Give Me the Man Pt. 09

"Then they'll know we're married now. I wonder if that will affect their relationship," Leara said musingly.

"We'll know soon enough, but when this conflict is over, assuming we survive it, we'll go back to the library at Landing and check the old records, there may be something relevant."

The next few minutes were busy, as Ardan carefully landed the flyer and he and Leara stepped down. Unusually, it was the female keeta that approached him, and the male, Leara. The two big cats lowered their heads in what might be taken for a bow, then the cats changed places, settling to their bellies on the ground, alert, watchful.

"I think we've just been congratulated on our marriage," said Leara, her eyes sparkling.

"You could well be right, I'm sensing agreement," said Ardan. He laughed. "That seems almost normal, from what we know of them."

They spent about an hour with the cats, relaxed, at ease for the moment, then Ardan stood.

"Sorry, my friends, time for us to go. We'll try to get back to see you soon, but in the meantime, be safe." He and Leara clambered back onto the flyer and a minute or to later the flyer lifted off and he aimed it towards the Vilna Station camp. They had only gone about three klicks when the communicator sounded, but it wasn't any of the others, no this was another voice, the Ha'aran clear but strangely accented.

"Please land. We wish to talk to you."

"Who are you?"

"Look behind you."

Ardan and Leara spun round, and gasped. Behind them was another flyer, but like none they'd seen before. Almost twice the length of the Terran flyer they were using, the other flyer was enclosed, with stubby wings.

"Please set down. I promise you there are no Falkonian flitters anywhere near, and even if there were, our weapons are formidable."

"Land, Ardan," said Lea, "I have a good feeling about this."

"Setting down," he said, and landed the flyer on some open ground he estimated as big enough for both craft. He and Leara watched as the other flyer settled twenty paces away. They could see two figures at what they assumed were the controls, but couldn't make out any details as the glass was tinted. Settled, the hum coming from the other flyer diminished until it was felt more than heard.

After a few moments, a hatchway opened, a short boarding ladder appeared and two figures came out.

"Human, I think," said Leara."

"Agreed. Possibly Terran?"

"We'll soon know. Come on, let's go see what they want. Leave your weapon here, they don't appear to be armed." Leara moved towards the other figures and Ardan hastened towards her, taking her hand. They stopped about three paces from the two from the other flier, and the four of them studied each other.

The newcomers were both male and reassuringly human. One, youngish, in what was undoubtedly a uniform of some sort. The other, elderly, in civilian clothes, a light tunic over loose trousers tucked into half boots. The older man smiled.

"Greetings," he said, "it is good to stand on Ha'aran soil again. My name is Tan Criess and I was born here seventy-five years ago. After that stupid war between Ha'ar and the Terrans, when they left I went with them because I wanted to know about other worlds. I was only fifteen, my parents were dead -- a drowning accident, not the conflict -- and I had nothing to keep me here."

"So why have you returned?" said Ardan. "But let me introduce myself. I am Ardan Tearo, from Vilna Station and this is my wife, Leara. So, why?"

"The cache of weapons? On the Grey Tower?" Ardan nodded. "When it was opened a hidden transmitter sent a message to the nearest Terran outpost, and that message was forwarded to Terra Prime. We were sent to investigate. My companion is Colonel Beltan of the Federated Planets Navy. He cannot speak Ha'aran, at least not yet, which is partly why I am here. Our technicians are working on a translator but they only had me as a language source. Any assistance you can offer is welcome. But to the point. There is an armed cruiser, the Sirius, in orbit about the planet, on the opposite side of the orbit from the Alkonian vessel. As far as we know they are unaware of our presence here."

"And these invaders we have been fighting? They're Alkonians?"

"Actually, no. They're Besa'alans, mercenaries. The Alkonians don't do their own dirty work when they can have someone else do it for them."

"So how do we get rid of them?"

"That's why the Colonel is here. We seek to establish some form of permanent contact between our peoples. You may not know this, but Ha'ar was colonised by a colony vessel from Terra, with people wishing to establish a world of their own without interference from the world they left behind. Mostly I think they succeeded but as I was only fifteen when I left I may be seeing things optimistically."

"No, I think you're right. There has been no major conflict of any kind that I am aware of, and very few minor. Most disputes are settled by arbitration." Ardan grinned. "Sometimes prolonged and tedious arbitration. That said, our people have learned to fight back against these invaders." He grimaced. "But we don't know where they're landing their soldiers and fliers. If we knew that we might be able to hurt them."

"We can probably help you with that information, but first, the Colonel would like to make contact with your leaders."

"Who are probably prisoners at some project near or on the coast. We don't know, as our forces are limited and the invaders are too many. We have local leaders, my father for Vilna Station and Leara's mother for the Ansel Crossing people."

"That's a start, if the Colonel could meet them?"

"Not a problem, if you could follow us?"

"If you don't mind, the Colonel and I will travel with you, our shuttle can follow. I believe there is room to land it. Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment or two, I'll bring the Colonel up to date on the situation so far?"

"Of course," said Ardan, and he and Leara waited while Criess and the Colonel had a brief but intense discussion, of which Ardan and Leara understood nothing. Eventually Criess turned back to them. He smiled.

"Shall we go, then?"

The short flight back to Vilna Station took only a few minutes and there was obvious agitation at the sight of the new flyer, but Ardan and Leara, Criess and the colonel waited, and it was only a short wait before Gerlan arrived, accompanied by his regular lieutenant Anso Vel.

"Father," said Ardan, "may I introduce Tan Criess, a Ha'aran native who left here when he was only fifteen, and Colonel Beltan, from the Federated Planets Navy cruiser Sirius, presently in orbit."

Gerlan nodded to the two newcomers. "Gentlemen, welcome to Vilna Station. May I ask why you are here?"

"To aid you in getting rid of these invaders," said Criess. "From orbit we have observed that there are three groups of you using Terran weapons from the cache. You may not be aware, your son wasn't, but Ha'ar is a Terran colony, and as such is entitled to call on the Federation for assistance. The Sirius has been sent to ascertain what aid is best suited to the situation. We would like the leaders of the three groups using Terran weapons to meet with us to discuss the matter. Would this be possible?"

"We can have Fra Asolan, the Hinazi leader from Ansel Crossing, here in a little over an hour. It will take a little longer to get the Tanart's Hold people here, possibly two days. At least now that we have the communicators, we can speak to them directly. Our regular daily update contact is due in less than an hour, we can inform them of the situation then, and ask them to join us. Does the Colonel have anyone with him apart from you who needs to be involved?"

"On our shuttle, we have communication equipment which will give us both sound and images of the Colonel's associates and superiors." Criess grinned. "And we can keep it secret from the Alkonians and Besa'alans who have invaded you, so that they are not aware of our plans."

"Excellent," said Gerlan. "In the meantime, may we offer you gentlemen some refreshment?"

That's it for the moment, folks. Our Ha'aran friends must work out how best to take the fight to the invaders, which means I need to do some thinking! Part 10 will be along as soon as I can manage, but ill-health still slows me so don't hold your breath. Constructive criticism welcome, as always, and a vote would be welcome. Go on, it's only a couple of mouse clicks.