31 "Affirmative, Commander! " came a soft
response. "Pleased to receive your greetings. Is all well?"
32 "Affirmative," North replied. "I'll be coming aboard in a few
minutes."
33 "Very well," the ship responded. "The second and third are waiting
at the docking hatch now. I will be pleased to see you, Commander."
34 "I am very pleased already, to see you!" thought North. "Ceasing
transmission."
35 "Transmission ceasing," the ship acknowledged.
36 "It feels so strange," North explained to the Officer with him, "Yet
it's kind of pleasant knowing that you're in constant contact with your
vessel, something no one else on the ship has, not even the second and
third."
37 "There can be only one Commander on a ship," explained the other
officer, "only one person to whom the ship should respond."
38 The cutter was turning around facing the cruiser, and approaching
slowly as its only docking hatches were on the bottom, the cutter
slowly rolled over and approached the cruiser until their hatches
touched and locked.
39 By this time, North and the cutter Commander were standing outside
the airlock. The outer doors opened and when all the lights were green
the inner ones swung open, too.
40 North shook the shuttle Commander's hand. "Thanks for a good trip!"
he complimented, "and, congratulations on that promotion. I hope that
destroyer is a nice one."
41 North entered the lock. When he hit the zero gravity zone it was
second nature to flip over. So he landed upright in the other ship. He
looked up and waved one more time to the Officer who had quickly become
a friend. Then North turned to meet the Officers of his crew. They
snapped to attention as the airlocks closed.
42 "Commander Northern Star?" announced a tall, lean man, "I'm Blazing
Comet, and this is your First Medical Officer, and the old man of The
Fleet, Doc Astra."