A
story between novels.
The
crew of the Defender had run afoul of the irritating, silly little con
man Jorono Cynes one time too many. He was supposed to be in custody for the
rest of his life, but somehow Cynes showed up in the middle of a shore leave
that was anything but relaxing.
Lt.
M'kar and Security Chief Decker were supposed to be guiding some of the ship's
children through a wilderness survival experience, but even though they were on
shore leave, they knew their duty. They had to deal with Cynes and get him back
into the hands of the authorities ASAP.
And
if they could have some fun and frighten the irritating little troublemaker
while they were at it, all the better.
Novella ebook available at Ye Olde Dragon Books and any online vendor.
“I’ve got an idea,” Chief Linguist Treinna Lore said,
coming into a meeting of the drac parents and other command crew who had
gathered after the latest intrusion.
The big draw of the planet Mendax was also a
factor in the problems the crew of the Defender were facing. The government
was desperate to become accepted as a member of the Alliance. They had thrown
out the welcome mat to prove their world would be a good tourist planet,
overflowing with natural resources. They treated Alliance diplomats and Fleet
personnel like royalty. That meant the Defender crew who were on shore
leave were given entire compounds for shore leave quarters, guaranteeing
privacy and palatial accommodations. However, that generous welcome mat included
refusing to screen anyone who wanted to come down to the planet, no matter how
much of a perpetual ruckus was caused by people who wanted to get their hands
on a drac. The “guaranteed privacy” of the compound they were currently meeting
in sometimes failed through sheer force of numbers seeking out the presence of
Fleet personnel. Even the most bumbling hunters could get lucky if there were
enough of them stumbling around.
“Does it include making friends with that ship
full of Ankuar that’s hovering at the outer orbital, and putting Security
uniforms on them until the crisis is over?” Med Tech Brea asked.
Her lemon-yellow drac, Boomer, let out a series
of chirps that certainly sounded like he was still irritated over the latest
attempt. A group of loud, garishly dressed tourists (Captain Arroyan referred
to them in her incident report as terrorists disguised as tourists) had broken
into the sprawling compound the Defender crew had been staying in until
two hours ago. This group of people worked on the assumption that if the dracs
couldn’t see, they couldn’t teleport. They had tried to throw large boxes over
the dracs. Boomer had shrieked fury and offended feelings. He had refused to be
separated from Brea ever since then, and she complied eagerly. Fiercely.
“No, but I’ll hold onto it as a secondary plan.” Treinna gestured at M’kar but wouldn’t meet her gaze. That was a bad sign. “The children have been begging M’kar to take them on a training campout,” she continued. “Ever since we returned to Mendax. That’s the easiest solution -- send them all away, send our dracs with them as guards, and impress on the entire ship’s complement of teacher dracs that they can’t come back to the ship until all the children come back. They might ignore us a lot of the time, but the teacher dracs are devoted to the children.”
“I would love to head out into the wilderness and investigate some of the local wildlife, try those rapid-riders, do a little bow hunting,” M’kar said. “Some of the older children need a really tough wilderness survival session before they head to Fleet Academy. Just one little problem. We’d be heading off with a huge group of children and all the gear we’d need to feed and shelter them for a dec of camping. What’s to stop the wannabes from realizing what we’re doing and just swooping down with a shuttle and doing some kidnapping?” She pointed at the white noise device sitting in the center of the room, which made it impossible for people with listening devices to hear their discussion.
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