| Fred and Astra 3 decide that the base for their colonising expedition
should be Aqualaria, since Ethiopia is much too distant from Allaria. They
check first with Astra 3's "sister", the Queen of Aqualaria, and she gladly
gives them permission to recruit volunteers from her country and to get
together the supplies which they will need. They expect this to take several
weeks.
Since the instantaneous transport of the Crystallics is no longer available,
the distance is rather long for a dragon, and the journey by sailing ship
would be a very time-consuming one, Probe offers to take them to Aqualaria
in one of the shuttlecraft. In theory, the shuttle could do the trip wholly
on autopilot, but that is normally reserved for occasions when only freight
is being carried. On this trip, Probe will be the pilot not only
for Fred and Astra 3 and their children, but also for Demifox Synizn, who
of course is going with them [1764]. Fred and Astra 4 (and their children)
may join them in Aqualaria later, but have several weeks before they need
to make a final decision.
Probe flies low and slow. There is no reason to hurry, and he wants
to make the trip as smooth as possible for the babies, as well as to provide
his passengers with a good view of the lands that they will be flying over.
Thus he expects the trip to last four or five hours, rather than the hour
or less it would take if he was in a hurry.
The babies are so unperturbed by the trip that they are soon asleep,
whilst the adults enjoy the view. Astra finds herself comparing the trip
with her experience of flying on a dragon in the hunt for Dr Vincent. She,
her husband and Demifox Synizn may be the only people in the universe in
a position to make such a comparison [2791], though Astra 4 may be able
to do so before too long [2265]. This is enjoyable, but Astra 3 thinks
that riding on dragonback was even better. Then she had the wind in her
hair and far more sensation of speed, for all that it was actually far
slower.
After ninety minutes or so, they are flying over what on our Earth would
be Libya, some 300 miles inland from the Mediterranean coast. Terra is
sufficiently different that, though the countryside is rather desolate
- and almost totally uninhabited - it is not actually desert.
Then a light on the instrument panel in front of Probe turns red, and
an insistent beep is heard. "We have a fault and are losing power," Probe
tells them. "I'll have to land. Hopefully it will be something I can quickly
fix myself with the spares we keep on board. If not, I shall have to get
Inquirer to use the other shuttle to bring out the necessary spares. If
the worst comes to the worst, we can abandon this shuttle and have Inquirer
take you to your destination. There's no cause for alarm. Inquirer can
be here well within an hour of being called for, and we carry enough food
to last us for at least a week - not that we should need it." (Probe finds
it natural to say "we", though of course he requires no food himself.)
-
 Probe
finds what appears to be a clear and level area, and puts them down.
Go Back
|