Chapter 7: Ori Major

Two days later, the captain came to our cabin.

“We are arriving in the Ori Major star system. I arranged for a shuttle to take you the rest of your journey. If you will follow me,” he said.

We quickly grabbed our gear and followed the captain along the narrow corridor to the airlock.

“Thank you for transporting us, Captain,” I said.

“You’re welcome, Sir,” he replied.

“You haven’t mentioned payment for our passage?” I asked.

“Nefi took care of payment. You’re paid in full. He said if you asked about payment to tell you he lost family aboard the Opolu Naa. He said you’d understand,” replied the Captain.

“Yes, thank you. I do understand,” I said.

I smiled. Laine looked puzzled.

Laine and I stepped through the airlock. The door closed and soon after we stepped aboard an Ori shuttle.

“If you’ll please take your seats,” said the pilot.

We stowed our gear and strapped into our seats. The pilot undocked from the freighter and turned towards the third planet.

“What did he mean about the Opolu Naa?” whispered Laine.

“The Opolu Naa was an Ori freighter. It was the first vessel I served aboard as crew. It got destroyed by Lagaid pirates. Only Koluna and I escaped. I killed every one of those pirates. Later I drank to the memory of the crew,” I replied.

“Wow!” whispered Laine.

“It was those pirates that inspired me to develop weaponized nano-bots,” I said.

Laine looked at me differently. At least she kept quiet for a while.

This time, it lasted about ten minutes.

“New topic. What are we going to do here?” asked Laine.

“I think I have a few Ori credits to my name. It won’t buy me a vessel, but we could get passage somewhere,” I replied.

“Perhaps we should go to Quard and visit my father. After what we did for Quard, they owe us,” said Laine.

“That works for me, assuming we can afford passage,” I said.

Laine grinned.

“I am not without funds of my own,” she replied.

The pilot announced that we had reached orbit and were about to descend to the main spaceport.

From our seats, we didn’t have the best view. I remembered my own experiences piloting a shuttle. Descent was always the best, because the nose of the shuttle pointed down at the planet and I saw the entire planet below me.

Perhaps I could retire and become a shuttle pilot again. I’d need a planet where no one knew me.

The descent was uneventful, and we landed at the main spaceport. I picked up our space suits, and we thanked our pilot. I followed Laine through the airlock. We were back on Ori Major.

We carried our gear from the shuttle and followed the signs to the immigration building. There, we lined up with other beings for customs and immigration.

“This is different. As a VIP, they send the minister to greet you. Now we get to see how they treat normal visitors,” said Laine.

“I’m hoping not to draw undue attention this visit,” I said.

By now, our jumpsuits were dirty. I carried our space suits, while Laine walked with her crutch. We didn’t appear special or important.

We finally got to the front of the line and the immigration officer ran an ID scanner over our arms.

He examined the results from the scanner, then looked back at us. I could tell their system had flagged us as beings of interest. It was amusing to observe the process working through his head. I’d seen this before on other systems.

Our immigration officer pulled out a communicator and called someone, possibly his supervisor.

He nodded his head several times, then ended the call and turned to me.

“Excuse me, Sir, err Commander. I need you both to come with me,” he said.

“No problem. Please lead the way,” I replied.

He escorted us to what I assumed was secondary inspection, and into an interview room.

“Please take a seat. Someone will be with you soon,” said the immigration officer, before he left.

I turned to Laine.

“I thought something like this might happen. It is hard to show our faces here without them making a fuss,” I said.

“We’ve come off a rock in an uninhabited system, and so far two beings recognized your face,” said Laine.

“I wonder how long before someone important comes rushing through that door,” I said.

Laine giggled.

We didn’t wait long. The door opened to show three Ori security forces. The senior officer stepped inside, leaving the other two guarding the doorway.

“Lieutenant Commander Rhan, good to see you again,” I said.

We stood, and I clasped forearms with Rhan.

“Commander Brian, you look a mess!” he said with a smile. “I bet you have an amusing story behind all this.”

“I do, but not in this place. You recall Ensign Laine?” I asked.

“Pleased to meet you again,” he said. They clasped forearms, the traditional way that warriors greeted each other. Laine grinned.

“I hope we haven’t got you into trouble,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it. By now, word has reached minister Tarron,” he said.

“We need to find somewhere to clean up and get ourselves clean clothes,” I said.

“Do you need somewhere fancy or functional?” he asked.

“I’ll go for functional,” I replied.

“I have a transport waiting. Let’s go,” he said.

I picked up our gear, and we left the immigration building and got into the waiting armoured ground transport.

Three days later, Mina visited the main bridge and found Jem there.

“Hello, Mina,” said Jem. “How goes the garden?”

“I was just planting seedlings. It is progressing slowly,” replied Mina.

Jem smiled.

“I’m sure it will be lovely,” replied Jem.

“I’m glad the androids didn’t mess up our garden,” said Mina.

Jem nodded. She knew Mina associated the garden somehow with Brian. To mess up the garden would be to desecrate his memory.

“You’re not visiting the lido any more?” asked Mina.

“No. I’ve had enough relaxation. I need to be ready for whatever threats we encounter,” replied Jem.

“We’re in hyperspace. It will be several days before we arrive in Ori space,” said Mina.

“I’ve already lost two crew, and I almost lost this vessel and our lives. I have to stay vigilant,” replied Jem.

“Ship finished the security upgrades on the cargo bay level,” said Mina.

“I wish we had them earlier. It could have saved us a lot of trouble,” replied Jem.

“We stopped the androids. And you came up with the idea to enhance the internal security. That’s the thing Brian would have done,” said Mina.

Jem’s face dropped.

“I didn’t realize the weight of responsibility that Brian felt until he died,” said Jem. “I can see it now.”

Mina put her hand on Jem’s shoulder and looked into her eyes.

“We are going to Ori Major to pay our respects to Brian and Laine. Then we recruit more crew members. After that, we must share the responsibility. We can’t continue doing this if it leads to burnout,” said Mina.

Jem looked back at Mina.

“You’re right. Next stop is Ori Major. I’m looking forward to returning. I don’t know why, as we got shot at and abducted there,” replied Jem.

Mina grinned.

“I considered Ori Major was a peaceful place until you arrived. Then everything went crazy,” Mina said.

“It was crazy, but that was the Lagaid,” replied Jem.

“Are you hungry? I can make up some vegetable soup,” offered Mina.

“I’d like that,” said Jem.

They left the main bridge in search of soup.

Lieutenant Commander Rhan brought us to the security forces headquarters. I remembered it from our earlier visit. Hopefully, few knew of our arrival and we wouldn’t be a target this time.

We got out of the ground transport and moved through multiple checkpoints. It helped to have the head of security forces escorting us.

We finally stopped outside a door which Rhan opened. It appeared to be a changing room.

“This is the functional you wanted. It is also secure. It has all you need to clean yourselves. There are fresh jumpsuits in the lockers,” said Rhan.

“This is perfect! Thank you,” said Laine.

“I’ll leave you here and return in about an hour. Press the call button if you need anything,” said Rhan.

We stepped inside, and the door closed behind us.

“Brian, there’s a shower back here,” said Laine.

“Be right with you,” I replied.

I checked the locker and found various sizes of blue jumpsuits. They looked like the ones the security forces wore, except these didn’t include insignia. I picked out one in my size and guessed the right size for Laine.

We washed up in the shower and changed into clean clothes. I felt much better, and I put our dirty jumpsuits into the recycler.

Not long after, the door chime rang. I pressed the button to open the door.

“Brian! Welcome back to Ori Major. I came as soon as I heard you arrived,” said minister Tarron. Rhan stood behind him with two security forces.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your busy schedule,” I replied.

“Nonsense! Lieutenant Commander Rhan said you looked like you needed help. We don’t neglect our friends. Come with me to a meeting room. We can catch up,” he said.