Chapter 66

The man, Tran Van Bao debated for only a few seconds, and said, "Yes you may shop here and so may Lam's students."

"Security, six of you may come down here and meet some of Lam's and Duc's relatives. The other six will get their turn once the first have returned," I said out loud and also sent with my mind.

Six Tandra dressed in the usual type of clothing worn for this time of year walked to the front door. Paul had to open it because it was a regular door knob which they wouldn't be used to.

They walked to me and bowed as they would to Lam during her class and then to the old woman, and finally to the two owners. I introduced the people as Tran Van Bao and Tran Thi Anh.

"You can buy what ever you want," I said to the cadets, "but bring it to the front to be tabulated. If you open anything you will be saying you will be taking it." Then to the customer and the proprietors, "The boys can only talk with their minds both Paul and I can too. If they bring something to you, just talk about the product, they will understand your thoughts easily." The old lady was dragged to the back with incessant questions from the polite boys. Her voice was high and fast but quieted down as she became comfortable with the Tandra. They were about our age but still children to the Tandra. They matured differently, but both of us got to the same place after a few years.

Paul and I went up and down the aisles with two carriages, picking out things Lam wanted and a lot of stuff we hoped she would like. Paul had a sweet tooth and brought a few bags of black licorice and some chocolates.

A message came from the remainder of our security detail, "The large and smaller vehicles are now getting close. We believe them to be coming to this location." The Tandra in the store froze waiting for my orders.

"Take the ship and use the tractors. Pick the vehicles up and take them to a city to the south of here. Return when you have done that."

"Yes, Captain."

"You guys, can continue to shop." The boys communicated with their friends in the ship and then returned to the many mysteries around them. One boy dropped his shield and sampled potato chips, while others tried dried salted fish and others tried some of the candies. In a funny way they all gravitated to the dried fish in vacuum sealed packs. They shared the different types with their friends and then offered some to the old lady that actually took some to be sociable.

All this time Bao and Anh were speechless and just watched the boys being boys. Thinking again about the soldiers, I knew they would be back and the best way to treat the soldiers, like the government, was to make it visible to the general public.

"May I borrow your phone please, I want to call the newspaper. They can take a few pictures and get your story. The soldiers can find everything out by reading about it. What do you think?"

I was silently handed the phone and I looked in the phonebook to find the number.

I was eventually given the editor of a small local paper. "What would you like?"

"Hello, my name is Charlie Shingle. I am Captain of one of the Tandra ships overhead. I..."

"Look buddy, you are wasting your time and mine."

"Call the police, and see if there are four flying cars and a canvas covered truck flying to Barrie at about 1000 metres. I am sure the base in town is scrambling to intercept them. Check and see. If you are interested and want an exclusive story about the Tandra just come to the Vietnamese store on Main by Ferguson Street. We will be here for only 15 more minutes. The cadets in the ship want their turn to do some shopping. Bye for now."

I hung up, gave back the phone and book and remembered Mom's trick with the phones on her show.

"Lam would you and Duc like to talk to your relatives in North Bay? I am sure they would like to talk to you."

Mom saw our need, and the phone rang as it was set onto the cradle. "You better pick that up, it's Lam."

It was Lam and the man pulled the phone a little from his wife's ear so he could hear the conversation too. The Vietnamese was loud, fast, and furious. Lam explained a lot of what Mom had said on the television. The customer heard one side of the conversation and was troubled, because she wanted to be with the boys and wanted to talk with Lam. The community here was small and everybody knew everybody else.

The talk went on for quite a while and I was sure if it was me, mother would talk about being on the phone for such a long time.

Soon a balding man with a Nikon around his neck burst into the shop. He looked around the shop and saw the boys right off the bat. He looked for somebody to talk to and walked up to Paul. "Hey buddy, did you phone the Gazette about the aliens?"

"They are not aliens, buddy, they are Tandra and I did not phone you. It was Captain Shingle over there, looking pleased."

"Ok."

"Hey buddy, what can you tell me about the aliens?"

I calmly reached out held the collar of his coat and picked him off the floor. "My exec just told you that I am Captain Shingle. The cadets are Tandra. If you can't keep things straight, perhaps I should phone Reuters or Associated Press. You can't seem to remember what you are told."

The man was turning a little red and all the people in the store were looking at us. "Sorry, I am used to people that use their brain before their mouth."

The man cleared his throat and said, "Sorry too. I just used the way I usually think. What can you tell me Captain, about the Tandra in this fine establishment?"

"Turn your tape recorder on first and then we can talk."

The man fumbled in his coat and brought out a tape recorder and a 120 volt adapter. He looked around apologetically and then to the proprietors. They were listening to Lam and talking at the same time. I reached over and took his machine, opened the back and inserted 4 AA batteries from a pack beside the cash register. I turned it on and rewound it to the start. Then turned it to record. The words he got now would be more important to his future than any that might be already there.

"Ah thanks. What can you tell me Captain Shingle, about the Tandra?"

"I came to Earth to do some recruiting for the academy on the moon. I need competent military people to help train the cadets. They will have to teach esprit de corps and learn themselves to fight with modern weapons. While here my mother asked me to pick up some music related articles from our home and take them to the moon base. We were hounded by security forces as they came to our house with guns drawn. Commander Paul Santo and I removed what we needed from our home. We left the security force at our house on Sage Road. Le Thi Lam, a former owner of this fine establishment asked me to pick up a few staples for her meal tonight. I believe it is her turn to cook. Our ship is hovering invisibly outside the door and spotted the security forces converging on this location. The ship and cadets were asked to pick up the vehicles and move them to Barrie so as to give us uninterrupted time to shop.

"A ship. It's outside?"

"It just got back and is too large to be brought inside. I found that the owners of this store, Bao and Anh, would be trounced by the establishment. I called the editor of the Gazette to come and get enough information to keep the security forces from doing their worst behind the public's back."

"A ship, is outside the door?" He said again as he stooped and looked up.

"Yes it is. If it became visible, I think we would not have an uninterrupted shopping trip. Meet the six cadets here and when they trade places you can meet the other six in the ship."

The boys came up to the man and shook his hand, their long fingers wrapped around his larger hand. The editor only looked at the hands as they came to him and tried to understand about the differences. He tried to get a few words out, but couldn't seem to do it.

"The cadets look about 12 to us, but are from 18 to 22 Earth years old. They have not learned how to use their voices yet and relied on the old way of mindspeak." I could tell the man found the boys attractive and this brought out the boy's interests too. "Boys, behave yourselves. Remember what you learned about Humans at the academy. Their culture and ours is too different at the moment to start having fun and games."

The boys were a little dejected. Human males were a favourite on the moon.

The boys soon left, only to be replaced by the other contingent. Everybody opened their mouths and their minds went into neutral as six boys disappeared and six new ones appeared. The new ones did the greeting rituals all over again and it was Lam's voice on the phone that brought them back to the present. The boys, as if Human raced over to the dried fish and took all the remaining products into their hands and arms.

Eventually the groceries were put into cardboard boxes. The total, including what the boys took, was a little over four hundred dollars. I asked Paul to give me five, one thousand dollar American bills, and said, "I would like to set up an account here, but give the money to you first. The Tandra boys like the dried fish and other sea food. I think it would be best to buy a few large cases for there are others on the moon that will like it too."

The boys were trained in different gravity fields, that helped them cope with the additional weight. The boys left first with the food, passing a startled patron. Once outside they disappeared and the visible boxes of groceries rose quickly with them.

After cautioning the editor to get the story out before the government decided to quash it. All this time he had forgotten to use the camera. Saying goodbye myself, I asked if he would like to take a few pictures in the ship.

As usual I got no verbal response, just a nod of the head. Stepping out, we all floated up quite visibly to the people on the street. Some of the boys were back into coveralls and the loose clothing and groceries were safely stowed. The editor had to be nudged and told to use the camera. His batteries were low and I had to increase the illumination in the ship to compensate. When he had 20, I said, "We have to leave now. Give me the camera and I will take a few of you and the boys."

The cadets seemed to have a ham streak and posed with the short editor. When the roll was finished, I gave the camera back to the man. He was lowered to the ground slowly so that the people looking up could see the man and get out of the way.

I directed one boy to act as master and he took the ship back to the moon in a very professional manner. The other cadets took this as a test and performed as good as they could.

Paul and I took the groceries to Lam's apartment and set them down. Mom greeted us and asked that we don our dress uniforms and meet the rest at the academy in 5 minutes for a presentation. The uniforms were ready and it was easy to change quickly and be transported to seats on a hastily set up stage beside Will Meech, Lam, Duc, Kitten and our mother.

Paul asked, "Who is getting what?"

"I don't know, I'll ask Mom."

The image of Mom came on stage and after the opening ceremonies she began by calling up Captain Ching, giving him a crystal of office. This said that he was master of the Uncle Henry. The name shocked all of us. This was an unofficial name and none of us wanted to get our leader angry at our possibly flippant use of his name. Now it was in the official records and I felt bad, because it was I, that first suggested the name.

There were 23 major ships from a cruiser down, that were given new names and masters. All of the men I knew, because they did some of their training with Paul and I. They ranged from the usual Chinese, Russian and American but also included the German, British and a few small countries in Africa. All of the new captains were aware of the appointments and graciously accepted their crystal and chain. Mom had taken her time and explained about all the reasons why that particular person got the post they got. Their background was mentioned and even the cities they grew up in.

When it came to the carrier, Mom seemed to take her time and treated Paul and I as if one person and described even some of our highschool achievements. The list she made of our training sounded very impressive, but we knew it was nothing great.

We were both summoned and I was presented with a large crystal that glowed even in the bright light. Paul was appointed commander at the same time and he too got a crystal of equal size, but a different colour, to signify the importance of the post. Our mother was introduced and she smiled from ear to ear as she placed the crystals over our heads. We turned and proudly displayed the gems on the material of the dark tunics. It seemed that our mother was even more proud of the gems than we were.

William Meech the quiet American from Minnesota felt worse and worse as time went on. He desperately wanted a command and all of them were used up. "The one other ship that needs a captain is the Nautilus and I have to take the man I wanted for the academy and compel him to take both postings. Will you stand up Captain Meech and take the responsibility of guarding us with the command of the Nautilus?"

The man did not even consider himself for this extra position. He was sitting beside me and I clapped him on the shoulder and more or less pushed him to his feet. Once standing, he took one foot, then another, till he got to the stand where the last crystal lay. He placed his large glowing crystal around his neck to the enthusiastic clapping of all the Humans and eventually the Tandra too.

Mom went on about all Meech's good points and his background in both the military of his birth country and eventually his achievements after taking a new citizenship with us.

It finally dawned on me that this presentation was going out all over the Earth and everybody would be looking at it, even all my old friends and relatives.

We had a major party after, but strangely enough, no intoxicants of any kind had any effect. Our metabolism had been altered so that alcohol or other drugs would not even work the same way in our systems ever again. The beer and wine still tasted good if not better than before. Mom had taken the food we brought and had it prepared as the presentation ceremony was going on.

Mother sat at the piano and played a few songs and complained that it needed tuning badly. The Tandra stood in awe around the device. Apparently music, even Tandra music, came from the computer not from the activities of a person. When she started to sing, they were even more amazed that a spoken voice could have such charm and beauty.

The cadets all joined the party and the younger ones played with the rest of our family. Dog got lots of exercise and most of the cadets got cleaner faces. The girls were all unofficially off limits, but that did not stop all of them from having different kinds of fun.

Mom had worked hard and got the thin dried fish put into the menu and everybody liked the results. I looked for the remainder of our extended family. Mother said they were sleeping in another room and warned us that Roger would be getting up and into trouble soon. Then she said, "The Dolson girls and the rest of their race, have found a new home."

"Where is that? They seemed too timid and even a little slow to be completely off by themselves. I was worried about the men here thinking the Dolson girls looked a little too much like Human girls."

"There were a few minor misunderstandings, but all the AIs have been looking out for them as well as Duc. He is the one that found that they liked to farm. The large room with all the moving trays of soil are now used by the Dolson, for both a job and a home. Duc made it known that he and the boys could still come in and tend their own gardens though."

Duc brought in a large container of kia-berries and a sweet rice desert that finished off our night very well.

Hours later Paul and I went home to the carrier and after a little love, worked on making ourselves the best we could. While running through a concept in physics, I remembered a teacher both Paul and I had in grade nine. Hans Kurtz was my favourite teacher. He was the type of man that would patiently work you through all the more difficult things to understand even if he had to stay long hours after school. He had a strong Lutheran upbringing that showed in his dedication to educating some of the more dense Canadian students. He was very strong, and had a wide bushy mustache. He wore it even when dad said the school board did not like it. He spent his own money to give us prizes for our accomplishments. If he were alive today I would feel compelled to thank him for all his efforts in teaching us.

The voice was still in my memory, and in many ways, reminded me of the AI on this ship. "Paul, do you remember Mr. Kurtz from grade nine?"

"Ya, I cried when I heard he died in that fire."

"I know that, I did too. What do you think of suggesting 'Hans' as a name for our AI?"

Paul thought for a moment and said, "I think I like it. It gives me a warm feeling when I think of him. Let's ask?"

"Hello, carrier."

"Yes, Captain."

"We have been working on a name for you and think you may like this one. You are under no obligation to take it, because we can think of more, but this one has a deep meaning for both of us. Just read my mind for all the details."

"I like the name 'Hans'. Coincidentally I am learning German, Latin and Japanese at the moment and think this very auspicious."

"Well, I am glad you like it Hans. Have you thought of a good name for your hull? The Tandra names are fine, but almost all the Humans know very little about the language or customs."

"I have been following your conversations when you were on Earth and also believe in what you call esprit de corps. A Tandra name of a famous ship could be translated, with a little modification, to 'Terra's Pride'. It does not translate that well, but means much more to a Tandra."

"I like it. How about you Paul?"

"Sounds good. There is too much pride on Earth now and this may make them see past their petty jealousies. Do we have to talk to Mom or the Nautilus to get their vote?"

"No, commander. The three of us can legally do this."

"Then Hans," Paul said, "the hull is now 'Terra's Pride'. Let's tell everyone."

The message was sent out and everyone awake now knew of the name change. Communication between the ships was almost instantaneous and they too sent their good wishes. Mom spoke to us, "I am sorry about making you both work, but I want to transfer one third of the academy to your ship, along with many of the people, that will make up the officers complement for your ship. You only have twelve hours before you have to get the new recruits. The Nautilus will get a third of each allotment while the academy gets the last third."

I took a deep breath and concentrated on what I needed to do. The ship was ready to fight and as good as her original makers could do themselves. The rules in the academy were just a stripped down version of the Tandra military regs. The boys, and our new citizens, would see very little difference while the recruits would have to shed much of their old prejudices.

There were many ships missing from our bays, but they would have to stay missing till we could find a way to replace them ourselves. They were now patrolling our frontier, outside the Oort Cloud. I could think of nothing that need doing, except ourselves. "Thanks Mom. We are about as ready as we are going to get."

Almost twenty minutes later we were in one of the larger bays in full uniform as a shuttle slowly pushed its way through the shield and settled onto the deck. The hatch opened and a parade of people I knew walked down the ramp and faced the crest on the wall and saluted. Their attitude at this simple act was not like people in the land of my birth. The perfunctory acknowledgement of their allegiance was now the fervour of a group of people dedicated to making our new country if not civilization the best it could possibly be.

I counted and saw 124 former mercs and now solid citizens, 107 male Tandra and only 11 female. 44 young cadets joined the group as they stood at ease waiting their assignments. The list from Hans said that 35 more Tandra would be coming from Earth and all but 5 would be female. These would be my first real challenge of my new command. These were the adult Tandra left in stasis till the very end, for they were the conservative group that Mom had left so they would not interfere. Only children were left in stasis and some desperate people Uncle Henry had put in till he got back.

"Hello, citizens. I am Captain Shingle, and here is my exec, Commander Santo. Our ship is seriously understaffed, and if the Samutz give us enough time, each one of you will be given a chance to fill more than one position. Training will be an ongoing process that will last for years. It is not good enough for just the ships in this system to be adequately manned, but installations and weapons need to be fabricated and placed to protect our home."

"Soon there will be some new recruits from many of the countries of Earth. I expect them to be a problem, but only a minor one. These recruits will soon be working beside you to train more recruits and eventually we will get the millions of citizens we need to survive."

"The cadets will get a good opportunity to advance in the military, as will all the rest of you. You may know the age of my exec and myself and wonder at our qualifications. The only thing I can say is that Mom picked us for this post and we will do the absolute best we can for our world, our ship and our crew."

"The final word I want with you will be concerning the next group of people like you. They were just awoken from the Earth base and represent the most conservative element of our society. The women will represent how part of the Tandra society worked before and the males will be the same way. I want all of you males here to consider well the actions of the others. If any prove to be a detrimental factor to the smooth running of this ship, they will instantly be put back into stasis and await judgement by a higher authority."

"Have a good time aboard and I hope all of you prosper the same way we have."

Hans gave berthing assignments and the crew dispersed to get settled in. Paul and I went over the countries we were to make our pick ups. Since the population of China was so great, it would represent more of our population, but not the full third it would really warrant. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand were also on our first stops. Our Human contingent had met with government representatives and selected many from the group of volunteers. Mom wanted three sub groups formed with equal numbers of male and female recruits. A portion was to be old, young, sick and out of shape individuals, along with the ones that were healthy and mature. A good cross section was to give hope to everybody that they could become citizens eventually. A portion of each group would be headed for the Nautilus, the academy or here.

An hour later we were interrupted from our studies by the arrival of the remainder of our crew. Paul and I donned our crystals so that they would be a visible badge of office. If the Tandra were conservative, then I would speak their language and see how they like the sound of it.