IMAGINATION'S PLACE
FICTION
JOURNEY TO THE LIGHT
By; Speaker Gerald Polley
All rights reserved.
Chapter 33
They got down to the receiving bay. By the
time they got there the shuttles were landing. Fifty people filed
out and formed ranks. An officer came forward. "Greetings,
ma'am!" he snapped, "Commander Halsey, Republic space carrier
Virginia. I've brought you a compliment of space marshals.
Their commander would like to have words with you."
"Space marshals?" Carol muttered. She followed
the officer back to the formations. He took position in front of
his crewmen, and another officer stepped forward.
"Marshall Eastwood, ma'am! My officers and I
are at your service. We're recently formed. Our mandate is
to supervise relations between human colonists and human settlers, to
protect the interest of native races. We would be very honored
ma'am, if we could call our post Fort Carol. We would like to
station twenty ships on the asteroid if its commander will permit, and
keep twenty on the carrier, perhaps make more recruits here and build a
surface station. We would be honored, ma'am, if you would take a
badge and become our operations commander."
Carol stared at the young man, wide eyed.
After a moment she turned to the ship's commander. "Is there any
possibility," she asked, "that we could suspend operations on
construction of the space station to be left here and concentrate
instead, on building ships like these people use?"
"I don't see why not!" the commander snapped. "What are you using, son, super ion drive?"
"Yes sir!" the marshal answered.
'We could probably have ten ships ready in a couple
of months if we put everything we had to it," he continued to Carol.
"Good!" Carol snapped. "Now, young man," she continued, "do you have any reserve ships, any extra ones?"
"Oh, yes, ma'am!" the marshal answered. "We've got four back up ships in storage."
"Good!" Carol snapped. "I will accept your
proposal under the conditions that you train my husband and I to fly
them, and our craft be stationed here so if there is trouble I may join
you in the formation."
Now it was the young marshal's turn to be wide eyed.
"Well, of course, ma'am!" he finally managed. "If you wish to qualify
as a pilot that would be your prerogative. We have complete
training facilities on the carrier. If you have the aptitude we
could probably have you flight qualified in a month!"
"What do I do?" Carol asked.
The young man reached into the tote bag he was
carrying and pulled out a flat object that looked like a cell
phone. It had an emblem on it and under that the words "Republic
Space Marshall." "Just give your name and I.D. number," he
instructed, "and say 'Taking command Fortress Carol, Mars.'
It's your badge, ma'am. It contains all regulations, it can
advise you on all legal matters. It has a grade one synthetic
intelligence."
"Whoa!" Carol snapped. She made the pronouncement.
"Authorization accepted!" the badge announced.
"It will be a pleasure working with you, operations commander! On
duty you should have a uniform to which I can be attached. At present
your right breast pocket will be sufficient."
"Thank you!" Carol giggled. "Very polite!" She
put the badge away. "Well!" she managed, "I'm still an
astronomer. In my free time that will be my duty, but somehow I think I
should do this. Carrier commander!"
"Yes, ma'am!" the commander snapped.
"We've had some problems," Carol announced. "We're short some people."
"Yes, ma'am!" the commander put in. "We have
fifty extra personnel, volunteers ready to fill any gaps in your
operations."
"Excellent!" Carol praised. "We have found the balls
very handy. They have technical knowledge, and somewhere must
have some machinery. I'd like you to accept some of them into
your crew. I'm sure if you have a medic one of their doctors will
be very much appreciated. I will want personnel for a ground
station. The natives have offered us some land that I think will
be suitable in exchange for our friendship."
"Just as soon as you can send applicants," the
commander snapped, "we'll..." he suddenly stopped and was staring over
Carol's shoulder. She turned to see the winged being coming in,
accompanied by one of the crew.
"Something wrong?" Carol asked.
"The asteroid commander," the winged being explained,
"sent me over. He believes you should know the carrier was the last
ship we'll be able to assist in coming here. The mechanism that
allowed us to create passages has failed. It was only meant to
operate a short time. I'm trying to see if I might be able to fix it,
but I would not be too hopeful."
"Well, the assistance while we had it," Carol
sighed, "was much appreciated. Thank you for your report.
Marshall, this is one of the asteroid commander's modules that assists
him in his work. I'm afraid I've never gotten his name!"
"Haven't been given one!" the module remarked.
"The children call me Haven. I guess that's as good as anything."
"Yes!" the marshal answered, "Yes it is! Very
pleased to meet you!" He extended his hand. The winged being took
it and shook it.
"Very interesting custom!" he remarked. "My goodness! May I speak to one of your people?"
"Certainly!" the marshal snapped.
The winged being went over to one of the ranks,
pointed to one of the women, and motioned her forward. Without
hesitation she came out of the ranks and came to attention before
him. "What are the words to make them relaxed?" the winged being
asked.
"At ease!" the marshal snapped. The young woman immediately relaxed.
"There's something wrong," the winged being
announced. "Her pulse is very high, very rapid! I believe
her body temperature is a little high. I think she should go to
the hospital."
Would you be so kind as to escort her there?" her superior snapped.
"Certainly!" Haven replied, motioned the young woman forward, and led her off.
"Damn!" the marshal sighed, "My best damned pilot! Hope it's nothing serious!"
"Well!" Carol managed, "Why don't all of you enjoy
our recreation facility before you return to your ship? Tomorrow
somebody can take me over and start teaching me what I'm supposed to
do."
"I will assist you with any other duties in the
meantime," her badge announced from her pocket, "however, I think your
current physical condition should be made known, and that you would be
restricted from combat flying."
"What?" the marshal asked.
"I think it's saying I should tell you I'm pregnant!"
"Definitely!" the marshal snapped. "No flight
duty unless absolutely necessary! But I don't see where there'd be any
problem with training."
Carol bid everyone good day, went and checked some
readings, then went back to her quarters. She sat down at the
table and took out her badge. Knuckle looked at it.
"Republic Space Marshal's?" she giggled. "I think it ought to be
just Republic Marshal's."
"I agree!" Carol muttered. "Have to see how I submit a recommendation."
"It will go out in the next transmissions," her badge put in. "Anything else, commander?"
"No," Carol answered. The children were gathering, staring at the thing on the table.
"My goodness!" the badge remarked, "Could you stand
me up so I could admire this fine collection of humanity?"
Carol grabbed a phone stand. The badge was a little big for it, but it worked.
"What is this, ma'am?" Little Tin asked.
"You explain!" Carol told the badge.
"With delight!" it answered. It kept the
children entertained for some time. Some time later the winged
being came in.
"I was asked to make an official report," he
explained. "A splinter! It got infected. It will
require several days of treatment and bed rest. But there should
be no complications."
"Thank you for the report!" Carol praised.
"Please discuss with your commander the marshal's request to station
ships on the asteroid."
"He has already summoned your subordinate," the
winged being answered. "He will be glad for the support. We
have defensive systems but they are short range. Having the
fighters for distance defense would be appreciated. Your people
are very thoughtful!"
Carol smiled and the winged being headed off.
"I hate to mention this," the badge remarked, "but
disciplinary action for not reporting this injury and letting it get so
advanced might be necessary."
Carol sighed. "I don't think so," she
answered. "The humiliation she's now suffering should be quite
sufficient. But make a note of the incident in her record."
"Understood!" the badge answered.
Carol had to get some sleep. She wondered what
next. Somebody knew something. Something was going on. They
had sent these people to protect her. Carol wanted more.
Knowing how long it would take ships from earth to get here, she had a
while, several months at least. She intended to have more ships and
more pilots when whatever trouble was coming got here. She would
make sure it got a warm welcome!