Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon series) (25 page)

‘That’s nice to hear Lewis,’ he stepped back and introduced Komoru, ‘this is Komoru Kaizu, Captain of the other ship.’

Komoru didn’t hesitate to offer her hand either but couldn’t help staring in awe as her hand disappeared into the mighty paw, ‘I am happy to meet you too Lewis.’

It was the giant’s reaction to the small woman that surprised Steven.  He seemed to cringe back from the touch as though he was afraid to hurt her.

‘I’m delighted to meet you too Ma’am.’  He let her hand go quickly.

Steven felt no malice at all in the big man’s behaviour.  ‘So tell me a little about yourself Lewis.’

‘Ain’t much to tell suh.  I wuz in de Army foh years, that’s where I met the Colonel here.  Then I got out and been packing meat since.’

‘What about family?’

‘Ma parents dey both still alive.  Had a wife, my Sharon, but she died of the Cancer last year suh and I miss her something terrible I do.  We didn’t have no children, she used to say she couldn’t afford to feed a passle of kids just like me, but it wasn’t that.  She had the cancer when she was a teenager, you know down there in the woman's place and they had to take it all away, but I didn’t mind I was happy wid Sharon the way we were suh.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that Lewis.  Were you one of the Colonels men?’

‘Was for a while suh, but they stopped me going out on operations.’

Steven frowned, ‘why was that?’

‘Cos every time I stood up de enemy always shot at me fust suh.’

Steven looked at the grinning Colonel who was nodding, ‘so they made you an armourer?’

‘Yes suh de best damn armourer in the whole of the Army.  Made me a specialist they did.’

‘Well I’m sure we will test your abilities to their limit.’

Steven then went on to give him the normal welcoming speech.  Before he let him go he decided it would be wise to ask one more question.

‘Lewis you’re a … rather large man, do you have any special need that we should be aware of?’

Lewis thought it over seriously, ‘no suh, don’t think so, unless you can get me a large bunk to sleep on.’

‘I think we can manage that.  Colonel can you take Lewis up to the infirmary, the doctors put her foot down and now our little hole in the wall has been moved up there.’

‘Ok sir.’  A still grinning Colonel led Lewis away.

Komoru started giggling and Steven soon found himself laughing with her.

She took her hand away from her mouth, ‘I didn’t know they made men so big.’

Steven shook his head, ‘neither did I.’

‘I like him, can I have him as one of my crew.’

Steven laughed even louder, ‘I think our Mr. Lewis Benjamin would be frightened to step on you Komoru.’

That made her giggle louder, ‘yes maybe you’re right, but I do think he’s very nice.’

‘I’m just wondering how much he is going to eat.  Babe did you check his mental capacity?’

‘As soon as he came on board, he has one of the highest in the crew.’

Steven was genuinely surprised, ‘really, what do you think of him?’

‘I like him too, he makes me feel comfortable.’

‘I think you'll be one of the few until everyone’s used to him.’

‘He has a gentle soul my heart, I can feel it.’

‘Yes I feel it to Babe and thank you.’

Chapter 40

T
he appearance of Lewis caused quite a stir amongst the crew, even the Doctor wasn’t quite sure what to do with him, but the giant was aware of the affect he had on normal people and was soon able to put those he met at ease.

The Colonel stayed with him while he re-orientated himself, ‘how you feeling now Lewis?’

The giant looked around himself in wonder, ‘dis is real special Colonel.  Thank you for thinking of me.’

The Colonel slapped him on the back, ‘hey how could I go gallivanting across space without my favourite soldier.’

Lewis grinned, ‘I ain’t been a soldier for years now Colonel, but I recon I can still do the job.  After my Sharon died I thought I was just going to waste away and die, but you’ve gave me a new lease on life Colonel thank you.  I’ll always remember that.’

The Colonel shook his head, ‘I only put your name forward for the job Lewis, the Captain had to say yes, remember that.’

A gentle feminine voice talked to them, ‘we’re arriving in Scotland Colonel.’

Lewis looked around startled, ‘ooh dat?’

‘That’s the ship Lewis.’

‘It’s a Lady.’

‘Sure is, fancy doing a little work.’

‘Yeah wot we doing?’

‘Loading stores.’

‘I can do dat.’

They arrived at the ramp within a few minutes.  It was already down and boxes were being piled into the ship.  Cookie was standing at the top of the ramp when he spotted the two men walking towards him.  He did a double take then his jaw fell open, ‘oh no.’

The lights went on in Lewis’s eyes, ‘Cookie!’

‘No please,’ the small Scot tried to back away but was stopped by boxes being piled up behind him.

Lewis leapt forward, swung him above his head and shook him like a rag doll, ‘Cookie my all time favourite man, how the hell you doing bud?’

‘For god’s sake Lewis put me down man.’  Lewis put him down and gave him a friendly pat on the back that almost knocked his teeth out.  ‘Where the hell did you come from?’

‘Dey just picked me up man, I gonna be de new armourer.’

‘No wonder that herd of cattle took to its bloody heels.’

Lewis roared with laughter, ‘you still de funny man Cookie.’

Suddenly a broad grin spread across the Scots face, ‘it’s bloody good to see you again Lewis, I heard you got wasted.’

‘Naw man, dey shoot me a few times though.  You want a hand here?’

‘Let’s do it.’

The Colonel organised every one into a line.  Cookie and Lewis went down the ramp to grab boxes.  A soldier was placing a box on top of a pile, when he saw Lewis advancing on him and stumbled back in shock.  With a grin Lewis stooped and picked up the whole pile.  Almost everyone stopped to stare while Cookie burst out laughing.  Things went a lot faster after that with Cookie and Lewis doing the work of ten between them.

An hour later all the supplies were aboard and Cookie was already talking to the new quartermaster about the types of supplies they would need next time.  The grinning giant at his side ensured there were no arguments.

The Scottish prime minister arrived and was taken forward by Colonel Howe.  Steven greeted him in his quarters.

‘Mr. Prime minister it’s good to see you again.’

They shook hands, ‘delighted Mr. Gordon.  Who’s this lovely young lady I don’t think I’ve met her yet.’

‘This is Komoru Kaizu, Captain of the second ship, which she has named Ico.’

The prime minister was stunned until Komoru bowed low and offered her hand, ‘it is a great honour to meet you sir.  I have heard much of your generosity and kindness to this crew.  I only hope that same kindness may be extended to my own ship.’

The prime minister was jolted out of his shock, ‘yes of course it will my dear.  I’m sorry this is a total surprise, may I ask how this came about.’

She looked to Steven who gave the explanation, ‘it was a surprise to all of us sir.  We brought Komoru on board to be a member of this crew but the ships detected a quality in her none of us suspected and asked her to become the Captain of the second ship.’

The Prime Minister looked at her with admiration, ‘congratulations my dear and if there's anything I can do for you please don’t hesitate to ask.’

She gave a small bow, ‘thank you sir.’

Steven had something else on his mind, ‘is my Mother here sir?’

‘No I’m sorry she couldn’t make it, but she sends her love and says to give her a call when you can.  She said something about a transponder that can send signals into deep space.’

Steven nodded, ‘yes sir we have one on board ready to deploy.  It’s about the size of a small garden shed, we only need a little time to adjust our transmitters to interact with it properly.’

‘Will it take long?’

Steven shrugged, ‘not really sir, we can use it just now but what we really need is a base of operations and that will take time.’

‘Yes you mean a centre dedicated to your ships, where information can flow freely in and out.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Well that’s exactly what your mother is doing right now.  Do you know the old RAF station at Lossimouth?’

‘No sir I don’t.’

‘That’s where your mother is.  She’s converting the old base to become Earths first dedicated Deep Space Base.  There enough room up there to begin a building program.’

Steven was surprised but wasn’t sure if he was happy about it or not.  He wanted to have their first base in America where the materials would more readily be available.

‘I’ll call her as soon as I can sir.  We have some Gold ready to transport as well sir.  That’s to pay for all our supplies.’

The Prime Minister chuckled, ‘the Gold you gave to your mother hit the market and took it by storm.  Everything is already sold to the tune of thirty million pounds, which your mother is keeping in trust with the government.  The interest from that in one year alone will keep both your ships in supplies for the next decade.’

Steven was pleased, ‘that’s great news sir but that’s my Mothers money, I insist we pay our own way.’

‘If that is your wish, I won’t stop you, but I have a few ideas that will generate a steady income for you rather than just sell it all off.  Do you have a spare ton of the stuff?’

‘I think we have about three ton on board.’

‘That’s three times better.  Do you wish some of that money to go towards your Mothers Base?’

‘I will talk with my Mother first sir.’

‘No problem, but I had better get going or I will be missed.’

‘Before you go sir there's something I would like to present to your country for their outstanding generosity.’

The Prime Minister looked at him a little funny, ‘remember it’s your country too Mr. Gordon, or should I call you Captain Gordon.’

Steven blushed, ‘yes of course I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.’
  He grinned, ‘you can call me whatever pleases you sir.’ Steven went and retrieved a small box from his desk and handed it to the Prime Minister.

He was puzzled
, ‘what is it?’

‘Look and see.’

He lifted the lid and was left speechless.  Gingerly he reached inside and took out a fire diamond about the size of a good walnut and held it up to the light. 

‘My God it’s beautiful, what on Earth is it?’

Steven was bursting with pride, ‘not on Earth sir.  It’s a fire diamond and they only exist in outer space.  I have been told it is one of the most valuable commodities in the Galaxy.  It has about a hundred times the value of a normal diamond of the same size.’

‘I can see why, it is breath taking.’ 

The setting sun sent a ray of light, which burst against the diamond in a hundred different colours.  The Prime Minister seemed genuinely moved.  ‘This is a gift beyond comparison and priceless to boot.  I have a funny feeling Edinburgh castle just isn’t going to be big enough to hold this little beauty.’

‘Just don’t tell any passing spacemen you have it sir or you may just face an invasion.’

He laughed, ‘I’ll remember that.  I had better go now and thank you once again.’

They shook hands once more and the Colonel escorted him back to the ramp.

Steven and Komoru sat down again.  He couldn’t help but look deep into her eyes, ‘I think that went well, now where were we?’

She sighed, ‘going through a list of thousands of names, to try and find me a crew.’

Steven nodded, ‘yep, that’s exactly where we were.  Do you have a close friend you can take on board as your second in command like Buzz.’

She shook her head sadly, ‘I have not been as fortunate as you at finding friends Steven.  I have spent half my life away from home at one special school or another where I was in direct competition with everyone else there.  I always seemed to come top of the class by a large margin.  It wasn’t conducive to making friends and normal people like your Buzz wasn’t allowed near us.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that Komoru, but you may wish to consider asking your own government for a security team.  Doing that you will have someone you can relate directly to, so far we have picked no Japanese for your crew and I know they have some brilliant scientists.’

‘I know most of them in my field; I was at school with many of them.’

Steven nodded, ‘I see, but you’re going to need engineers as well.  Maybe you should choose those from your own country as well or at least the best.’

She nodded, ‘I will consider it.’

‘Firstly you have to try and establish direct communications with your own government.’

‘They will order me to land at once.’

‘You are in charge of that ship Komoru; you will have to put your foot down immediately.  Get them to accept you on the terms that you want, not what they want.  Ask with a meeting with your Prime Minister.’

‘He may not wish to meet.’

‘I can’t believe there are two fools in this world like the American President.  I’m sure he will jump at the chance.’

‘Ok as soon as we get back to the Moon I will call him, but will you be with me.’

‘Of course I will.’