Galactic Gale

Chapter Fifteen

A Learning Experience

Meldrom chewed on a stick of candy and stuck her hand out the window, throwing Shee a rude gesture that made the young woman bristle. She snorted at Shee's outrage but was quick to tug her hand back inside before Don or anyone else important within the operation noticed.

Having found the fleet, Meldrom had docked in the rear landing area cocooned within the flagship. Don had been called upon by one of their community's elders as soon as they had landed, so Meldrom had found herself with time to spare. There were no repairs to be done to the ship. She almost laughed at the prospect of being able to relax.

The minty flavour of the candy faded. She spat out what remained of the stick and chose another sweet at random from the packet she had picked up on the last fuel station they had visited. Now she was back with the fleet, there would be no chance of visiting outlying stations. The weapon worked. Meldrom's newest and only priority was to protect the flagship and the weapon. She could hardly do that if she stopped off at random ports whenever she fancied.

Fuel for more than enough ships had been stored in the flagship's hold. Meldrom had seen the collection of various containers, oils, odds and ends with her own eyes. It had been impressive enough to spark her interest as to where the funds for such stores were coming from.

Despite all she had done for her latest friends, Meldrom was yet to meet the man in charge. As it was, he was simply a voice on the radio. Don had met him – she was sure of that. It was likely Shee and some of the others had too, but Meldrom did not bother herself to ask them. As far as Shee was concerned, Meldrom shared friendship bracelets with whoever was running the operation. Questions would break the illusion.

The secrecy did not bother Meldrom. Should anyone be captured by the Celestial Watch or anyone else that posed a threat, it was best they could not provide their foes with any vital information. Their leader had to remain safe, so Meldrom had to remain in the dark.

She flashed her teeth at Shee. From the cockpit of the ship, Meldrom could see everyone gathered in the bay below. Whatever the hired guns were talking about was not important. They passed bottles between them, laughing, and smacking their lips together, no doubt thinking of all they could do once they had been paid. Meldrom pitied them. If they had any intelligence, they would fight for a cause they believed in, not for the one that paid best.

At the far end of the hall sparks were flying from the tools of the crew. The flagship was not completely stable thanks to the modifications that had been made, but the vessel held itself together well enough for Meldrom to feel safe inside it. The crew were wielding interior wall panels together. They stopped to allow Don through the oddly shaped doorway.

Meldrom pulled her feet from the control board and stuffed her candy into a hidden compartment. Before she left, she pulled on her jacket and checked her weapon was loaded. If Shee lost her temper, Meldrom would be ready for her rage.

"I have spoken with our leader," Don said in Demar's tongue as he approached. He had changed into an expensive shirt and a band of gold ran around his wrist. "We are to get ready for our attack soon." Sparing a glance at Shee, he added. "And we will have to work as a team. I have been asked to run a few training exercises with you."

"Training is for children." Meldrom almost gagged at the idea of running drills. There was nothing wrong with her flying, and nothing that could possibly be improved. The same could not be said for the others, but she had no intentions on wasting her time.

"We will do whatever has been asked of us." Shee waved to her co-pilot and the Utercian rogue quickly took to their ship. The rest of the party soon followed in the co-pilot's footsteps, until only Meldrom, Don, and Shee were left facing each other.