Part 3 - Waiting
December 24th 2006 02:22
The Essential Minister’s assistant’s name was Re.
Ga Gantuar didn’t know it but Re was the lover of Bo, his only daughter.
Re had come to work that day to make one last plea to the High Council to not send the missile to destroy HedLandia. It was to be his last patriotic act before leaving the planet and the galaxy forever. When he arrived it was already too late. The Essential Minister, in his excitement, had launched the missile ahead of schedule, and Re’s arguments were never heard.
With only 35 minutes to spare Re raced out of the High Council building and headed for the air strip and the Beige Bummjob. The roads of the capital city were heavy with traffic as usual and he spent much of his time not moving.
A two-wheeler rider approached Re’s car from behind. The two-wheeler weaved in and out of the unmoving traffic. Re spied it in his mirror and with little forethought he opened his car door at the right moment and knocked the two-wheeler and it’s rider to the ground. Re jumped out of the car and checked on the rider. He was dazed but unharmed.
“Here, take my car, it’s far more comfortable. Actually, keep it, I don’t need it.” He picked up the two-wheeler, started the engine and sped off through the gridlock. A small part of Re’s brain made the suggestion that he should warn his fellow motorists that they had less than half an hour to live, but a slightly larger part of his brain jumped up and smothered it leaving him free to concentrate on getting to the airstrip.
They joined their companions in the cockpit. Music blared from the dashboard speakers. Their friends, La, Je and Hu were dancing wildly.
“What are you doing?” boomed Bo as she stomped across the floor to the driver’s seat and switched off the music.
“We were practicing a little victory dance for after we’ve blasted off,” offered Je. “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
“Je, we have only just powered up the ship, I haven’t heard from Re and as far as I know the planet destroying missile has already been sent to HedLandia. I don’t think we have time to practice our victory dance.”
“But, what will we do if we succeed in getting off the planet unnoticed?” asked Hu. “How will we have our victory dance if we’ve not rehearsed it?”
“We’ll fake it, it’s an ancient tradition, look it up.” Bo sat in her chair and flicked switches on the dash board. The engines hummed. The others took their seats and everything was ready. All they had to do was wait for Re.
La sat in the centre of the room, just behind the captain. As the man who managed the money and chief spiritual adviser it was important he was near to the captain, she may need guidance when making quick decisions.
Je sat to one side, nearest the microwave oven. As ship’s cook she needed to be near the instant soup and hot coffee action.
Hu sat to the right of Bo. He was the first mate and chief engineer. Bo might have owned the ship but it was Hu’s family that owned the company that designed it so he held a very important role, he had the codes to the support centre.
Ru was at the captain’s left. While he felt he was the most important person on board he didn’t want the responsibility of being captain. He also didn’t like to be told what to do - so first mate wasn’t an option. With no official skills other than a good aim in simulated gun fights he chose to take the role of ship’s security officer. It didn’t bother him that there were no weapons on board. He had worked hard over the previous years to make sure he would be ready for this trip and when the right moment came he would take command of the ship and dispose of his shipmates.
Ga Gantuar didn’t know it but Re was the lover of Bo, his only daughter.
Re had come to work that day to make one last plea to the High Council to not send the missile to destroy HedLandia. It was to be his last patriotic act before leaving the planet and the galaxy forever. When he arrived it was already too late. The Essential Minister, in his excitement, had launched the missile ahead of schedule, and Re’s arguments were never heard.
With only 35 minutes to spare Re raced out of the High Council building and headed for the air strip and the Beige Bummjob. The roads of the capital city were heavy with traffic as usual and he spent much of his time not moving.
A two-wheeler rider approached Re’s car from behind. The two-wheeler weaved in and out of the unmoving traffic. Re spied it in his mirror and with little forethought he opened his car door at the right moment and knocked the two-wheeler and it’s rider to the ground. Re jumped out of the car and checked on the rider. He was dazed but unharmed.
“Here, take my car, it’s far more comfortable. Actually, keep it, I don’t need it.” He picked up the two-wheeler, started the engine and sped off through the gridlock. A small part of Re’s brain made the suggestion that he should warn his fellow motorists that they had less than half an hour to live, but a slightly larger part of his brain jumped up and smothered it leaving him free to concentrate on getting to the airstrip.
-o0o-
Inside the ship Ru and Bo had squabbled their way to the engine room without dropping or breaking their minute sphere of anti-matter. It was placed in the containment field and the ship powered up.They joined their companions in the cockpit. Music blared from the dashboard speakers. Their friends, La, Je and Hu were dancing wildly.
“What are you doing?” boomed Bo as she stomped across the floor to the driver’s seat and switched off the music.
“We were practicing a little victory dance for after we’ve blasted off,” offered Je. “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
“Je, we have only just powered up the ship, I haven’t heard from Re and as far as I know the planet destroying missile has already been sent to HedLandia. I don’t think we have time to practice our victory dance.”
“But, what will we do if we succeed in getting off the planet unnoticed?” asked Hu. “How will we have our victory dance if we’ve not rehearsed it?”
“We’ll fake it, it’s an ancient tradition, look it up.” Bo sat in her chair and flicked switches on the dash board. The engines hummed. The others took their seats and everything was ready. All they had to do was wait for Re.
La sat in the centre of the room, just behind the captain. As the man who managed the money and chief spiritual adviser it was important he was near to the captain, she may need guidance when making quick decisions.
Je sat to one side, nearest the microwave oven. As ship’s cook she needed to be near the instant soup and hot coffee action.
Hu sat to the right of Bo. He was the first mate and chief engineer. Bo might have owned the ship but it was Hu’s family that owned the company that designed it so he held a very important role, he had the codes to the support centre.
Ru was at the captain’s left. While he felt he was the most important person on board he didn’t want the responsibility of being captain. He also didn’t like to be told what to do - so first mate wasn’t an option. With no official skills other than a good aim in simulated gun fights he chose to take the role of ship’s security officer. It didn’t bother him that there were no weapons on board. He had worked hard over the previous years to make sure he would be ready for this trip and when the right moment came he would take command of the ship and dispose of his shipmates.
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