Chapter 24: To Quard

We left the palace via a ground transport to the spaceport. The ambassador made all the arrangements. Our transport brought us directly to a shuttle. We were soon aboard the shuttle and leaving the planet surface behind us.

Laine nudged me in the ribs, “So you got another life debt. A royal one too!”

“Yes. I could not help that one. I won’t let someone undo all the good work we did to get her here. We were responsible for her until she was inside the palace. It is like I made a promise, and I don’t let someone else break it,” I said.

“You did good,” she said.

“We did good. You helped,” I replied.

“At least you didn’t push the credit in my direction,” she smiled. I nodded. She squeezed my arm.

The shuttle docked with Ship. We said our goodbyes to the pilot and stepped through the airlock.

We proceeded through decontamination and cleaned off any microbes or other foreign stuff we did not want aboard. Then we changed into jumpsuits and headed to the main bridge.

“Hello Ship,” I said.

“Welcome aboard commander, most special friend of the monarchy,” replied Ship. Grr, that ID chip!

“Ship, contact Dentra system control. Tell them we are ready to depart. Then take us out of here. Set a course for Quard,” said Jem.

“Confirmed. Recalling defensive probes,” replied Ship. I watched on the tactical display. We were assigned a course out of the system and soon we were moving again. I felt more comfortable aboard than on a planet.

As we reached the outer limit of the system, the hyper drive cut in and we were on our way again.

“As per usual, the next two days are for rest. No work!” said Jem. There were smiles all round.

Our journey to Quard was long and uneventful. I attempted to entertain my crewmates and avoid creating any issues.

After about fourteen days travel, the hyper drive went offline and Ship decelerated to sub-light speed as we approached the Quard system.

Knowing we were about to arrive, we were in the main bridge. The tactical display showed the system with vessels travelling within the system. Laine was eagerly watching her home system as we approached.

“Attention, we are being hailed,” said Ship.

Jem press a key and a face appeared on the display. The being was speaking in Quard, but there were multiple translations in text on the display, including Ori. It read as follows: “Unknown vessel, welcome to Quard. This is Quard system control. Please identify yourself and your business here.”

“Thank you for your welcome. I am captain Jem of the Baglogi Star Cruiser. We have a crew member who is a Quard citizen and would like to visit home. Also, I’d like to meet with an ambassador or other such diplomatic being, to discuss an alliance,” said Jem in Ori.

“Baglogi Star Cruiser. You have a Quard citizen aboard?”

Jem nudged Laine to stand in front of the display where the being could see her. Laine said something in Quard and got a response in Quard. Before we knew it, they had a lengthy conversation. From the smile on Laine’s face, it was going well.

“Ship, please send them my credentials,” said Laine.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. The being on the display looked down at a display out of view from us, then nodded and looked back up.

“Baglogi Star Cruiser. We are transmitting course information to bring you into an orbit around Quard Prime. Please follow this course and do not deviate.”

“Baglogi Star Cruiser acknowledges your directions, out,” replied Jem. She closed the call.

“Ship, take us in on the assigned course,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Another system, another paranoid system controller,” I said. Laine smiled.

“It seems so,” replied Jem.

We arrived at the designated position in orbit above Quard Prime.

“Are we all going down to the planet?” asked Koluna.

“Yes. We have an alliance to discuss and Laine has to visit home. Brian, I will need your services as a diplomat. Koluna, I would suggest you go with Laine,” said Jem.

“Yes captain,” replied Koluna.

“Everyone change into our uniforms. Meet in the shuttle bay when ready,” said Jem. We moved out.

Once we were ready, we boarded the shuttle, and I did pre-flight checks. Soon our shuttle exited the shuttle bay. I had Laine contact system control to get clearance to fly down to the surface. They sent the course information over the communications channel, and I only had to press a button to initiate our descent. It was quite a busy planet with vessels and shuttles moving around.

Half an hour later we arrived at the spaceport. We landed on an assigned landing pad. As we exited the airlock, there were beings waiting to greet us. There were some security forces types and more civilian beings.

Laine must have saw someone she knew, as she went straight to them and gave them a hug. I was worried it might spook the security forces, thinking it was an attack. Fortunately, they waited.

“This is my father,” Laine said over her shoulder at us. After a moment or two more of hugging, they let go.

Her father asked Laine something in Quard, and Laine pointed at Jem. He walked to face Jem. “Captain Jem, I am ambassador Talagni. I am also Laine’s father.” He spoke in fluent Ori. I was glad because I realized I would not need a translator for upcoming discussions.

Jem smiled. “We are pleased to meet you. May I present my first officer, commander Brian and lieutenant Koluna.”

“I am overjoyed that you have brought Laine back to us. We got word that The Trading Post was destroyed, and we thought she had perished. I would love to learn more of the events, but first some formalities. May we scan your ID. It is to record arrivals and departures. Also, I am issuing visitor visas for your stay,” the ambassador said.

We each raised our right arms, and a security forces being came over with a portable scanner and quickly scanned our ID. Laine too offered her arm and was scanned.

“Now the formalities are over, I should like to invite you to my home. It is not too far via ground transport,” he said.

The security forces were dismissed, and we followed the ambassador and Laine out to a private ground transport. We took a seat, and we were off. Laine was talking to her father rapidly in Quard. No doubt they were catching up on what had happened since they last met.

I noticed that her father had a similar personal device like Laine had. I called Ship on my communicator, “Ship, please could you send the evidence package that we gave the Ori, plus all the info on The Trading Post, to Laine’s personal device. Her father is an ambassador, so she can share it with him.”

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. A moment later, Laine’s device beeped. She looked down at it, then at me. Her father looked at me too.

“Laine, please could you share that information with your father. It is all the background information and evidence about what happened,” I said. She nodded and pressed some buttons on her device. Her father’s device beeped, and he looked down at it. He looked up at Laine, asked her some questions in Quard, then he looked at me and nodded his thanks.

The rest of the journey we sat quietly, looking out the windows as we travelled through the city. Laine did not stop talking with her father the whole journey.

“Welcome to our home,” said the ambassador.

The private transport had stopped outside a house at the outskirts of the city. We all got out, and the ambassador guided us inside his home. The inside was tastefully decorated.

“Please come though to the patio, we can sit and talk and have refreshments,” he said. We all followed him to an area out the back of his home. There was a round table surrounded by chairs.

“Laine, can you help me fetch some refreshments for our guests,” he said. They both went over to a food dispenser and came back with trays of food and drinks. They handed out drinks and placed the food in the middle of the table.

“Please do not worry about protocol here. In my home we are quite informal. I still can’t get over the joy of finding out my daughter is alive,” he said.

“I am sorry we could not get word to you sooner. We did not intend to cause you distress,” said Jem.

“Don’t worry about that. I understand you were busy. Laine has been telling me about some of your recent adventures. It sounds fascinating!” he said.

The ambassador turned to me. “Thank you for the data dump. I passed it on to my staff to examine and I will get a report in due time. Laine has given me the highlights. You stopped a gang of pirates from using The Trading Post as a base and raiding vessels that passed by.”