Chapter 13: Errands

After breakfast, we said goodbye to Gorred, and returned to our suite.

“Brian, I have a visit to the hospital arranged. We can leave soon,” said the ambassador.

“Thank you. Are you staying with us today?” I asked.

“Yes, I’ve cleared my schedule to spend the time with my daughter,” he replied.

“I suggest we keep in one group, to present only one target,” I said.

“I agree. We have armoured ground transports and a larger security detail today,” he said.

Laine and Saria were nearby, watching.

“Are you ready to go?” I asked.

“Yes, Brian,” replied Laine. Saria nodded.

“You both have your stun guns? Sergeant Elevon took away my weapons.” I asked.

They both nodded.

“Mr. Ambassador, please lead on,” I said.

We left the suite and our security detail guided us to a convoy of armoured ground transports. They kept our exposure to a minimum, and we were soon on our way.

The journey was brief, and we arrived safely at the hospital. Our security detail cleared a path for us to the private room containing officer Burlarr. He sat in a recliner chair, ready to greet us. I expect they had prepared him for the visit.

“Good morning,” said the ambassador. “I brought visitors for you.”

“Good morning, please enter,” he replied.

I approached the officer. “I’m sorry I had to leave you yesterday. Another group of Lagaid went after my crewmates. I had to help them,” I said.

“No apology needed. You protect your team members. We do that in the security forces. At least you got the ones who killed my partner. I thank you for that,” he said.

“How are you healing?” I asked. It bothered me he was suffering because of me.

“I’ve got serious burns that will take time to heal. It’s likely that I won’t return to active duty,” he replied.

“Sorry about that. Listen, we got separated from our vessel. Once we find it again, I will return to Quard and visit. If you haven’t fully healed, perhaps we can do something about that,” I said.

“Thank you, Sir,” he said.

“Is there a ritual where you honour your dead? Will there be one for your partner soon? I’d like to attend and give thanks,” I said.

“I don’t have the details, Sir,” he replied.

“Brian, I can check with the Chief Inspector and arrange for us to attend. Leave it with me,” said the ambassador.

“Thank you,” I replied.

I turned back to officer Burlarr.

“Officer Burlarr, these are my crewmates. This is Laine and Saria,” I said.

Laine and Saria approached and smiled at the officer. They talked in Quard for a few minutes.

“I am glad that you prevailed against the Lagaid,” he said in Ori. “We can’t let them win.”

“We survived, and all those Lagaid are dead,” replied Laine.

“But we lost at least five Quard lives yesterday,” I said. I still felt guilty about bringing trouble to this planet.

“They died in the line of duty,” said Saria. “They died with honour.”

“There was at least one civilian killed, and several injuries,” said the ambassador.

By now, several medical staff figured out who I was. They wanted us to take a picture with them. I didn’t want too much publicity though, so I limited it to a few.

“Your new uniform suits you,” said officer Burlarr.

“Thank you, the old one was getting dirty,” I replied.

“This one has your name in Quard - Commander Brian,” he said. I didn’t know that.

A medical staff came in and said the officer needed to rest.

“Get well soon, Officer Burlarr. I hope to see you again,” I said.

Laine approached his unburnt side and kissed him on the cheek. She whispered more words in Quard to him.

“Thank you, Miss. I will,” he replied.

We left his room, and our security detail escorted us back to the ground transport.

“Do you think the medical technology aboard Ship can help him?” asked Laine.

“I don’t know. Perhaps our medical nano-bots can reconstruct damaged nerves and tissue,” I replied.

Back in the ground transport, the ambassador turned to me.

“Brian, I am deeply moved by how much you care about our people. First you donated a sizeable sum of credits to the families of the departed. Then you visit our wounded,” he said.

“Sir, they died for me and my crewmates. The Lagaid injured officer Burlarr when he came to help me. If I didn’t do this, I’d be worse than the Lagaid. Would you do any less if you were in my situation?” I asked.

“I hope that I’d do as much if our roles were reversed,” he said.

“Right now I feel terrible that all this death has followed us to Quard. It’s the least I can do,” I said.

“It didn’t follow you. These Lagaid were here already. When they found out about your arrival, they came out from under the rock they were hiding,” he said.

I still felt crappy about it. I made a mental note to talk to Saria about her dead former crewmates.

Another short trip and we arrived in the shopping district. Our convoy pulled up outside the garment shop. Workers were removing the rubble where the front of the store used to be.

Our security detail kept a watch in the street, and Laine and Saria approached the store. Inside, the sales clerk was sweeping up debris.

“We’re back!” called out Laine.

Laine and Saria stepped over the rubble. The sales clerk backed up to keep some distance from them.

“The store is closed for repairs,” said the sales clerk.

“We came back to apologize for dragging you out the back and stunning you,” said Saria.

“At the time I didn’t understand what was happening. You saved my life. I understand now,” she replied.

“We came back to finish our shopping, if you’d consider opening your store for us,” said Laine.

“Are you kidding? I have the items you’d picked over here,” replied the sales clerk.

The ambassador and I waited in the street. They soon forgot we were there.

A while later, the ambassador answered a call on his device.

“That was the chief inspector. He asked if we could drop by later,” he said.

“We can do that,” I said. It would probably be more interesting than shopping.

He glanced towards the store where a shopping frenzy was happening.

“I thought you’d say that. I told him we’d be there in a while,” he said.

We waited patiently.

Finally, Laine and Saria stepped out, carrying enormous bags full of clothing. They both had grins on their faces.

We returned to our ground transport. Two of our security detail took the bags and stowed them in the back as we got inside the vehicle.

“Our next appointment is at security forces headquarters,” said the ambassador.

Laine and Saria both nodded. Laine smiled at me.

Our convoy moved off towards the headquarters.

We arrived without incident at security forces headquarters.

After we checked in at the entrance, the ambassador led us to the meeting room, where we found chief inspector Ricks and sergeant Elevon.

“Welcome back everyone, how was your day so far?” asked the chief inspector.

I looked to Laine and Saria.

“So far we went to visit the hospital, and we returned to complete our shopping,” said Laine with a smile.

“How is Officer Burlarr doing?” asked the chief inspector.

“He has serious burns that need to heal. He is keen to return to active duty, but it’s unlikely,” replied Laine.

“I was worried about that. He is a career officer. We will assign him light duties when he is ready. We take care of our own,” said the chief inspector.

“If we had our vessel with us, I believe we could do something about his condition,” I said.

“Then let’s hope you reunite with your vessel soon. Nice uniform, by the way,” he said.

“You’re the second to tell me that today. I hope I am not breaking any rules. I do not pretend to be a security forces officer,” I said.

The chief inspector grinned.

“It says Commander Brian on your uniform. We don’t have that rank in our organization, plus you aren’t Quard. If you were trying to impersonate an officer, you need to try harder,” he said.

“So how can we help you today?” I asked.

The chief inspector turned to his sergeant.

“We built several mobile tracking devices, tuned to the Lagaid communication frequencies,” said the sergeant.

He activated a display on the wall. It showed a map with dots representing the mobile tracking devices.

“They are in ground transport vehicles, deployed at strategic positions around the city,” said the sergeant.

“Impressive, so how is it going?” I asked.

“The Lagaid remained radio silent since last night. We have nothing to track,” he replied.

I looked at Laine and we both smiled.

“Sergeant, we can help you. Do you still have a working Lagaid communicator?” I asked.

“Yes, I will have it brought here,” he replied. He called into his own device.

About ten minutes later, an officer entered the room and handed the communicator to the sergeant. He placed in on the table in front of me.

I looked at Saria. “Last time you provided a cloth napkin,” I said.

Saria smiled in understanding. She shrugged and took off her sweater.

“Will this do?” she asked.

“Perfect,” I replied.

“Sergeant, do you have squads ready to move once you locate their position?” I asked.

“Affirmative, Commander,” replied the sergeant.

“Please inform them to disregard any communications that originate from security forces headquarters,” I said.

“A moment, Commander,” he replied.

We waited. The ambassador looked at me with a curious expression.