‘All good I hope?’ James replied.
Gulino placed his arm around Frasin’s waist.
‘We’ve just come from the viewing area.’
‘That’s where we’re heading next,’ Londuo said, glancing over at James. ‘So don’t give too much away. I want it to be a surprise.’
‘You won’t be disappointed, James,’ Gulino said.
‘I’ve just been showing James your fighter, Frasin,’ Londuo said.
‘They’re going to withdraw it from service, if they can’t sort the stabiliser problem out,’ Frasin said.
‘What’s the problem?’ Londuo asked.
‘It’s got a tendency to roll slowly,’ Frasin replied. ‘I have to concentrate constantly to keep it under control.’
‘Who’s been assigned to it?’ Londuo asked.
‘Peiton,’ Frasin replied.
‘If he can’t fix it, then no one can,’ Gulino said.
‘He will,’ Londuo replied. ‘In fact; I’d say he’s almost finished it. I noticed he has already reconfigured the alignment nozzles.’
James noticed Frasin give Gulino a prod in the ribs, making him jump.
‘We’ll leave you two alone now,’ Gulino said, looking at Frasin.
She nodded and smiled. As they walked away, Gulino looked back.
‘Oh! Londuo! Our mission briefing will be in the Ferdol room tomorrow morning,’ he said.
‘Thanks,’ Londuo replied. ‘We need to go this way,’ she said to James.
They exited the launch bays through another large blast door, which was also guarded, and preceded down a long corridor.
James could see long lines of rectangular windows to the right-hand side. As he approached the first, he peered through it.
What place is that?
Directly below him, he could see the top of a frigate, and in the distance the rear of the
Aurora
was just visible.
Ah, it must be the internal docking bay.
‘That’s incredible,’ he remarked.
‘It’s still nothing compared with what you’re about to see,’ Londuo replied.
‘Why carry other ships?’ James asked, while they walked. ‘I mean, I know the
Lonori
is a carrier, but there are others travelling alongside us, so why carry ships inside?’
‘Speed!’ Londuo replied. ‘The ships you see here have smaller event horizon drives, which can only achieve Q1.5, so the carrier transports them to where they’re needed. Cruisers and destroyers are also able to carry up to two frigates or assault ships by securing them to the hull.’
Looking at the several ships in the internal docking bay, James said,
‘They don’t look as damaged as the other ships I’ve seen.’
‘Ships that size, with the exception of the
Aurora
of course, can’t take a lot of damage and are destroyed very easily. They’re either in perfect condition or in a million pieces, I’m afraid.’
‘Why use them, then?’
‘Well, the assault ships are the largest we have that are capable of entering a planet’s atmosphere. We use them to move large pieces of hardware, supplies and personnel between the ships and any ground base we set up. They are not armed, unlike the frigates.’
‘I assume the frigates are used in combat, then?’
‘Most definitely. The targeting range of a destroyer is far greater than that of a frigate, but the frigates are very manoeuvrable and are used at close quarters to attack larger ships, especially now they’ve all been extensively modified to carry more firepower than a destroyer.’
James was surprised.
Londuo continued,
‘They have five plasma torpedo tubes located along the port and starboard sides, two at the front and two at the rear, as well as a defence matrix.’
‘A bit like an old galleon,’ James remarked.
‘Galleon?’ Londuo looked puzzled.
‘They were ships used at sea on Earth, from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries,’ James said. ‘You mentioned cruisers, but I haven’t seen any. I assume they’ve all been destroyed.’
He noticed Londuo’s expression dull, as she walked.
‘Yes they have been,’ she replied, her voice was sadder. ‘All except the
Vornosio
were destroyed during the attack on Qintaino.’
‘What’s wrong, Londuo?’ James asked.
She looked up.
‘Nothing.’
Must have been something I said about the cruisers
, he thought and then said,
‘There’s something wrong, isn’t there?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it; sorry,’ Londuo replied.
I’ve definitely mentioned something that’s upset her.
‘The viewing area’s just down here,’ Londuo said, managing a smile, before she stopped. ‘Close your eyes,’ she said, holding out her left hand.
James gripped Londuo’s hand gently and shut his eyes.
‘Don’t open them until I say, will you?’ Londuo said.
‘I won’t. I trust you,’ James replied and then thought,
I wonder what she’s going to show me.
Londuo led him slowly into the viewing area and up to a handrail, just in front of the thick glass. She placed each of his hands on the handrail.
It’s cold, feels like metal,
James thought.
Shall I take a peek? No.
‘Are you ready?’ Londuo asked.
‘Yes,’ James replied and smiled in anticipation.
‘You can open them now,’ she said.
James stood in silence for a moment.
‘Wow,’ he said, gazing outside the
Lonori
. ‘That’s unbelievable.’
He could see a destroyer travelling less than fifty metres away, parallel to the
Lonori
. The light of the passing stars softened its huge bulk and the front appeared to be sparkling where space debris was hitting it. Occasionally, both ships banked together, the destroyer lifting or falling when they turned. The light of the stars constantly changed the tones and shadows made on its hull.
‘That’s an amazing sight,’ James said. ‘I feel like I could reach out and touch it.’
He could tell Londuo was pleased.
‘Which destroyer is it?’ James asked.
He read the name ‘
Nanopila’
ahead of the fighter bays.
‘The
Yemolopila
,’ she replied. ‘If you look near the front of it
,
you will see they have a similar viewing area.’ Londuo pointed out. ‘Look, there are four people watching us from there.’
James peered towards the front of the
Yemolopila.
‘Oh, yes, I can see them now.’
He felt overwhelmed by the view, and turning to Londuo said,
‘Thanks for showing me this and for helping me, since I’ve been here.’
He paused a moment.
‘I enjoy being here with you.’
Londuo looked uneasy.
‘I don’t know how to say this, James… Deep inside, I feel I’ve known you for a long time...’ She looked at him. ‘That moment on Qintaino when I first saw you, it was like it was meant to be.’
James stared at her.
‘It felt like I was meeting you again,’ Londuo added.
‘It’s funny you should mention that!’ James replied.
‘I’m sorry. Forget I ever said it.’ Londuo looked embarrassed.
‘No, what I mean is, I feel as though I’ve met you before somewhere. I seem to remember your eyes; they’re so distinctive.’
Londuo placed her hand on top of his.
‘James! Have you ever thought about being old?’
‘What do you mean?’ James answered perplexed.
‘How it would feel to be old,’ Londuo replied.
‘No, I’ve never really thought about it. Why?’
‘Because I don’t think I’m going to live long enough to be old.’
Londuo sounded sad.
‘Why would you think that?’
‘The war; the Treitans; the never-ending battles; the running, hiding; everything,’ Londuo said. ‘I mean, how am I going to be able to get old? One day I’ll make a mistake in battle or be in the wrong place and then I’ll die.’
‘Don’t talk like that, Londuo,’ James said in a concerned voice.
‘But it’s true. How many old people do you see?’
‘I don’t know! Haven’t noticed,’ James replied and then thought,
why is she thinking like this?
‘That’s because there aren’t many. People die before they get old, James.’
James shook his head and looked into her eyes.
‘I don’t know what to say, Londuo. I haven’t thought of dying young.’
‘Well I think about it every day.’
James’ eyes suddenly widened.
‘Your eyes! Now I remember where I’ve seen those eyes before. It was back on Earth, the day my mother died, when I met the old woman at the cottage. Her eyes were the same as yours.’
He paused and thought for a moment.
‘But that’s not possible… Couldn’t be.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Londuo looked puzzled.
‘Sorry Londuo, I’m not making sense, am I? Forget what I just said; it must be just a coincidence.’
They stood for a moment in silence. James looked into Londuo’s eyes. He wanted to kiss her but was uncertain. And then the moment had gone. A crew member entered the room and Londuo turned away quickly.
I should have just done it. I’m sure she was waiting for me to kiss her. Look, she’s trying not to laugh.
That evening in Londuo’s quarters onboard the
Lonori
, Londuo was sitting with James at a desk in her room, which was similar to a large cabin onboard an ocean liner. On the desk, equipped with a console and a monitor, there were three holographic notepads and two empty cups.
It feels like I’ve known him years. Why is that?
Londuo thought, as she watched James writing on a holographic notepad.
He’s also different to anyone else I know. I think that must be why I like him so much. People here have been brought up during the war, and that has made everyone so cold and hard inside. He’s different; shy and more sensitive.
She thought back to yesterday.
I think he wanted to kiss me in the viewing area.
‘What do you think?’ James asked Londuo, showing her a notepad he had written on.
Londuo with a delayed reaction said,
‘Oh, sorry, I was miles away,’ and then looking at the notepad added. ‘The alphabet you used on Earth is remarkably similar to ours. All letters look the same except these two characters. What are they?’
James leant over.
‘That’s Z and C.’
Sed and See! Very odd,
Londuo thought.
I wonder if he’ll try and kiss me again.
Londuo turned on the console and pressed some symbols on the lit keyboard.
‘It’s now configured as a full character set,’ she said.
‘I could use that all right,’ James replied. ‘It’s not a QWERTY keyboard, but I’m not a touch typist, anyway.’
‘Qwerty?’ Londuo said.
‘It’s the name of the most standard English keyboard, on Earth,’ James said. ‘The start of the top row of letters would spell out the word ‘QWERTY’.
‘In that case ours would be called a LERHDA.’
‘Sounds more like a disease.’
‘And yours sounds like a cough!’ Londuo replied and laughed.
She noticed James smiling at her, watching her as she laughed.
I haven’t been this happy for a very long time
, she thought, before saying.
‘Right, let’s move on to the difficult part.’
She pressed a symbol to the side of the main keys. The console changed to show a set of symbols.
‘Onboard military and science ships we use a number of different configurations of keyboards. Each symbol in each configuration can represent a word or complete instruction. You’re going to ask why, aren’t you?’
‘It had crossed my mind,’ James replied.
‘How long would it take you to type into the computer, “CLOSE BLAST DOOR SIX”?’
‘I’d ask Kalrea,’ James said.
‘James, I’m trying to be serious,’ Londuo replied, before thinking,
he’s trying to tease me.
‘With this unfamiliar keyboard, at least thirty seconds,’ James said.
‘And if each word was a symbol on the keyboard?’
‘Probably under half that time,’ James replied. ‘I could stick little labels on top of the symbols so I know what they are.’
Londuo shook her head.
I’m going to ignore that
, she thought and then said,
‘That’s the principle of it. Each symbol or combination of symbols can represent a word. The configuration of the keyboard you see now is called “scientific console” and contains symbols used for computations, various system checks and management of basic functions on the ship. There are several other keyboard configurations. For example, we have a command console, which has single symbols on it, to perform navigation functions and a combat console to control the weapons systems. These consoles allow us to save precious time, which can make all the difference in combat.’
‘If we had twenty or thirty arms, like I hear a Treitan has, then it wouldn’t be a problem,’ James remarked.
‘I give up,’ Londuo said, sitting back in her chair. ‘You’re impossible.’
She crossed her arms and turned her head away from him.
Right, now I am going to see his reaction if I pretend to be angry at him
, she thought.
James looked uneasy.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.’
Londuo sat in silence, waiting for more of a reaction from James.
I’m no good at this. There’s no way I can keep this up.
Her smile widened.
‘Got you! I wasn’t angry, I was just teasing you,’ she chuckled and quickly got up. ‘Would you like another drink?’
‘Yes, thanks,’ he replied.
Londuo walked into the kitchen area.
‘What was Earth like?’ she asked, looking back to James.
‘It’s funny that. While I was there I took it for granted.’
James paused.
‘A bit like everyone else there, I suppose. It’s a wonderful planet. The countryside is very similar to Brinoli.’
James went on to describe the cottage and where he lived on Earth.
She interrupted him to ask what he wanted to drink:
‘Loip or Moip?’
‘I already tried the Loip, so I think I’ll have the Moip this time, please.’
Londuo continued to listen to James talking about his life on Earth.
Sounds an interesting place,
she thought.
Londuo entered the room carrying two glasses.
‘Now that I think back, I miss it,’ James said. ‘I feel homesick, even though it’s not my real home.’
‘You were brought up there,’ Londuo said. ‘It’s your home.’
James smiled and nodded.
‘I suppose it is.’
‘James, will you do something for me?’ Londuo said, passing him his glass.
I hope he won’t mind me asking. I want to know more about him.
‘Of course, Londuo. What is it?’
‘Will…’ She was feeling nervous. ‘Will you teach me that Earth language of yours, and tell me more about how you lived there?’
‘Why would you want to learn the Earth language?’
‘I don’t know. I mean... I feel I’d know you better if I understand more about your life on Earth.’
‘I think that my life on Earth was pretty boring compared with yours. However, if you are so interested, I will tell you about my past,’ he said, with a large grin. ‘But if you’re going to ask questions about me, then I would like to know more about you too.’
‘All right!’ Londuo replied.
She felt relieved, and a smile grew on her face.
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Okay, where were you brought up, Londuo?’
Where do I start,
she thought before saying.
‘I was only nine sykals old when the Treitans attacked us, so I was too young to remember our life on Qintaino. After we escaped, I spent over twelve sykals growing up here,’ she said, glancing around.
‘What? On the
Lonori
?’ James replied.
‘Oh, there were hundreds of children onboard. The corridors were our playground. Daivl, Kliaro and Frasin were my closest friends. We’d sometimes sneak Siom, my kiol, out for a while; however, we weren’t supposed to, because pets were confined to our quarters. We were always hiding him from the adults; well, that was until we got caught.’
Londuo sat down in the sofa and sipped her drink.
‘We used to hide him behind the access panels. There was always one close by, but that day when we opened it up, he’d disappeared. He had wandered off down one of the ducts. We searched everywhere, all the access panels for five sections and levels in every direction. We couldn’t find him.’
‘What happened to him?’
‘The next day we got in serious trouble. He turned up in the commander’s quarters at the other end of the ship. I still can’t work out how he travelled there.’
Speaking about her childhood made Londuo feel happy, and her face beamed.
‘Being onboard the
Lonori
was a great adventure, but we were too young to understand why we were on a ship or what was happening to us.’
Londuo paused for a moment while she drank.
‘Of course, when I got older, the reality of our situation slowly dawned. The first battle with the Treitans I can remember was as a child aged sixteen sykals. We engaged six of their heavy cruisers. I was in school at that time when the alarms sounded.’
‘School!’ James said. ‘How did they manage to teach all of you?’
‘With great difficulty, at first. They converted six rooms in the communal area for the younger children. My classroom was next to the DINER BESORI, up on the balcony. The older children had to travel to one of the destroyers.
‘I’ll always remember my first journey, on a shuttle, over to my classroom onboard the destroyer
Thardopila
. I hadn’t realised how big the
Lonori
was. It was like a city in space. Every day, I couldn’t wait to get on that shuttle. I loved it out there.’
‘What about the battle?’
‘The battle… Oh, yes. Where was I? I was together with the other kids watching the battle from the forward viewing area. The Treitans didn’t stand a chance, not against the whole of our task force. I felt so proud, watching our ships. I was captivated by the fighting, the sight of the volley of plasma torpedoes, when our ships fired. The fighters gliding into the distance… They didn’t get close enough to hit any of our ships. In my eyes, at that time, we were invincible.’
Londuo paused and thought.
‘Even back then, I remember wanting to be a fighter pilot.’
‘So they spent all that time trying to find a planet to make a base on?’ James asked.
‘We did stop at various planets during that period but only some of the children were allowed down to the surface. I was nineteen sykals old, when I was finally allowed down onto a planet called Sonap, located in the Omil system.’
Londuo sipped her drink, before continuing,
‘It was the first time I could remember seeing plants, wild animals; oh, and those incredible twilight star bursts. It was more than I could ever have dreamt of. The green countryside was so beautiful.’
That’s when everything changed
, she thought. Londuo suddenly felt sad. She could see James looking concerned.
He can see it in my eyes
, she thought and then said,
‘Two days later, we lost our last cruiser, the
Vornosio
.’
She took a deep breath.
‘I’ve never talked about this with anyone before, James. It was the saddest day of my life.’
Londuo’s eyes became glazed. She looked up at James. He got up from the chair and sat alongside her.
This is going to be hard, but I want him to understand.
Londuo compose herself before continuing.
‘That day all the children finished school as normal. The shuttle brought us back from our classroom onboard the
Thardopila
and we were all waiting in the docking entrance hall for our parents to collect us. I will never forget it.’
Londuo placed her hand on top of his and lightly gripped it.
‘Frasin and I were looking at the drawings we had done that day on our holographic notepads. They were pictures of flowers we had seen from our recent visit to Sonap. I can remember being annoyed by some boys running around playing with a ball next to us. It was just like the end of another day at school. The parents started to arrive, and children slowly dispersed from the room. I remember Frasin’s mother, Kara, coming in and Frasin running over to meet her. They said goodbye to me and then they left. I waited a long time, probably more than half an hour passed, until there were just five of us left in the room. I didn’t even feel any concern at that time. I knew that mum and dad would walk through the door at any moment. They were always early, so I’d never been there with so few children left. It felt strange, but I didn’t see any reason to be unhappy. Then, one of the older boys in the room suddenly started to cry, and that was when I realised something wasn’t right.
‘An old woman appeared in the doorway. I looked at her face. She was very serious and sad. Then, Frasin’s mum, Kara, and three other women followed her in. Kara came over to me. I could see tears in her eyes. She knelt down in front of me and took hold of my hand.’
Londuo stopped and wiped a tear from her eye.
‘I’ll always remember looking into her eyes. She could hardly look into mine. Kara wanted to say something but was unable. I asked her if she was all right, then she told me that the
Vornosio
had been destroyed. James! I never even thought any harm could come to them. My mother was a lieutenant onboard the
Vornosio
; Jameilo, my father, was a maintenance engineer.’
Londuo took a deep breath.
‘She informed me that my mum and dad had been killed and she would be looking after me. I didn’t want to believe what she had just told me, so I dropped my notepad and bag and ran from the room. I ran all the way back to our quarters.
‘I opened the door expecting, no, wanting to find them there, but there was no one there, only Siom, my kiol, waiting to be fed. I just held Siom for a while and cried. It felt like my world had collapsed. I remember Kara appearing at the door a few minutes later. She came in and put her arms around me and Siom.