First up I would strongly suggest that if you haven't read the earlier chapters please do so before reading this one, it will explain a lot of things...
Now, enjoy. BB1212
*****
Androger looked at me and frowned.
"Why are you back in your uniform?" he asked. I could have told him that I wanted to preserve the glorious scent of Infannzin that was now infused in the Darnier jacket, but I didn't.
"There's going to be some pretty pissed off people on that island," I suggested, "and I will need to keep them in check."
"And it won't help if you look like you've had an easy time of it," he said. I nodded. He looked at me again.
"You don't look like you got a lot of rest," he observed.
"No," I agreed cheerfully, "I was up all night." Androger looked like he was going to say something, but then he decided not to.
Travelling with the President was simple. We didn't have any safety checks at all and there was no waiting anywhere. As soon as the limo got to the airport we boarded the sumptuously furnished green aircraft and took off for Hinchlet.
Air travel back then had finally been fully automated. They had replaced air traffic controllers with computers, and the entire mess of coming and going was all sorted out by failsafe triple redundant computer systems. The computer could see and control all aircraft and it continuously sent them flight instructions that took into account their fuel supply, flight comfort rating, what connections the passengers needed to make, and the priority of the flight. There still was a pilot aboard, but that was just as an observer, they didn't actually fly the machine.
Anyway, the Presidential aircraft automatically had the top priority, so we took off immediately and had a dead straight flight path at the optimum altitude and everyone else just deviated slightly to get out of our way without ever knowing it.
The green aircraft were brand new back then, they had been introduced while the Mayflower was away, and they were the first version of the ACC packages that are still used in their fiftieth odd generation today. A guy with the unfortunate name of Wing Wong had invented an aircraft propulsion system that effectively reversed the effect of climate change by creating their own emissions that were completely inert, except for the bit that dissolved some of the excess greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. This basically reversed the environmental impact of the earlier human bad habits such as burning fossil fuels and de-forestation.
This generation of technology lasted for about twenty years until the scientists realised that the effect of the engines had become too much, and if we kept going we were going to trigger global cooling and another ice age. Then Wing Wong's team of scientists came up with the full ACC concept. Of course everyone knows about Adaptable Climate Control now, but back then the concept of having an engine reduce greenhouse gasses for part of a journey and increase them for another part, depending on the conditions where they were at the time was just unbelievable. But they made fantasy into reality and we enjoy the stable climate we have today because those guys had the vision hundreds of years ago.
But none of that bothered me on that flight. My first ride in a green aircraft and the Presidential aircraft was spent first making the suggestion that we take ample food and medical supplies, something I was told they had already arranged, and then within minutes I was sleeping in the luxurious recliner. I had some serious catching up to do.
Hinchlet was a former military base which looked like it had been disused for some time. But the landing patch was spotless, and one building was totally clean. The rest was covered in a depressing thick layer of dust. It was sad to see, but I did have the glimmer of an idea as I looked around at the huge area and the plentiful buildings. This could possibly become the home of the Inter Galactic Navy.
We rode a transfer platform to the Mayflower shuttle, and I was relieved to see that it looked like it had either been well maintained, or given a very thorough clean up in half a day since we had said we wanted to use it. Either way it looked good. Rickson introduced me to the base caretaker.
"Josh Scabbard, this is Freed Isley, he looks after the base these days, and he can answer any questions you have in regard to the shuttle."
"Pleased to meet you Commander Scabbard," Freed said. He was a tall man who held himself straight. Ex-military I guessed.
"Hi Freed, please call me Josh," I said, returning a firm handshake. He nodded and smiled, and then got down to business.
"The shuttle is ready to go when you are sir," he said quickly, "she was off world last week and the drives are full, the nav computer has the destination co-ordinates pre-set, we have four hundred instant meals, two bricks of water and ten emergency response medical packages on board. There is also a search and rescue pack." I nodded. "Do you wish to check the supplies sir?" he asked.
"Have you checked them yourself?" I asked.
"Yes sir," he said.
"That's good enough for me," I said, because the man gave an impression of total efficiency. He smiled.
"Who is coming with us?" I asked Rickson.
"Grof, my pilot, six bodyguards, you, Androger, his crew of two and me," he replied. I nodded, the smaller the group the more people we could take out on the first lift.
"Where are we going to take them all?" I asked.
"We've set up a triage point at an old hospital in Johannesburg with fifty booths and a full crew of medical technicians," Rickson said, "They will get examined and treated for anything that they need. There is also a fully stocked cafeteria and bar."
"How about clothes?" I asked.
"Clothes?"
"They have been marooned on an inhospitable island for seven months with just one uniform each. What condition will that be in now?" I asked. Rickson nodded and spoke into his interface.
"Clothing required at the hospital for all personnel," he said quickly, and then he grimaced, "expect them to have lost a lot of weight," he added.
This was not going to be a pleasant day.
Grof and I sat in the cockpit.
"Do you have experience in anything like this?" I asked him.
"I took her from Hvaast Square to here originally," he replied, "and I've been taking her off world at least once every month. She handles well."
"Yes," I replied, "er, thanks for looking after her, she has saved my life more than once."
Grof nodded. He rarely spoke unless spoken to, but he did have the air of competence that you would expect from the President's personal pilot. I felt comfortable with him as my co-pilot.
"Let's go," I said, and the shuttle was airborne less than twenty minutes after the green jet had touched down.
As we flew Rickson and Androger came to stand behind us, keen to know about the craft. Neither of them had ever been off world, so the shuttles true capabilities were not readily apparent to them. To show what she was capable of I told them the story of how we had practiced using the pressure portal to pick up people drifting in space, and how that had enabled us to escape from YW4597 by riding the reverse gravity. They were particularly interested in how I had managed to build an A5K from spares and how we had utilised that to cripple the YW's and to make our escape.
"Is it still on board I wonder?" asked Rickson, and I pointed him at the panel that had concealed it.
"Take that panel off and we will know," I suggested, but he shook his head.
"Better not to know yet," he said, "you can hand it in if you find it after this mission." I nodded. I had to trust him more after that, he knew there might be a weapon on board that was powerful enough to take him and his security team out, and he chose not to neutralise it.
As we neared our destination the nav system automatically tried to divert us away, and it wasn't until after Grof entered the Presidential identifier code that we were able to move in closer. The island finally appeared under us just one hour and forty-five minutes after we had left Hinchlet. I had taken the shuttle up to a height that no other aircraft operating at the time could reach and then I might have broken the speed limit just a little bit. Not being a commercial aircraft I still had control, not the computers on the ground.
From a distance it looked like a lot of the images from travel promotions. It was a reasonably large island that was flat at one end and rose steeply into mountains at the other. It was mostly ringed by sandy beaches with some sheer rock cliffs at the mountainous end. Trees covered about eighty percent of the lower areas, and there were a few open grassy expanses. I chose the largest of those to land in, but as we approached I saw some simple structures there and diverted to the next one.
As we got closer I saw some people looking up at us, and soon they started heading purposely in the direction we were going in. I breathed a sigh of relief; at least there were survivors, but how many?
"How do you suggest we do this?" Androger asked. I thought for a moment.
"I'll land in the middle of the clearing," I replied, "and you all stay on board for safety. Grof will have the controls in case you need to get away quickly."
"Do you really think it will be that bad?" Rickson asked. He sounded a bit nervous.
"No," I said simply, "but we have to be careful." The senior bodyguard nodded his approval.
I'll give the Mayflower crew full points for preparation. They converged on the clearing but the majority of them stayed behind cover at the edge. Eight groups of two people armed with crude clubs and bows moved into the clearing and approached the shuttle from different directions. All of those advancing toward us were women, and all were clothed in ragged uniforms and animal skins. They were darkly tanned. I took about twenty steps towards one group, and then I stopped and held my hands up to show I wasn't armed.
"It's Josh Scabbard," I shouted, "and we've come to set you free."
I could see the approaching women stare intently at me, but they were obviously still suspicious. Then there was a squeal of excitement from my left and one of the women was running toward me.
"Josh," she cried out.
"Keisha," I replied, recognising her at last, and I turned to meet her.
