Chapter 3

“Colin,” called the beaming father as the young man stepped from the car, “Welcome home.”

“Hi, Dad,” Colin responded as he turned to offer his hand to his sister. The sudden view down the front of her loose fitting top stopped him in his tracks. When she smiled and gave him a wink he blushed profusely and stepped back, his arm dropping to his side. Alison finished climbing out unaided; giggling at the effect she’d had on her older brother.

Not noticing his son’s discomfort Jason Hadden crossed the loose shale drive and hugged his son to him. “God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered into Colin’s ear.

“I missed you too, Dad,” the young man replied.

“How was the journey?” asked Jason as he released his boy, “not too difficult I hope.”

“Boring really,” said Colin, “It’s as though I was diseased or something.”

Jason frowned at Colin’s response, “In what way?” he asked.

Colin thought for a moment and then explained, “No one on the ship spoke to me,” he said. “At meal times or in the lounge afterwards, it was as though I didn’t exist. The crew were polite enough but there was no interaction between us.”

“Did you have any problems in college?” pressed his father.

“None at all,” said Colin frowning, “Is there a problem?”

“Not a problem,” said Jason as he led the way into the house, “but we’ve been picking up a bit of an attitude from certain people.”

“House Graham?” asked Colin.

“It’s mainly people from Montrose,” admitted Jason, “but nothing from anyone close to the House.”

“Angus was fine with me,” said Colin and then he remembered the Admiral Hemmer’s attitude at the graduation reception. “You know, Dad,” he said, “there was one incident. It was at the reception, after we’d graduated, Admiral Hemmer, you know the House fleet commander, he was a bit off with me but Angus intervened before it got out of hand.”

Jason stopped walking abruptly, “What did he say?”

Colin thought for a moment, “He asked what I was going to do now that I’d graduated. I said I was going to be a scout and he asked if that was for the House. When I said it was for our House he got a little shirty. He asked who we were allied to and then made some snide comment about being our own masters.” Colin shrugged, “Angus butted in then and said something about not questioning Hadden honour and the whole thing got pushed to one side.”

Jason frowned whilst nodding, “That’s pretty much what our people have been reporting. Nothing overt, just a lot of little digs and innuendoes.”

“I hope there’s not going to be any trouble,” said Colin.

“So do I,” responded Jason, “especially as I’m hoping to send Alison,” he waved towards his daughter, “to the college on Montrose.”

Colin turned to his sister; “You’re going to become a spacer?”

“Sure am,” she replied from behind a beaming smile.

Colin gave her a light punch on the shoulder, “Good for you,” he said. “If you need anything drop me a line and I’ll try to help.”

“Thanks,” said Alison, “but I don’t think I’ll need it.”

Colin gave her a grin, “Just wait and see,” he said. “The offer’s there if you need it.”

“If you two have finished,” said Jason, “There are a couple of ladies in here who are desperate to meet the returning hero.”

Alison gave Colin a gentle shove in the direction of a couple of open doors and followed him into the main hall of the house.

“Colin!” called two women in unison from the far end of the hall.

He strode towards them, his arms outstretched. “Mom! Auntie Annie!”

He was engulfed in the embrace of his mother and his father’s second wife and returned their hugs with one of his own. His mother had tears in her eyes when he was released and Colin had the feeling that things were likely to get a little tearful if he wasn’t careful.

Help came from an unexpected quarter.

“Well, boy, haven’t you got a word for an old man?”

Colin spun around, “Gramps!”

Sitting in one of the armchairs was a man who looked about eighty but still had the family resemblance shared by Jason and Colin. One of the unfortunate things about Raenil medical technology was that it didn’t work on everyone and Robert Hadden was one of the unfortunate few. Whilst Jason who was forty-two years old could have passed as Colin’s brother, Bobbie Hadden looked all of his seventy-five years and then some.

That fact was one of the major drivers for his decision to settle on Dundaff and establish his own house; he wanted a legacy to be remembered by. His age was also why he’d handed over governing the planet to his only son.

“I couldn’t miss my grandson’s homecoming now could I?” said the old man.

Colin crossed the room and sank to his knees, his grandfather looked older than he had done when he’d gone away to college, a lot older. Without looking around for confirmation he wondered if there was something amiss that he hadn’t been told about.

“Gramps, you didn’t need to come here to see me, I’d have gladly come to you,” said Colin as he held Bobbie’s hand.

“Oh piffle,” said Bobbie, “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” He glanced around the assembled family, “and besides, it gives me a chance to give you your graduation gift before all the others get to present theirs.”

“Gramps, there’s no need...”

“Quiet!” snapped his grandfather in a firm voice. “This is something I always planned to do and, after hearing what your plans for the future involve, I see no need to delay my gift.”

“Plans, future?” said Colin looking confused.

“I’m giving you the ‘Red Rose,’” said Bobbie.

The Red Rose was the ship that Bobbie Hadden had been using when he set about settling Dundaff. It was a scout ship, admittedly on old scout ship but it was still a vessel Colin could use to begin his career.

Colin looked around and was greeted by a sea of happy looking faces with the exception of his mother.

“That’s not the only gift,” said his mother, “but we weren’t planning on telling you about them until you’d at least had a chance to unpack,” she finished giving Bobbie a bemused look. Bobbie just grinned back, happy that he’d been able to get one over on the rest of his family.

“It’s too late for that,” said his father with a grin.

“I suppose it is,” agreed his mother, “So why don’t you tell Colin what you’ve done for him, dear?” she said with a smile.

Jason nodded and turned his attention to his son.

“I’ve had the Rose checked over,” he said, “and we’ve made a few alterations to her at the same time.”

He nodded towards his father, “Dad had been keeping her pretty much up to date even if he hasn’t been using her and I’ve just completed that process.”

Jason dropped into a convenient armchair and began, “As you know Colin, the Rose started out as one of the original Sirius-class freighters. That was before your grandfather had her modified to use as a scout ship. Her overall dimensions haven’t changed, but she’s a much better ship than the basic freighter in many ways and despite her age she’s still a good ship to have under you.

“What we’ve done is retrofitted a fusion reactor from an old corvette,” he grinned, “so you’ve got enough power for a ship twice the size of the Rose. The engines have been overhauled and the old girl is now good for 70, maybe 75 zeks.” He frowned at his son, “You’re not going to be out running any fighters but it should be fast enough to keep you out of reach for most of the things that can cause trouble out there.”

Jason glanced across to his second wife, Annette and smiled, “Your Aunt was able to persuade her family to part with a few weapon upgrades for your grandfather’s ship as well. Now she’s equipped with two bow-mounted one hundred and five-millimetre particle beams instead of the original seventy-fives. Also she’s fitted with four twenty-millimetre rail guns on the upper hull, which have enough depression in the mounts so you could find them useful against ground targets if the need arises.”

Jason nodded towards his father, “The forward arc missile launcher with its eight round magazine and the salvo missile pack to take care of anything sneaking up behind you which your grandfather fitted are all still there and are tied in properly to the fire control systems.”

Colin’s eyes were wide as he listened to his father; this was more than he’d ever hoped for.

“Whilst we were removing the reactor from that old corvette we also took the shield generator and the full sensor suite.” Jason gave a slight shrug, “It may not be state of the art but it’s going to better than anything else that’s available out here. The only thing we couldn’t manage was to get the military hyperdrive out of the damn thing and into the Rose, it was just too old and too big - so you’ll have to be satisfied with a class two hyperdrive, I’m afraid.”

Colin was nodding, two-light years an hour was more than enough for anyone.

“The real beauty of the Rose is the stealth system,” said Jason, “that is state of the art and it should enable you to slide past anything that isn’t purposely looking for you. It will be good enough to avoid civilian grade sensor sweeps at anything above the five thousand-metre range if you’re just creeping along. Obviously, if you go any faster then there’s a greater chance of being seen.”

“Of course,” agreed Colin.

“So when do we get to see her?” asked Alison into the relative silence that followed her father’s description of Colin’s new ship.

“Tomorrow,” said Sophia firmly, “and there’ll be no more talk of gifts and spaceships until this evening,” she waved her finger menacingly at Bobbie Hadden, “after dinner.”

Bobbie grinned at his daughter-in-law before agreeing with her, “Yes, dear.”

She switched her gaze to Colin, “And we’re not going anywhere near the spaceport until tomorrow.”

Colin nodded, but the look in his eye let everyone know where he’d rather be.

Dinner had turned into a rambunctious family affair with Colin being given a seat at the end of the table where all eyes could see him. The meal had been hearty and full of Colin’s personal favourite dishes, including the traditional Scottish haggis that he hadn’t had for over three years.

As the family sat around sipping port Colin’s mother nodded to the robot butler. The domestic bot slipped silently out of the room and returned moments later with a silver case. Carrying the case he took a position behind Colin and waited for his cue.

“Colin,” called his mother, “your grandfather stole a march on us by giving you his present early.” She smiled at the old man, “now it’s my turn.” As she finished speaking the butler cleared the decanter off the table with one hand and placed the case before the young man with the other.

“You will be going into dangerous places and this is to help keep you safe when you do,” said his mother as Colin eased the case open.

Inside the case was a set of dark blue body armour; of the type used by police SWAT teams on the large House worlds. Whilst it couldn’t compete with the latest in military body armour it was an excellent defensive shield against the sort of hoodlums that he was likely to run into.

As he ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the vest his fingers encountered a textured area. Lifting the vest from the case he found a beautifully rendered image of a red rose. He glanced towards his mother and smiled, “Thank you,” he said softly.

“There will be another half-a-dozen sets for you to take with you for your crew,” said Sophia.

“Go on, put it on,” called Alison.

Colin rose to his feet and slipped the Kevlar and ceramic vest over his head. His brother, Fraser stood and helped him tighten the side straps until it was a snug fit. Inside the case, now that the vest was out of the way, Colin could see a matching helmet.

“The helmet contains an encrypted, frequency agile radio that is tied into the other sets and the ship’s AI,” explained Sophia as Colin picked up the helmet.

“Fraser and I clubbed together to get you matching jumpsuits to go with the armour,” added Alison and then continued mischievously, “you and your crew will look so handsome dressed in them.”

Colin blushed but his father stepped in before he could say anything.

“They may make him look handsome,” said Colin’s father, “but they serve a practical purpose as well. They’re made out of ballistic cloth and are proof against things like knives, broken bottles and other sharp objects. They’re also fireproof and water resistant which may not be as important but it could prove to be useful.”

Colin flashed a grin towards his older brother, “How much say did you have in their design?”

“Not a lot,” Fraser said with a grin, “You know how bossy she can be.”

Alison stuck her tongue out at her two brothers and then giggled.

Annie nodded towards the butler, who again slipped out of the room to retrieve another case.

As he returned Annie began speaking, “When I persuaded my family to upgrade the weapons on the Rose I also had them send me a few other things.” She waved to the butler who stepped forward and offered Colin a second silver case. “This is for you, love. Use them well.”

The robot butler removed the first case, clearing a space for Colin and the new case. Opening the case he was greeted by three weapons held in position by grey foam. He wasn’t familiar with the two pistols even though he could tell they were Glocks but the largest weapon there was very familiar friend, a Heckler and Kock MP5.

He lifted it from the case and Annie smiled, “That was always a favourite of mine,” she said. “It’s the ten millimetre version, as are the two Glock pistols.”
Colin ran his hands over the weapon in an almost sensual manner.

His father coughed softly, “The pistols are Glock models twenty and twenty-nine. They use the same ten-millimetre ammunition that that particular model of the MP5 does. The model twenty is the standard side arm and the twenty-nine is described as a compact. It’s still pretty hefty but you should be able to carry it comfortably in the shoulder rig whenever you leave the Rose.”

“I’ve given you six of each, Colin,” said Annie. “Your grandfather and father were fairly adamant about having the same calibre ammunition for all the weapons you take.” Her smile passed over the two older men who both returned her look with one of stubbornness. “The Rose has been fitted with the equipment to allow you to produce reloads for the ten millimetre ammunition if you need to but there is a plentiful supply already aboard.”

Colin carefully lowered the MP5 to the dining table and reached for the two Glocks.

“The model twenty carries fifteen rounds in the magazine,” said Jason, “the model twenty-nine has to make do with ten rounds. Both of them operate the same way as the model seventeen’s that you are used to, so you won’t have to relearn anything. Just remember, keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.” His father shrugged, “That’s good advice with any gun.”

“There’s a selection of magazines, sights, slings and cleaning kits in the second layer of the case,” said Annie.

Colin nodded in understanding as he held the two pistols, the twenty felt bigger than the seventeen he was used to but not overly large. As his father had said the twenty-nine was not a small pistol and he wasn’t sure he’d be carrying it all the time. Glancing around the room he decided that now was not the time to voice that opinion.

Robert Hadden looked at his grandson and chuckled, “If you ever need it, I’ve left my old rifle in the ship’s armoury.”

“The PSG?” asked Colin in surprise.

“Yes,” replied Robert, “It’s just too heavy for me nowadays.”

Jason was shaking his head, “I’ve never understood why you two enjoy shooting that thing, it’s a monster.”

The PSG was a Heckler and Kock semi-automatic sniper rifle and at anything under a hundred-metre range it was a liability, beyond that it came into its own. Its manufacturers claimed it was good for one minute of accuracy out of the box and it had proved to be the case. Both Colin and his grandfather took particular joy in punching neat holes into a target six hundred metres away, time after time.

“It may be a monster, Dad, but if you hit something with it, it’s not going to get up and come back at you,” replied Colin.

“I don’t suppose it is,” admitted Jason, “but are you ever likely to need it?”

“It’s better to have it available and not need it,” answered Robert, “than find you need it and it’s back here.”

“You can’t argue with that logic, Dad,” said Alison.

“No, you can’t,” agreed Jason. He waved towards the cases, “Let the butler take those to your room for now Colin and we’ll retire to the lounge for a few drinks.”

Colin opened his eyes and stretched, the sun shone through the blinds to let him know it was going to be another wonderful day. Outside his bedroom door he could hear a certain amount of hustle and bustle and frowned as he tried to discern what was going on.