I want a proper funeral."

"Wait," Lest called out, hurrying after him. He seized Jeff’s arm.

"Let me go!" Jeff shouted and fought with Lest, but Lest shoved him back into the ship.

Jeff slumped down in a seat. "I want an explanation," he exclaimed.

"This place is a military operation place," Lest said. "Ezer pulled a few strings. We have no official permission to be here and no one will find out, if all is done quickly."

"Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Ezer promised a proper funeral. Why did you make up a lie?" Jeff shouted.

"Ezer informed me on the change of operation only a short while ago when he joined me in the cockpit. I cannot do anything about it," Lest said. "We’re here undercover. We must play along."

Lest walked to the window. Half an hour went by. They didn’t exchange a word until the men came back. Jeff jumped from his seat.

"That’s not how we had discussed it," he shouted.

"We’re in a hurry, Jeff. We must not stay here for long," Ezer replied shortly. "Come now, I will show you to the burial place."

They left the hovercraft. Ezer showed Jeff to a place with a willow tree.

"If you want to stay here for a couple of minutes...," Ezer started.

"Yes, please," Jeff interrupted him. "I need a couple of minutes to gather my thoughts and say a proper farewell to my friends."

"Certainly," Ezer replied. "We will be waiting by the hovercraft. Just don’t take too long."

Jeff nodded curtly. He would have liked to punch Ezer in the face and he guessed that his emotions showed clearly. Ezer walked back to the hovercraft. Jeff looked at the burial place.

"We’ve come a long way," he said. "Who would have guessed it would end like this?"

"They’ll venture into the unknown and the unknown holds no fears for them. I wish them good luck on their journey and I hope that we will meet again," Lest said.

He had approached Jeff silently. Jeff turned to him. Tears showed in the corner of his eyes. Lest took Jeff’s hand and squeezed it.

"This is not right," Jeff said.

"No, it is not," Lest replied. "We’ll come here again and make it right. We’ll come here at dawn and not at dusk. We’ll come here when the sun is rising and the birds are singing and are greeting the break of the morning. We’ll come here again, not undercover, but as free and honorable men. Promised, Jeff Caspar."

He drew back his hand and patted Jeff’s shoulder. "Come now, let’s go back," he said.

Ezer and his friends were waiting in front of the hovercraft. Jeff looked at Ezer and was shocked at the contemptuous grin on the man’s face. Ezer instantly turned his eyes away. The men entered the hovercraft.

The ride back was not a pleasure. They sat in silence, the atmosphere was tensed. The hovercraft finally arrived at the airport and the men got off the vehicle.

"All right, let’s go to the airport hotel," Lest said.

"No, we won’t stay for the night in the Beliad region. We’ll fly back to Amun at once," Ezer commanded.

"What?" Lest asked. "That’s not how we planned it."

"No discussions, Captain Lest. You’ll follow my command," Ezer said arrogantly.

Lest protested again, but Ezer ignored him. Jeff looked uncomfortably between the men. Finally, Lest gave in and followed Ezer. He motioned to Jeff to come along. They entered the cruise vessel and Lest went into the cockpit without a word. Ezer sat down in a seat in the lounge, leaned back and closed his eyes. Jeff joined Lest in the cockpit. Ground control gave them clearance for take-off. They sat silently all through the flight. Lest looked grimly ahead. It was close to midnight when they arrived at Amun. They left the ship and Ezer told Lest and Jeff that he would travel on the very night. The man hurried towards the air taxi stand without a proper goodbye. Lest and Jeff were entirely perplexed.

"This isn’t right. This is not how we discussed it," Lest said angrily.

"Yes, I fear that something is going very wrong," Jeff replied.

***