CHAPTER EIGHT
NORA
The weeks leading up to the Teglia mission were filled with intense physical training, learning weapons usage, a crash course in the Farseek laws and military regulations as practiced by the Farseek Mercenary fleet. It didn’t matter that the female recruits would all be non-combatants, we still had to go through the training.
Sahvin had no trouble transferring his skill to the use of the Farseekan weaponry as well as the armored combat suits. With his language implant fully functional, he tested out of most of the training. We completed the physical training just before Tegliar Station.
Savin and I were assigned to do reconnaissance in one of the far sectors of the station. The primary reason the Dreadnaught One docked at Tegliar Station was to find a transport big enough to carry the people they planned to rescue on their circuitous route back to Farseek. I remember Scarlet saying that the space station looked like the Death Star from Star Wars, but with at least a hundred docking arms extending out into space.
Each arm had multiple ships of every size and shape docked at them and attached to the arm by airlocks clamped to their hatchways. Along with their massive repair and shipbuilding operations, it was also a pleasure station designed to entertain patrons while their ships were under repair or construction. Admiral Degatu’s ship operations team cruised the perimeter of the station and found what they were looking for pretty quickly.
What was wholly unexpected were the thousands of Uatu people enslaved on Tegliar Station. It didn’t change their plans drastically, as the new ship we were appropriating would still have room for them and thousands more. I hoped for them that we could fill that massive transport with their people.
Sahvin and I had great sympathy for the Farseek Mercenaries. Their world was required to provide defense forces for the Consortium as a condition of their membership. While they were away defending the Consortium, their world was attacked and their people killed or kidnapped into slavery. Everywhere we went everything they did was directed at finding and rescuing their people who were taken alive and returning them to Farseek.
That quest brought them the rescue my Earth friends, Sahvin and I along with a couple dozen various humanoids along with their own people. They called themselves mercenaries, but they were far nobler than those who fought for financial gain.
So far as I could see, the only thing they did for financial gain was to rescue Kyanna Evzen. They rescued the other ninety-nine of us just because they could. That’s how both Sahvin and I were both saved, mainly because we were there on their way. They couldn’t give us back our old lives, but they offered us a chance to make new lives.
Eventually, we would all return to Farseek and to live and start families.
Other than the fact that mind controlled slaves provide most of the services on the station, Sahvin and I would have thoroughly enjoyed our excursion into the outer region of the station. Surprisingly, there were a few small shops that seemed to be run and owned by independent beings.
It was at one of those shops that we came upon an unbelievable find.
“Sahvin, look! Is that a puppy?” I pointed to a shop window as we stepped off a pedestrian beltway.
“I think so,” he agreed, and we hurried over to get a better look.
“Oh, my God! There are four of them,” I exclaimed. “We have to get one for Scarlet. She was so heartbroken to lose her dog when she was taken. It’s hard to tell what breed. Looks like it might be hound and lab or pit or all three.”
“We only have credits enough for food,” Sahvin said. “And look, there are two larger dogs as well.”
“Right, probably not enough even if we didn’t buy food,” I said. “Let me text Harper on the tablet to see if Zared can front us some credit to get them. That shouldn’t violate the no com order. It’s not about strategy.”
I sent Harper the text, and we went into the shop. It turned out there were the four mongrel puppies and two adult dogs. The proprietor was anxious to get rid of the animals because her contract on the station was ending and she was pulling out. She would give us a deal if we took them all.
Ten minutes later it was all arranged. Our people were taking over the passenger freighter they redubbed the Kurellis. Commander Maktu authorize the purchase of the dog family and the proprietor arranged for them to be shipped directly onto the ship. They would be safely quartered before Scarlet arrived to help get the Uatu people loaded the following night.
I was almost as excited as if I were getting the new puppy. It seemed obvious that the shopkeeper didn’t really know what she had. She had traded something for the pair of adults a few months before, then the female had delivered four puppies. While they didn’t seem all that valuable to them, they were like gold to me, a piece of home.
My family had dogs all while I was growing up, but I hadn’t had a dog since I had been one my own, because I worked crazy hours and sometimes double shifts. I couldn’t give a dog the time and attention it would deserve. I thought I would probably get one again when I had a family.
That dream almost died when I was taken, but now with Sahvin, I began to believe in it again.
While we were waiting to hear back from Harper, we went inside and got acquainted with the adult dog parents. They were both very well behaved and sweet. They loved the attention we gave them. Sahvin was acquainted with dogs because Narovians imported them from Earth. They were almost as common there as on Earth.
As we returned to the ship a little while later, we were feeling satisfied that our mission was successful. In addition to finding the dogs, we also determined there were no Sargan militaries evident anywhere we went. We hoped it would stay that way.