Jared Porter paced the yard behind Merlin and Samantha’s house, his small hands jammed into two of his namesake pockets and his feet making tracks in the now-dry grass along the tall iron fence. He was happy for Merlin and Samantha on the birth of their children, but now that the event had finally taken place, the engineer was now anxious to see their new ship. He had been with the Blue Horizon since Merlin had originally set up the business a decade earlier, and although he had become intimately familiar with each vessel to carry the name, he was not particularly attached to the specific machine. From what Taro had told them of the new Kirin class freighter, he was anxious to see it and start to familiarize himself with its new systems.

He and his brother had been servicing Okami class freighters built on Dennier for nearly fourteen years, and while he knew those systems through and through, he was ready for something new. He and Jasper had often experimented with existing systems to improve performance, but with a prototype class of ship, everything was new. There would be plenty of opportunities to test and improve upon the freighter before it even went on the market, so he was now in the enviable position to mold and shape the vessel to his whims.

It bothered him little that there would be a Silloni engineer assigned to them for their first year. He would still be Chief Engineer, and would tap the new person's knowledge of fledgling technology. It would also be nice to have another individual on board with whom he could hold coherent technical conversations. Max had learned much in his short time, but he was still inexperienced and was lacking in practical knowledge. The young mechanic could learn a lot more with another engineer on board to guide him.

Pockets had enjoyed working on the H-model Okami version of the Blue Horizon, but as far as he was concerned, it was now an old and damaged tool to be replaced. Ironically, his new contract with Okami Corp for his Moss designs would limit the flobot for use only on Okami freighters. Yet another tool, Pockets would miss using Moss on board the new ship, so he may have to come up with a different design to work with the Silloni security systems. That was a challenge he was more than ready to face.

Anxious to get started familiarizing himself with the new vessel, Pockets had been to Merlin and Taro twice, entreating them to let he and Max go see the new ship. However, the new father was still too distracted with his family that he would do nothing more than tell Pockets to be patient. They would all go out to see the Kirin the first thing on the morrow. Pockets even tried to convince the wolf to divulge the location of the new ship, but Merlin refused to tell him where it was parked.

The raccoon continued his pacing, but then looked up at the sound of footsteps in the grass. Renny wore a smirk on his face, but Pockets was in no mood to hear about anything else that Merlin may have discovered about his children. However, Jared Porter was not the grumpy sibling between he and his brother, so he greeted the cheetah with a look of amusement.

"What's tickling your fuzz?" he asked.

Renny chuckled and shook his head.  "You, Justy, Lori and Max have all worn down Merlin's patience," he said. Pockets' eyes lit up with hope. "He still doesn't want to leave his new family just yet," Renny continued, "so he has asked Master Tristen to take us all out to see the new ship. He's already given the security codes to Taro. We can leave as soon as everyone's in the van."

Pockets tried to split his face with a wide grin. "What are we waiting for?" he asked, taking a few steps toward the house. "I'll race ya to the van!"

Renny raised an eyebrow at the raccoon's challenge to race a cheetah, but he gave the engineer a grin and nodded his chin. "I'll give you a head start," he said.

Renny guided the passenger van along the marked lanes toward the spaceport tarmac, following Tristan's open-air vehicle at a safe distance. Talk had been animated on the drive from the Sinclair home on Totter's Lane, but now voices were hushed as they drew nearer their anticipated destination.

"Is this a joke?" Pockets asked, hanging onto the back of Taro's front seat. "Master Tristan's taking us back to our ship!" Indeed, their familiar Okami H-model freighter rested on its landing gear directly ahead of them.

Taro grinned at the raccoon over her shoulder and shook her head. "No joke, Pockets.  Merlin had landing pad eighteen reserved for us when we came in to Grandstorm. The Kirin is on pad seventeen and the Kokoro, Tristan's cruiser, is on pad sixteen." She pointed past their vessel, where they could just see the softly pointed nose of another ship beyond. "We landed right next to our new ship!"

"I hope the Horizon isn't jealous," Max said from somewhere in the back, "sitting next to her replacement."

Keeping up with the mechanic's analogy, Justy replied, "Nah, Max, I think she's ready for retirement. She's got several million miles of travel time on her bones and she's so damaged that repairs will never be made."

"Well, that's only partially true," Jerry countered. "I heard Merlin and Bill discuss selling the old ship to a local vocational technical school that uses decommissioned ships like this for their trainee mechanics to work on. It won't go for a top-credit price, but with its structural damage, it would be difficult to sell it otherwise."

"At least it won't be in a junk heap," Amanda added. "The Horizon deserves better than that."

"When do we get to move in?" Lori asked. "At least we won't have far to take our stuff."

Renny followed Tristan around their freighter and soon the new ship came into view. Taro locked her eyes onto the vessel she had seen only in the photographs she had passed around to her crew. "Tonight we're just here to visit and look around," she answered. "The call-sign transfer of the Blue Horizon name cannot take place until the old ship has been officially decommissioned tomorrow afternoon, and until that happens, we can’t set up shop. Merlin’s already made arrangements to have local officials on hand to do their officiating.”

“Wow, would you look at that!” Justy exclaimed. Although not as tall as the Okami freighter, the Kirin was longer and more slender, a fact accentuated by a pair of double white stripes that ran the length of its sides from bow to stern, just beneath a row of polarized glassteel windows. The vessel’s base color was royal blue and the early evening sunlight hit it just right to glisten. The Kirin rested on triangularly spaced landing gear, each a set of caterpillar treads that sat low beneath the relatively flat underbelly. There were aerodynamic nubs at the bottom of the structure beneath a pair of cargo bay doors that likely housed loading ramps not yet extended.

Renny pulled up beside Tristan’s parked vehicle on the vessel’s port side near the primary hatch. They knew from the photographs that another airlock hatch occupied a similar position on the starboard side of the fuselage. Taro and her crew piled out of the van as soon as the cheetah shut off the engine.

Pockets started to run for the hatch, but then checked himself and stopped.

“What’s the matter?” Max asked from his side.

The raccoon turned to him with a grin. “I just want to take it all in before I touch her,” he said. “Take a look there, Max. You see where the aft section flares out slightly? That’s over the propulsion nodules and will be our domain. C’mon, let’s go see ’em from the rear!”

Taro watched the mechanics trot away and gave Jerry a smile. “Did you see the sparkle in Pockets’ eyes?” she asked.

“Yeah, they were practically glowing,” the doctor replied with a laugh. He glanced toward the softly rounded nose of the craft and saw the ship’s name and registry number painted on the underside of the curvature. The photos had shown the same name and number below the Bridge windows, but that was on the upper surface. It made sense that it would be repeated below for landing crews on the ground to identify the vessel when coming in.

“Come on, Taro!” Lorelei called to her from the extended ramp below the airlock hatch. Justy and Amanda stood with her, and all acted as if they were awaiting permission to open holiday gifts. “Unlock it so we can go inside!” the bunny whined.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Taro said. She looked around for her First Officer and saw Renny quietly conversing with Tristan beside the van.

As the captain approached the airlock, Jerry silently studied the walkway ramp. It appeared that while in flight, it would swing up into a recessed trough around the airlock and fit flush into the fuselage to retain the vessel’s aerodynamic hull. Likewise, he noted, the dual cargo bay doors fit flush with the sleek surface. They were currently closed, but he idly wondered what method they used to retract when open.

“Move aside, Lori,” Taro told the white-furred doe. “I need to be right where you’re standing.”  Lorelei scooted to the side, bumping into Justy and nearly knocking him off the ramp.

Taro slide open another flush panel that revealed a key slot and ten-digit number pad above it. The vixen retrieved a small plastic card from within the envelope she had carried from the van and read off the security passcode. She tapped the sequence on the key pad, and she was rewarded with an active green diode.

Standing beside the airlock, they could hear the internal mechanism cycle a moment before the panel pulled in several inches and then slide to the right within the hull. Just inside was the pressurization chamber, large enough to hold four suited people, if needed. Since the ship was on land in a friendly environment, the internal airlock door was already open. In flight, both panels would be closed and sealed against external climates.

Justy rushed through first and found a control panel just inside. Overhead light panels came on, but instead of standing inside the cargo bay, they found themselves in a wide corridor with walls of azure. A glassteel window on their right looked out into the hold, but a connecting pressure door was farther up the corridor. Rather than check out the cargo deck, however, they followed the passage across the breadth of the vessel, bypassing several intersecting doors; they walked directly into the starboard side airlock to the outside.

“Did we get turned around?” Lori asked. “We’re right back where we started!”

“How?” said Justy. We walked in a straight line!”

“I think one of the doors we passed was the lift,” Amanda suggested.

“What about the others?” Justy asked.

“Probably storage closets for pressure suits, equipment or access to internal systems,” Jerry replied.

“Back this way,” Taro said. She headed back the way they came, and after a moment, they saw Renny standing in the doorway of a large lift.

“What did you find?” he asked.

“Just the other airlock,” Justy replied. He moved past the cheetah into the lift and made room for the others who filed in behind him.

Jerry activated the control and the elevator took them up quickly. When the single door panel slid aside, they stepped out onto earth tone carpet. Automated lights in recessed panels came on immediately and illuminated a short corridor that led away to both port and starboard sides of the ship. The end of the passage made right angle turns toward the aft areas of the vessel in two  hallways that mirrored one another.  Lori looked down the starboard long corridor and saw a row of door panels on both sides of the passage. Amanda went to the end of the port corridor and saw much of the same thing.

Due to his being the shortest individual in the present group, Justy noted that all the doorways and corridors seemed higher than usual. He had no doubt that it was due to the ship having been designed by larger Silloni unicorn and Ryuji dragon engineers.

“Here’s the Bridge,” Renny said. Everyone turned to look at the cheetah. The lift had opened up next door to the command center and they had completely missed seeing it beside them.

“I’m going exploring,” Justy said with a wave. He disappeared down the portside corridor with Lori in tow, while Jerry and Amanda wandered off down the starboard hallway. 

Taro looked at Renny and smiled. “That leaves you and me, Luv.” The navigator gave her a smirk and then a quick kiss before he turned toward the interior of the Bridge.

“Want to see if the door has a lock on it?” he asked slyly. Taro laughed and gently pushed him into the room. The lights here did not come on automatically, so the vixen fumbled around a moment before finding the switch. The illumination was not bright, giving just enough light to read instruments labeled in Standard.

The Bridge was an oval shaped room, with a large curving glassteel window occupying the forward wall. There were two pilot stations right up front, with the other stations arranged in a semi-circle behind them. Upon closer examination, Renny discovered that one of the forward consoles was Astrogation, while the one next to it was the Helm.

The room was not overly large and instrumentation covered most of the walls and low ceiling. Taro guessed that once powered up, the room would have plenty of light from backlit dials and control touch pads.

Renny sat down in the pilot seat and slid his tail through the slotted chair back. He adjusted the seat to his anatomy and then looked at the console before him. He was relieved to find a standard set of guidance shifts with swivel handles that would control all three axis, four foot pedals on the floor, and several other levers mounted on both sides of seat. The console itself was equipped with indicators and controls for all aspects of flight, for interstellar and atmospheric travel. He looked above him and saw controls for the Hyld system within easy reach.

“Can I take it out for a test drive, Captain?” the cheetah quipped with a smile. Taro pursed her lips and shook her head with a mock stern look. “Not today, Junior,” she replied, walking toward two door panels at the back of the room.

One opened up into a small lavatory, and the other into a small room with a desk built into the wall with two recessed file cabinets. Taro assumed it was designed to be the captain's office, but she noted there was no door out into the hallway. Whoever came to see the captain while she was in there would have to come through the back of the Bridge compartment to see her. It was not a problem, just a noted difference.

“Why don’t we go check out the cabins and see what the beds are like?”

Renny raised his eyebrows at her. “Feeling frisky already?”

“No, silly, but I do want to see the rooms. As fearless leader, I get to pick out mine first.”

“That’s not fair! What if I wanted the room you choose?”

Taro smiled at him. “In that case, you might have to just share it with me.”

“Yeah, I thought so. You are feeling frisky!”

The vixen laughed and grabbed his wrist. “C’mon, Ren-Ren, let’s go see what we have.”

"Well, the Infirmary was rather generic," Jerry muttered, stepping out in the corridor with his coyote companion. He shut off the light and closed the door behind them.

"It's larger than the one on the Horizon," Amanda assured him. "You should be pleased with that."

"Yes, but there's too much automation in there," the fox replied. "However, I can alter the place to my liking. At least there's a good-sized file cabinet built into the wall. I can move all my records out of the boxes in my cabin into the Infirmary, anyway."

"Speaking of cabins, I want to see what they look like here," Amanda said. She turned around, walking backward along the hallway, looking back at the doctor with a smile.

"What are you so cheery about?" Jerry asked.

"Samantha had her puppies, Silly! That should make anyone cheery. Why are you so grumpy today?" Amanda countered with a grin.

The fox stopped at a random cabin door without answering and thumbed the control. The panel slid aside and he reached in to turn on the lights. Amanda walked back to him and hooked an arm through one of his. He raised an eyebrow at her and then led her inside.

Amanda and Jerry stopped just inside the door, both of them wearing sudden frowns. The cabin was considerably smaller than the ones they had on the Okami freighter. The bed was little larger than a twin, tucked into an alcove in the wall, with storage above and below it. Across from the bed was a dresser, also built into the wall, with six drawers below the counter and a moderate size vidscreen mounted above it.. Next to the dresser was a closet large enough to walk into. However, once it was filled with clothing, there would barely be room to turn around in it. A full-length mirror occupied the inside panel of the closet door. Beside the wall at one end of the bed was a cushioned chair before a built-in desk that was equipped with a monitor and keyboard. At the other end of the room was another door that led to a small lavatory with a multi-species toilet, a counter with a sink, and a large shower. There was no bathtub for soaking, something that Amanda loved using in her current cabin on board the Horizon.

In all, the entire cabin was no larger than a single-occupancy hotel room. It was a nice room, just smaller than what they were used to.

"I don't believe this," Jerry muttered. "They want us to spend all our time in here when we're not on duty?"

Amanda had to check her own disappointment before responding. "Well," she said quietly, "Taro did say that with the new engines we would not be spending weeks at a time out in space between worlds.  I guess the engineers didn't feel we needed much room if we weren't going to be in them as much."

The doctor looked over at her and nodded. He let out a long sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I guess that makes sense," he said, "but I don't think I like it." He poked at the mattress to test its firmness and added, "It may be faster, but I think we should be glad that Merlin didn't have to buy this ship."

"It's a prototype," Amanda reminded him. "One of our tasks will be to make suggestions and recommendations for improvements to the company for future models. I vote we propose larger cabins as a design change."

"It's not as big as what we have on the Horizon," Justy said as he stretched out on the bed of a cabin he and Lori had ducked into, "but I like it!"

The white doe stretched out on the mattress next to him. "Why?" she asked. "I admit it's cozier, but it's a lot smaller than ours."

Justy grinned and began to pet the soft fur of the arm she draped across him. "I always thought the Horizon's cabins were too large for my tastes," he replied. "I've stayed in some cabins in a luxury liner that were smaller than this, but a larger room is harder to keep clean."

"Yeah, well, you don't have as much stuff as the rest of us," Lori agreed. "Your cabin is always so sparse and looks almost empty. Why is that?"

"I'm still trying to figure out why most of you keep as much stuff as you do!" the koala countered. "I have only what I need, and a few things that I fancy, but there's no need to keep loads of stuff that you may only use or even look at once in a long while."

The bunny's blue eyes sparkled with her smile. "Those bits of things and stuff are pieces of memory, Justy. I can pick up my trinkets and associate good times with each one of them. They help me remember those times, when I might otherwise forget them."

"Did you see all the clutter and junk that was all over Damien's cabin when we cleaned it?" the koala asked. "If that stuff was reminders of good memories, I don't even what to think about what he might consider good times."

Lori rested her chin on his shoulder with a frown. "Well," she mused sadly, "he probably did not have many good things to remember. In his case, I suppose his stuff was just clutter that he never bothered to throw away." She fell quiet for several moments and then moisture began to rim her eyes when she remembered the reason he had been so closed off from everyone.

Justy reached up and wiped away a tear from her cheek fur with a finger, and then he used it to tickle the end of her pink nose. "Don't think about it, Lori. We have a new ship, so let's go explore it some more!"

Her expression softened and she leaned in to give him a tender kiss before crawling back off the bed. "Okay," she said with a little smile. "I want to see the galley."

Renny opened a door in the corridor and took a peek in at the air and water reclamation units inside. So far, they had found the laundry room, empty storage closets, system lockers and the ship's computer mainframe. Fourteen cabins also lined the passage, seven in each corridor.

The navigator shut the door and looked at Taro. "There's so much equipment in there, a couple wouldn't have enough room to hide out and get frisky!"

The vixen shook her head in amusement, but did not bother with a reply. They had reached the end of the starboard corridor without meeting anyone else, so they turned the corner and found two doors, each across the hall from one another.

The door on the right was adorned with the PA-universal symbol for eating: a vertical fork, knife and a spoon arranged side by side and crossed by a pair of horizontal chopsticks. That would be the galley, so they turned to the remaining door on the left to see what was inside.

Aside from the cargo deck seen through the glassteel window when they had first come on board, the recreation room was the largest compartment they had found so far. A large window dominated the far wall and was looking aft of the ship between the round flared edges of engine pods. This particular view overlooked the spaceport toward the Arvallian Sea.

The floor was covered in dark earth-tone carpet, the walls were a pale blue that was almost white, and there were two skylight windows in the ceiling between light panels. Two curving sofas resided in front of the window that contained near-invisible circuitry for vidscreen display. The room was relatively empty of recreational equipment, but they had plenty on board the Okami with which to fill it.

"Not bad," Renny commented. "Since our cabins are smaller, I can see myself spending more of my free time in here."

"You probably won't need your exercise equipment, though, "Taro said, pulling him back out into the corridor.  "You're going to get plenty of exercise moving cargo every two or three days."

"Maybe, but I'm not leaving our equipment behind!"

Taro thumbed the control to enter the galley, but before the door opened, they could hear voices raised in heated argument. The panel slid aside and they saw Jerry leaning over a long dining table toward a flustered Justy. Lori sat beside the koala and Amanda was opposite her beside the fox, both of them looking apprehensive.

"—can be repaired!" Jerry shouted at the computer tech. "He can just hire another—" His words trailed off when everyone looked up at the captain and her First Officer.

"What's going on, guys?" Taro asked with a twitch of her whiskers. Renny took up a station just behind her to the left as the door panel shut behind his tail.

"I like the ship," Justy said, hooking a thumb up at the doctor. "He doesn't."

Jerry sat down, but looked up at the captain. “May I ask you a question?”

Taro appeared as if she were going to say something, but then changed her mind and simply replied, “Ask.”

“During the test of this ship, does Merlin actually own it?

“No, it belongs to the Silloni. We’re only testing it for them.”

“If Mister Tristan had not handed Merlin a new ship, would he have spent the money to have the Blue Horizon repaired?”

“Yes, of course he would.”

The male fox looked over at Justy and said, “There you have it.”

“What is this between you two?” Renny wanted to know. He sat down at the end of the galley table and leaned back against the wall behind him.

“I think Merlin should have our ship repaired and leave us on it,” Jerry answered. “There’s no need for him to sell it to a bunch of trainees. With his plans for the increased workload, he should make plenty of money during those two years to pay another crew to test it, plus have plenty to reimburse the repairs to the Horizon for us.”

“I doubt Merlin will change his mind about this ship,” Taro replied. “He and Master Tristan have been planning this for months.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Jerry said irritably. “He can go ahead and test this ship, just don’t knock us out of our own ship to do it! He’ll have enough extra credits to pay another bunch to crew it for him.”

“It’s my turn to ask you a question,” Taro said, leaning against the wall beside the door. Jerry looked uncertain, but he gave his captain a nod. “Why are you so adamant against upgrading to a new ship?”

The male fox opened his mouth to speak, shut it again, and then gave the question some thought for a moment before giving an answer. “Upgrades are fine,” he said slowly, “but that’s fine for equipment. As a doctor, I don’t think everyone in this crew will be up to the workload that will be forced upon them.” He gestured to those around him. “Look at them and think about it. Neither Justy, Lori, Amanda, nor even Pockets are built to do a lot of lifting.” Justy opened his mouth to speak up, but Jerry cut him off with an impatient wave of his hand.

“They do fine when they have to move cargo once every three weeks, but now the plan is to load and unload the ship every two or three days.  You can forget them going on shore leave during the day it takes the new engine to recharge. They will be too exhausted in their tiny cabins to move after the first several days. Renny, Max and I are probably in better shape that we could do it only a few days more than them before we would join them in exhaustion. Taro, you could outlast any of us, but you’re the captain and you sure aren’t going to move the cargo by yourself.”

“Those are valid concerns,” Renny said, “but —“

“As cargo movers, we’re a soft lot,” Jerry interrupted. “Myself included. Let Merlin hire a physically fit crew with an athletic trainer to do the kind of workload he intends with this ship. The science of the faster engine is great, but I don’t think he’s thought through the physical repercussions of its application in freight transfer.”

“The rest of us aren’t afraid of hard work, despite our sizes,” Justy grumbled.  “I think you just prefer lying around for three or more weeks at a time to get your pay!” The koala was usually an easy-going guy, but the fox’s ill mood was rubbing off on him.

Jerry took a swipe at him angrily, but Taro slammed her palm flat on the table and startled him before he could connect. “Calm down,” she said darkly. “Both of you.”

“He started it!” Justy complained.

“I’m going to finish it!” Taro snapped. “Listen, all of you. As Renny said, Doc has some valid concerns. The testing of a prototype system means more than just testing the equipment. It also means testing the way we do things. If something doesn’t work out, we can make suggestions to change the way procedures are done so others to follow can benefit from it.”

The vixen walked over to Jerry and stood behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders. “You and I can talk with Merlin and discuss your concerns with him. It’s very possible that moving cargo every two or three days is only a preliminary arrangement at this early stage in the testing, and once he is aware of your thoughts, he’ll probably be willing to work with you on a schedule that would be more feasible.” She began to knead his shoulders gently. It startled him at first, but he did not attempt to stop her ministrations.

“You’ve never really worked with Merlin,” she told him as everyone else remained quiet, “but he was my captain for almost ten years before he left the ship in my care. He always allowed his crew to come to him with their concerns, and he always listened. If it was something he could change and felt would be a benefit, he never had a problem doing it. Let’s talk to him in a civil manner, and you’ll see how attentive he will be to your concerns.”

“You think he will accept my idea to repair the Horizon and keep it in service?” Jerry asked in surprisingly normal tones.

“You never know, he might. On the other hand, the structural damage to our ship may prove too expensive to repair. Even without the agreement with Sillon, he may have needed to buy another ship to replace the Horizon to stay in business. In any case, Merlin may heed your advice about the workload on the Kirin and loosen it up so that the crew doesn't have too many jobs so close together to cause fatigue.”

“Knowing him, he might even come up with a third option,” Renny suggested.

Jerry closed his eyes and felt tense muscles relax under Taro’s massage. “In the meantime,” the vixen said with a glance over at Justy, “control your tempers if you don’t like what someone else has to say. That’s all I’m going to say on that matter. If I have to bring it up again, some heads will roll.  Now… this new ship will have both pros and cons, but try not to nit-pick it to death. We’re going to have it for two years, so there’s no need to try to find all its faults right off. Come to either me or Renny with your comments, and in turn, we’ll present them to Merlin and Master Tristan.”

She looked around the room, but no one else appeared to have anything more to say at the moment. “Okay, she said with a look at her watch, “go ahead and look around some more if you want – I know that I do. We’ll meet down at the van in an hour and then we’ll head back to Merlin and Samantha’s house for supper.”

The door to the galley suddenly slid open. Pockets burst in to the room, followed more slowly by Max and Tristan. “Wow, have you guys seen the ship?” the raccoon exclaimed gleefully. “This is gonna be great!”

Mid-morning of the next day, Merlin Sinclair casually sat down at the Kirin's pilot station and motioned for Taro to take another seat. He examined the console in front of him for a moment and then spied what he was looking for. A video box appeared in the middle of the forward window, displayed by its near-invisible internal circuitry. The image on the vidscreen showed a view of the cargo deck, where the dual bay doors were open to let in the late morning sunshine while Master Tristen and a younger pinto-patterned Silloni woman led a small group of PASS journalists on a casual tour of both Hyld-equipped vessels they had brought to Dennier.

Local representatives of the Planetary Alignment Scientific Society had been invited to examine the Kokoro and Kirin as part of the Silloni spokesman's public announcement on the Hyper-LightDrive's existence.

The Bridge speakers picked up Master Tristan's rich tones explaining that through their intention to develop a faster system to bridge the distance between the Mytha star system and the rest of the PA, a breakthrough technology shared with Sillon's sister world Ryu provided the solution to the problem. He went on to explain that only the two prototypes had been constructed, but if successful after a two-year testing period, the Hyld engine systems would be mass-produced for sale to the rest of the Planetary Alignment.

"Due to their immeasurable help to Sillon when star SDC-971 exploded and disrupted communications," Tristan told them, "our government has selected Blue Horizon Freight Transfer of Dennier to test the freighter design of our Hyld system. Testing will begin— yes?"

He nodded toward a yellow Labrador who had raised a hand for attention. "Thank you, sir," she said. "Are you aware that word has been circulating that Blue Horizon is not a reliable freight transfer company? Is it wise to trust this technological miracle to such a business?"

Merlin sat up straight in his chair, flattening his ears against his head. On the screen, Master Tristan nodded and clasped his hands together behind his back. "I have heard this," he replied, "but there has been no evidence to support such an accusation that likely originated with a competitor. Following the Siilv War, the captain of the Blue Horizon practiced sound business tactics and kept his company above the rough waters of economic instability. They did well enough that extra ships had to be added to their small fleet to handle the business coming their way. Other freightliners were not so fortunate and no doubt envious, so I would suggest the foundationless rumors began there." The look of confidence on the unicorn's face betrayed no second thoughts.

"Blue Horizon Freight Transfer has the full support of both the Silloni and Ryujin governments, the latter of which has been actively sought for membership into the Planetary Alignment.  Our choice of test crew is not open for negotiation, so let us move on to the more important issues for which you were invited here to report. Testing will begin within a week's time, as soon as the crew has acquired sufficient instruction on the new vessel's operation.  Now, for the technical aspects of the Hyld system, I wish to introduce you to this lovely engineer who will join the Blue Horizon's crew for its first year of testing."

Merlin muted the sound and swiveled his seat to face his flagship captain. "Well," he said quietly, "the secret is now out of the bag. Granted, the information was given to a technical science group, rather than released through multimedia news channels, but I'm sure INN and others will eventually find out about it."

"Something of this nature will be too important to the Planetary Alignment for this to stay quiet for long," Taro agreed. "When the news does break, I hope you and the Home Office are prepared for the flood of folks demanding to know more about the new propulsion system." The vixen absently toyed with the ornamental feather hanging from a disk clipped to the fur behind her left ear. "Personally, I wouldn't have even told the scientific community about it until the testing was well underway, or even completed. That way we could have continued to operate our business without having to deal with newshounds or idiots who might want to take the ship from us."

Merlin nodded. "That was my original suggestion to Master Tristan as well, but he seems to feel the dangers will be at a minimum, and that the scientists have a right to know about such a breakthrough, even through they have no intention of stating where the technology originated."

Taro looked at him in hesitation. "Have you had the chance to think about what we told you last night?" she asked.

"Yes," the wolf replied. "I agree with your doctor about the workload. Although we have the means to move a lot of freight in a short period of time, that doesn't mean we have to fill our workload as full as it can be.  However, once these ships are available to the public, you know that some captains will put their people and their schedules to the limit to bring in as many credits as possible."

"Yes, but that won't be for at least another two years," Taro countered. "While we are testing the new ship and procedures, there's no reason to push the crew to their limits right away, is there?"

Merlin shook his head. "No, there is no reason for that," he agreed. "As soon as the home office was open this morning, I instructed Cindy to start altering the delivery schedule per Jerry's recommendations. She and Keri should be working on that right now."

"That's good to know. What about the other request?"

The wolf grew quiet for a moment, but then shook his head. "No, I’m sorry. The structural damage to the Horizon is too great to keep her in service. While we were all at my house awaiting the birth of the pups this weekend, there were engineers from Okami Corp. out here looking at the damage for me."

"What?" Taro exclaimed. "You had people on board my ship without telling me about it?"

"That's right," Merlin replied in a stern voice. "I had already anticipated the argument you and Jerry gave me last night after supper, so I wanted an unbiased engineering inspection of the damage to your ship without interference. I had Stuart Sloan accompany them into the ship, but they were not allowed on the upper decks."

Taro crossed her arms and looked at him defiantly, but then turned away when she could not maintain contact with his piercing gaze. When she did not say anything, the wolf continued.

"The Oubliette did more damage than you realize," he said. "That solvent melted a hole through both of your hulls, right across a major structural rib, and when the substance finally played out, the immediate area around it crystallized and became brittle. Yes, you were able to affix a patch over the hole to allow you to repressurize that deck, but when you dropped out of orbit to land, normal gravitational and atmospheric stresses of aerodynamic flight further strained the fatigued structure. The engineers believe that the major load-bearing rib fractured like a dry stick close to the moment you landed. Had you been in the air much longer, the ship may have come apart on you to disastrous results."

Taro leaned forward, trying to make sense of the technical explanation he had given her. "When that bomb took out the Hidalgo Sun's airlock and cargo bay door, they had more damage than what we got, but yet they were able to repair the damage to get their ship back in business!"

"Taro, you are only looking at the external evidence of the damage. That bomb did not do the same thing to the Hidalgo Sun as what Bennington's associates did to the Blue Horizon. That structural rib cannot be simply patched like a cracked bulkhead or replaced with a spare in stock.  The ship is built around the keel and ribs. It's not a replaceable part; the metal fatigue has become so great that I'm not sure I would even trust a short flight from this spaceport to a junk yard!"

The vixen swallowed hard as the realization finally sunk in with understanding. The death of her first ship was just as final as Merlin's first one had been. Slowly, she nodded and dropped her hands into her lap.

"What about buying another Okami to replace her?" Taro asked. "Surely the insurance from the damage would pay for a good part of the cost. That's what you would have done anyway, right?"

Merlin looked at her compassionately and leaned forward in his chair. "Taro, you know as well as I that if the test of the Kirin is successful, I will be replacing my entire fleet with these ships. It's true that I would have purchased another Okami to replace the Horizon under normal circumstances, but with the present situation, you know I'm not going to spend that kind of money for a ship that I know will be replaced. The need is simply not there."

Merlin sat up and rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. "We already have a replacement for your damaged ship, Taro. You are still in command if you want to be."

She looked up at him in surprise. "You were thinking of replacing me?" she asked hoarsely.

"Not at all. I think you've done a fine job, but you didn't seem like you were really interested in this ship. I know Doc isn't interested, and I'm afraid we may have to make some personnel transfers as you and I discussed a couple days ago."

Taro released a long sigh. "I'm sorry, Merlin," she said. "Yes, I'm interested in remaining captain of the Horizon, no matter what class of vessel she may be."

"Very good," the wolf said with a smile. "There's no one else I would rather have in command of this sparkler."

"Sparkler?"

Merlin chuckled. "The ship is sparkling new – thus, a sparkler."

Taro laughed and felt more at ease than she had since the conversation with her crew in the galley the night before. She stretched languidly and then wiped the back of her hands across her eyes.

"I would hate to lose Doc from my crew," she finally said after a moment, "but I won't try to make him stay against his wishes."

"After Master Tristan has finished with his presentation to the PASS representatives, we'll need to assemble your crew. We will give them all the details on why I'm not replacing or repairing the Horizon, and then we can talk to them about their service on the new ship. I'll get on the Com to the captains of the Hidalgo Sun and the Mooncrest tomorrow after we talk with your people. Neither Rezo nor Corwin knows about the Kirin, so I'll need to give them the details I gave you the other night, minus the connection to Natasha. Probably best if I do it in a conference call so I don't have to say it all more than one more time.  I'd like you to be there, since it's your crew mates you'll be discussing in the end."

"Yeah, okay. Even if none of my crew chooses to leave, I still have to extend the offer of transfer to Mark Littlefeather as cargo load master, but I don't want to do it until his captain knows what's going on."

The door to the Bridge suddenly opened and Master Tristan looked in at them. "Please excuse us, Captain," he said warmly. "I would like to show your command center to our guests."

"Of course, please do," Taro said with a smile. She stepped forward to extend a hand toward the first of the visitors. "Welcome aboard the Kirin, soon to be recommissioned as the Blue Horizon. I am Captain Nichols."

Merlin got to his feet and moved quietly aside to let others come into the small room. He was pleased that Taro had finally come to understand the situation. However, they still had to face her crew.

Just outside Engineering, Pockets held his palm up to a biometric scanner set into the wall beside the door. A small diode beneath scan glass blinked from red to amber, but otherwise did nothing. The raccoon looked aside to his partner and shrugged.

"Maybe there's no power to it yet," Max suggested.

"I don't think that's it," Pockets replied.  He withdrew his hand and tried again. “Still nothing.  You try it."

Max put his palm up to the scanner, but he had no more luck than the chief engineer did. "Maybe we can't get in until the ship has been formally commissioned," he said.

"It was working for Master Tristan's crew who flew it here. There must be a trick to it."

"Has your chief engineer initialized it with the security passcode?" asked another voice.  Max and Pockets started and looked around sharply. Neither of them had heard the lithe Silloni woman come up behind them. She smiled at them calmly, secretly amused that she had surprised them.

"Hello," she said in a light voice, picking a spot of link from the front of her crème-colored blouse. "We have not yet been introduced. I am Suzuko." She was not as tall as Tristan or Gweniviere; although her alicorn towered above her by nearly a foot, she was no taller than either Taro or Renny. She wore a delicate gold chain from her neck and it glittered lightly in the corridor lights when she moved toward them.

The raccoon smiled up at her. "Suzuko, hello! My name is Jared Porter, but everyone calls me Pockets.  I'm the Chief Engineer. This is Max Sinclair, my partner mechanic."

"Hi," the German Shepherd said quickly.

"Sinclair?" repeated the woman. "I thought Mr. Sinclair's family line was lupine."

Max gave her a wide grin. "I'm his adopted nephew," he told her.

"Ah, I see," she said. She looked at Pockets. "You said you were the chief engineer? You should have the security passcode for engineering. Otherwise, I cannot let you inside."

The raccoon nodded. No one was allowed in engineering without authorization anymore, and she was adhering to the policy. Anyone could say he was authorized, but without the codes, entry was not permitted.  He dug into a chest pocket and withdrew a small envelope that Master Tristan had given him.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "We're not yet familiar with this new design. I wasn't sure what to do to get set up."

Suzuko gave him a warm smile. "That's why I'm here. I am to be assigned to your crew for the first year of testing. May I have your passcodes, please?  I will show you how to set up the biometric scanner to recognize your prints."

Pockets remembered policy, too. He shook his head and said, "Thanks, but if you'll just instruct me on what to do, I'll hang onto the passcode."

Suzuko nodded. "Very good, Mr. Porter. Had you given me the passcode, I would have marked it as a violation of our security agreement."

Max furrowed his brow.  "Are we to be tested as well as the ship?" he asked guardedly. "I'm not sure everyone will like having a snitch on board."

The unicorn chuckled, but shook her head. "No, Mr. Sinclair, that's not why I'm here. However, due to the sensitivity of this new system, we must take our security very seriously. Foremost, I am an engineer and will be an actual member of your crew. I don't have any authority over your chain of command, but if I see any major violations, please understand that I am under obligation to report them."

"I see," said Pockets quietly. "I have my passcode. What do I need to do to get us into the system?"

Suzuko stepped up next to him and tapped a blank section of the wall panel just beneath the scanner. A hidden alphanumeric keypad flipped out at a forty-five degree angle and Pockets grinned when it clicked into place.

"Type in your sixteen digit passcode and then press the white button." Pockets pulled a small beige card from the envelope and studied it for a moment before he tapped in the alphanumeric sequence. He tapped the white button and then the red diode beneath the scan glass changed to amber.

"Place one palm on the scanner. Now with your other hand, hit the white button twice."  Pockets did as instructed. He expected the glass to glow, hear a hum, or something, but there was no visible activity with the scanner. Only the tiny diode beneath it changed its color to blue.

"Okay, you are now in the system, Mr. Porter," Suzuko said.  "Has Mr. Sinclair been authorized for access to the engine room?"

Pockets nodded and stepped back. "Yes, this is his work station."

"Mr. Sinclair, please place a hand on the scanner."  Max quietly did as he was told, still somewhat unsure of her purpose for being there. The diode turned red as soon as his hand came in contact with the scanner glass. Pockets worked the keypad, and a moment later, the diode changed once again to blue.

"The captain and her First Officer will need to be added in the same manner, but for now you will need to input the passcode once again to close out the sequence."

Pockets did as instructed and then tucked the beige card back in its envelope. "Now what?" he asked.

Suzuko tapped the bottom of the keypad and then it flipped back into place, the panel fitting flush with the wall. "Now, when you need to enter the engine room, simply place your palm upon the scanner. It will detect your presence and automatically check to make sure you are in the system. There is an identical scanner on the other side of the door. Likewise, you will not be able to leave the compartment without the scanner."

"What if there's a power failure?" Max asked. "How do we get out if the scanner's not working?"

"There's an emergency exit inside that I will show you, but you must not reveal its existence to anyone else on the crew," Suzuko answered with a sudden smile that crinkled the corners of her large brown eyes. "It isn't even on the original diagrams."

"We could have used one of those on our last voyage," Max replied.

Pockets reached up and laid his palm face down on the scanner.  As before, there was no visible activity other than the tiny diode changing color. This time it turned green and the pressure door slid aside smoothly. "Nice," the raccoon said with a grin.

Suzuko walked in through the door and Pockets followed her inside. Max hesitated for just a heartbeat before he walked into the new engine room. The panel slid shut behind him, almost trapping his tail against the door jamb, but he managed to jump out of the way just before it sealed.  He sighed quietly, resolving to learn to get through that door more quickly.

Taro's crew was to meet in the Rec Room of the new ship for a staff meeting she had called, but it was not for another hour.  Plenty of time, Pockets thought to himself.  He walked quietly up and down the aisles of Engineering with a small black box tucked under one arm, making sure he was alone. He and Max had just met with engineers from Okami Corp. concerning the damage to the Horizon at Merlin's insistence, and the raccoon had been in full agreement of their assessment.

With his excitement over the capabilities of the new Kirin freighter, Pockets felt no remorse over the loss of their old vessel. Although he had long been intimately familiar with the Okami design, he was thrilled to have an entirely new ship to discover.

Max was over on the Blue Horizon, boxing up his personal effects to get ready for the eventual move to his new cabin. Technically, they could not transfer operations to the new vessel until the two ships were processed through their commissions later that day, but Suzuko had gone with Tristan back to the Sinclair home and Pockets wanted to use the time alone to make a small modification.

When he and Max had taken their initial tour through the engine room led by the Silloni pinto, he had taken a close inspection of the Hyld system that was modeled after Natasha's Particle Vault system. He was impressed by what he saw, but saw nothing that resembled the safety box that Calissa had constructed and installed onto the Blue Horizon while they were on Se'rei.

According to Calissa, traveling by Vault had its share of dangers, only some of which she had warned him about, and then only hinting at some that she said were rare occurrences and so outlandish that she doubted he would even believe her if she told him what they were. The component appeared to have only two outward color diodes, and as long as the green light was on, she had said the Vault was safe to use.

However, if it should ever show red at any time, under no circumstances were they to use the Vault. She would not elaborate, only telling him it was for their protection; it was not a rule they should ever bend. Both lights would go dark after a Vault jump discharged the unit. Only when it was safe to use again, the green diode would illuminate.

Although the unit was in a molecularly-sealed box, Calissa had shown him where in the primary system to install it. It was a simple process, so with the proper tools, it would only take five minutes to set up.

Lorelei Easter stood dutifully at a serving cart she had brought up with her from the Horizon, handing out drinks to her crewmates as they entered the Kirin's Rec Room. The brightness of her rainbow tie-dyed tee shirt stood out vibrantly in the sunlight that streamed into the room from the window.

Amanda requested a glass of lemonade and the bunny filled a frosted glass with a pink liquid from a chilled pitcher. The coyote took her drink to one of the long curved couches and sat down between Renny and Doctor Somner. Jerry looked sullen, but Renny was all smiles as he chatted quietly with a female unicorn seated on his other side.

Amanda did not recognize the Silloni pinto, but admired the way she held herself. Her hair was predominantly white, and from what Amanda could see, her right shoulder and arm were chocolate brown, as were her mane and tail. She wore loose tan slacks shaped for her anatomy, and a bright yellow blouse. Her alicorn was pearly white with a hint of iridescent sheen, but Amanda thought that last might simply be an application of Silloni makeup to accent the beauty of her horn. The woman looked to be in her late twenties and she had an easy laugh toward something Renny had said to her.

In contrast, the coyote looked over at Jerry, who stared out the clear window before them. He seemed lost in thought, but the expression on his face and in his green eyes reflected some inner turmoil. She felt saddened that her friend was in such a mood concerning their situation, but with things being as they were, she did not think there was any real alternative.

The coyote had a small sense of foreboding about the meeting that Taro had called of her crew. It could be something as simple as direction to begin stocking the new ship, but with Merlin's presence at the gathering, she suspected it was something more.  The grey wolf stood over in a corner with the captain, whispering quietly with occasion glances back toward the congregating crew. Amanda shook her head and tried to shake off the feeling. Perhaps it was just the jitters at having to transfer to another vessel when she had not been on the other one for much more than a few months.

Pockets was the last to show up, and after he and Lori took the last spots on the other couch, Merlin and Taro walked over to the group. The vixen stood in front of the large window, dressed smartly in a pair of black slacks and a mint green blouse, while Merlin activated a control that polarized the glass completely so there would be no outside distractions.

"I hope you are comfortable," Taro told her people. "Merlin and I will need your full attention, but if anyone needs a break, just ask. First of all, let me tell you all that Merlin and I are in agreement over what we are going to discuss. We have had some long talks, and now it is time to let you know what we have come up with."  She looked at each of them before her for a moment before she added, "Let me remind you that this is a discussion, and any responses you may have are to be kept civil, as what is decided here today may affect your futures."

Amanda swallowed hard at the captain's last statement. Perhaps the feeling of foreboding was not inaccurate after all.

"The first topic I want to bring up is a suggestion brought up at our last meeting concerning replacement of the Blue Horizon with another Okami freighter." Jerry locked eyes with Taro, but otherwise kept his facial expression neutral. "While we were gathered at the Sinclair home this weekend, Merlin had the damage to the Horizon inspected by engineers from Okami Corp. After a thorough examination, it was determined that the damage to a primary structural rib is not reparable. We all knew this was probably the case, but now we have official confirmation. If you are interested, I can give you the details on the extent of the damage later. Pockets has already confirmed their findings, so there’s no doubt on the extent of the damages. But, our old ship will never fly again in its condition, and the tech school that will assume ownership may have to have it manually transported by a heavy-lifter."

There were nods around the room, but Jerry remained impassive. "However…" Taro continued, "It has been decided that with the likely replacement of all the current ships in our company with these Kirin-class freighters after our testing period has ended, there is no reason to spend the credits to replace the Horizon with another Okami model for such a short period. Due to Sillon's trust in us to test their new vessel, we have a replacement."

Jerry set his jaw firmly and Taro could see his neck muscles tighten up as he slowly crossed his arms. The vixen sighed inwardly and forced herself to break his penetrating stare to look around at the others.

"Nevertheless," she said, "Merlin agrees that the proposed workload imposed upon us with the new ship's capabilities was too ambitious and he has been working with the Home Office to relax it a bit to give us all a little recoup time between jobs.  We will still be making more shipments than we are used to, but we will no longer have three or four weeks of downtime between worlds. At first, we will be making one shipment a week until we get used to the physical demands of the new schedule. If we feel we can decrease the time between shipments later, I promise we will make the decision together – it will not be forced upon you."

Taro looked over her shoulder at Merlin, who stood with his back to the wall beside the large window. He gave her a subtle nod to let her know he was still there to back her up, and then she faced her silent people once more. She was surprised that no one had tried to interrupt her, but was grateful for their full attention.

"Now, several of you have come to me in private with your concerns about transferring our operations to the Kirin, and I have taken your feelings to heart, so this brings us to an announcement that is going to require a personal decision by each of you."

"Uh oh," Justy muttered beneath his breath. In the quiet of the room, however, everyone heard him.

"As we have been reminded, there are those among us who may not be as physically suited for extensive cargo moving as others. If… there are any of you who do not think you are up to the task with our new workload, Merlin has agreed to let—"

"Let us go?" Lori exclaimed with a deep frown.

Taro looked at the bunny with shake of her head. "Merlin has agreed to let you transfer to either of our other ships, providing one of your counterparts will agree to swap with you and come over this crew." Most of the eyes looking back at her reflected the surprise she knew they would feel. The vulpine doctor was no exception; his expression was of complete surprise. This was not an announcement he had anticipated.

"No one will lose his or her job, unless even this arrangement is not satisfactory," Taro said over the conversations that had started. "I know this is not a welcome thought, but if you wish to transfer to another ship, but none of your counterparts want to swap out with you, you will be left with the choice of staying here — or resigning your employment with us altogether." That stopped discussions and drew the focus back upon her.

"If it comes to that, you will not be penalized for breaking contract, but we will provide you with references for your next employer. At the moment, we have not informed the captains of the Hidalgo Sun or Mooncrest of our contract with Sillon, so there are none on those vessels who yet know anything about this ship. Once word gets out to them, however, I am sure there will be those within their crews who would be envious of the opportunity you folks have here. Keep in mind that if you do choose to swap out, it is extremely likely that the vessel you transfer to will also be replaced by a Kirin freighter in two years. However, I am sure we will have the shipping schedule shaped into something workable by that time and perhaps the new ship will not be so daunting then.

"The choice is yours, but since we are on a timetable, I'm afraid that I will need your decision whether to go or stay no later than 0900 tomorrow morning. That only gives you overnight to think about it, but Merlin is going to have a conference call with Captains Corwin and Kegawa tomorrow to give them the details of our Silloni contract. He will need to know if there are any swaps to be offered to their crews so he can set open discussions with those individuals immediately." A hand was raised. "Yes, Pockets?"

"Count me in," the raccoon said with a smile. "I'm staying!"

"No surprise, there," Renny said with a chuckle.

"Well, here's another non-surprise for you," Max piped up with a grin. "I'm staying with the crew, too!"

Taro raised her voice. "Before anyone else gives me an immediate response one way or the other," she said over beginning discussions, "I want you to think it over tonight. Even if you are sure of your decision right now, think about it. Tell me tomorrow morning – in private. I will get up early in the morning and will set up out in gazebo in Merlin's back yard. Your current contracts were for the old ship, so I will have new contracts for the two-year duration of the testing the new ship. Now, as with your previous contracts, you will be paid per voyage. This means that if you choose to serve with us on the new ship… and we make more frequent voyages…"

"More credits for everybody!" Pockets said excitedly.

"That's right," Taro continued, "but even if you are staying on board, you will still need to come out to me in the gazebo to sign your new contract." She looked out over the group, but purposely did not lock eyes with anyone. "Now listen to me, folks – this is very important. If you fail to sign your contract, or to inform me of your intention to swap with another crew by 0900, I will mark you down as needing references to take to another employer."

"Hey Max," Justy said with an impish grin, "if you want to move up the chain of command to Chief Engineer, now's your chance to slip Pockets a Mickey tonight so he oversleeps!" Some of the tension in the room dissipated with shared laughter. The raccoon pulled a rubber band from a shirt pocket and snapped Justy's arm with it. "Ow!"

Pockets pulled out another rubber band and aimed it at his partner. "You stay away from my drink, Max!" he growled playfully.

The German shepherd raised his hands as if he were being held up by an outlaw. "You'd better go to bed thirsty," he warned him with a smirk.

Renny and Taro exchange amused looks with one another as Merlin chuckled behind the vulpine captain.  Taro shook her head with a smile and clapped her hands a few times. When she finally held everyone's attention, she put her hands behind her back.

"Okay, now that we're on the subject of personnel, I have two announcements to make," she said.  "As you have probably noticed, we have a newcomer among us.  As part of our two-year contract, a Silloni engineer will join our crew for the first year as an advisor with the new ship and Hyld system. She is not here to spy on us, but will be working with Pockets and Max during all our tests and every day usages to help us over any rough areas. Once we get underway, if you have suggestions or recommendations on how the ship may need to be improved or altered before they are mass-produced for the public, she's the one to go to. This is Suzuko, everyone. She will be a regular member of our crew and will join us in all things as one of us, including cargo detail. Please introduce yourselves to her as you get the chance; get to know one another."

"Hi, Suzuko, I'm Lori!" the lapin doe said cheerily with a finger wave.

The unicorn waved back with a smile. "Hello, Lori," she replied.

"Later, she said!" Renny quipped.

"Moving right along," Taro continued. "In addition to all this, we are still in need of a cargo load master, so when we contact Captain Kegawa tomorrow, I am going to offer the position to Mark Littlefeather at Merlin's recommendation."

There were looks of surprise. Most of the crew was aware of the wolf's issues of trust with humans, but Merlin merely smiled back at their looks of wonder. "He's the best one for the job," he assured them, "and was my first choice for Mr. Legrand's replacement."

Taro winced inwardly. She had not wanted to mention the mastiff's name, and the expressions on several faces confirmed that they had suddenly recalled the reason for needing a new cargo load master. Merlin caught it too and cleared his throat.

"Listen, folks," he said. "Many of you attempted to help your crewmate through his unnamed troubles while he was with you, but his difficulties started before you ever met him. Whether or not he is guilty will be settled by a court of law, but there's nothing more you can do but try to remember him well. Now… I trust Mr. Littlefeather, and if he accepts the position, he will be one of you. Most of you already know Mark, and he's already a part of the company. If he agrees to the transfer, Master Tristan has agreed to rendezvous with the Hidalgo Sun in the Kokoro to bring Mark back to us. It will then be up to Captain Kegawa to hire someone to replace him at their next stop. Likewise, if any of you make the decision, Tristan will transport all other personnel swaps for us."

Taro motioned the wolf to stand beside her in front of her crew.  She looked at her watch and said, "If any of you have questions, you can come up to either of us tonight and you can be assured to get an honest answer. However, I need everyone to gather outside the cargo ramp of the old ship in about thirty minutes for a ceremony with local officials to decommission the old ship. Once that has taken place, Merlin will process the paperwork to transfer the name and operational status to this ship.  You are all now free for the next half hour."

Despite his verbal statements to everyone that the Blue Horizon was only a worn or broken tool to be traded in for a new one, Pockets wiped his eyes when the Dennieran official declared the H-model Okami vessel decommissioned. PA1138 was now permanently retired.  The oval-shaped flying saucer with dual paint that had been their home for the past three years was no longer the Blue Horizon. For official purposes, it was now a broken hulk that would soon be swarming with a new generation of students who would cut their engineering teeth on it. 

The SS Blue Horizon was now officially a Kirin-class Silloni freighter with the Planetary Alignment registry number PA28080.

In attendance was Captain Taro Nichols and her crew, Merlin Sinclair, president of Blue Horizon Freight Transfer, Master Tristen and the seven crewmembers who had traveled with him from Sillon on both the Kokoro and the Kirin, as well as three local officials from the PA Registry office to sign and stamp the final paperwork.

Afterward, Taro had a few quiet words with her crew while Merlin and Tristan took care of a few minor details with the officials.

"Okay, folks, you're free to do whatever you wish the rest of the evening," she said with a quick glance toward a sun that would soon descend in the distance. "The new Blue Horizon is officially in service, so feel free to spend time aboard her or the other ship. You can move some of your stuff if you wish, but you are not required to do so until Wednesday. At that time, we will begin a concerted push to transfer everything that is not part of the old ship over to the new one, with our first official liftoff next Saturday.

"For now, however, I want all of you to give serious thought to your contracts on whether you will continue serving on the Blue Horizon, transfer to the Hidalgo Sun or Mooncrest, or tender separation.  Merlin said he would be here with the van for another two hours, so you have a ride back to his place up until then.  As for me, I'm taking a cab back to his place to visit with Samantha and the pups as soon as we're done here.”

“I’ll ride back with you,” Renny said. “I’ll see plenty of both ships when we start to transfer everything over. Besides, I’m ready for supper.”

“You’re always ready for supper,” Pockets said with a grin. “As for me, though, I’m gonna hang around for a while.”

Like the raccoon, most of the others decided to hang around the ships for a while longer. Some wanted to get started boxing up their personal effects, while a couple others wanted the time to give Taro’s proposals the serious thought they deserved.

Due to his previous reaction, practically everyone already knew what Jerry’s thoughts were on the matter, but now that they could all disperse, he seemed more relaxed and at ease.

When Taro and Renny hailed a cab for a ride back to the Sinclair home, the doctor joined them. “I’ll split the cost with you,” he said with a smile. When they looked at him curiously, he shrugged and said, “If I don’t get in on supper now, Renny won’t leave anything for me to eat later!”

Taro laughed and wondered if she had misjudged the male fox. He and the cheetah had long been friends and for the first time in a long while, he acted in a lighthearted manner.

“Well, you’ll have to get inside the door ahead of me,” Renny said with a dig to the doctor’s ribs while Taro gave the destination address to the driver.

“Yes, I know… Just make sure my fingers are out of the way when you get started!” Jerry quipped.

The cab pulled out into traffic and the trio spent the entire journey back to Totter’s Lane in relaxed conversation. None of them brought up the evening’s serious topics, but instead bantered back and forth to keep the mood light.

Max stumbled as he whipped his tail out of the way of the engine room door and fell over onto the carpet.  Pockets chuckled and looked back at him. "Having a problem with gravity?" the raccoon asked.

The German shepherd looked up at him and Suzuko with a grin. "I must be," he replied, getting to his feet. He dusted off his blue jeans and then looked at the unicorn. "Is there a way to slow down the speed of that door?" he asked. "It nearly takes my tail off every time I go through it!"

The woman nodded. "Yes, it can be adjusted. I don't think it was originally designed for three people to go through it at once, and since you usually bring up the rear, you're the one it tries to close on."

"Ah, okay. If we could adjust it right away, I won't be so anxious every time I come through that door."

"Sure, just let me get my tools," she replied.

Pockets looked up at her and put his hands into two of the namesakes in his green coveralls. "What do you need?" he asked with a grin. "I probably have the tool already."

Suzuko smiled. "Do you have a number three Kistler driver in there?"

The raccoon's eyes lit up and he rummaged around in his left pocket a moment before holding up a double-pronged instrument. "Here ya go," he told her.

The unicorn pinto studied him a moment in amusement and then took the tool. "Thank you," she said.

Moments later, Max sauntered back through the door, an eye on his tail, but the closure time of the panel was more hesitant. "Yes, much better," he admitted. Suzuko handed the tool back to Pockets and then led them deeper into the engine room.

"If you guys are willing, I'd like to show you a—" the unicorn hesitated when she saw a small black box mounted to the side of a Hyld system monitor. She knew the systems on this new ship better than anyone did, and the box was foreign to her. "What…" she said with a furrowed brow, "…is this?" she asked, walking over to it.

The raccoon studied her for a moment. "You said you were aware of the origins of your new Hyld system?"

Suzuko nodded, secure that they could not be overheard in the engine room. "The system was gleaned from Captain Khasho's encrypted chips that you unlocked for us."

"This is confidential, but I will tell you about it since it is related," Pockets told her. "During a recent voyage, we tested a homemade Vault system on the Blue Horizon constructed from plans Natasha gave me several years ago in exchange for information. We had a mishap, winding up outside the Rim of the Planetary Alignment near a previously unknown planet." Suzuko's eyes widened. "We detected a landing beacon and followed it down to make repairs to damage caused by a misinterpretation of the plans, and to replenish our oxygen. There, we found one of Natasha's former engineers who had made a home with the local residents. She helped us make our repairs and then built this little box for us."

"What is it?" Suzuko asked again.

"Calissa said that—"

"Calissa Thalia?" the unicorn asked in surprise. "Was she a brown rabbit?"

"Uh, yeah, that's her," Pockets replied. "Do you know her?"

"Calissa Thalia was a prominent lapin engineer from Mainor who disappeared about eight years ago. This is the first I've heard about her since the PA-wide search for her was called off."

Pockets grinned. "She didn't tell me her personal history, other than she was a member of Captain Natasha's engineering team for a few years," he said. "When she learned of our homemade Vault unit, she asked to see the plans we used. She helped correctly translate something I had gotten wrong, and then said that Vault travel had some dangers involved that required monitoring."

"What sort of dangers?"

"She didn't explain, although I did ask her. She said I probably wouldn't have believed her, but she insisted on constructing this monitoring device for us.  She said that as long as the diode was green, we could use the Vault system, but if it ever showed red, she warned us not to use it."

"Yeah, she stressed that several times," Max added. "She said it was a rule we should never ignore."

"The diodes will go dark after a jump discharge, but one would light up again with a full charge," Pockets said.

Suzuko frowned and looked again at the box.  Outwardly, it was simple. There were the two color diodes and then a small bundle of three wires that exited a small hole in the side. "You said this was a monitor. What does it monitor?"

"She wouldn't tell me," Pockets admitted with a sigh. "The box is shielded with micronite and is molecularly welded, so I haven't been able to see what's inside. I did not want to risk breaking what she built for us, so I've just left it hooked up to the system as she intended.  When I saw that your Hyld system did not have a monitor like this, I decided to hook it up for our safety. It may be nothing more than a warning system, but if we're going to be making vault… er, hyper jumps on a regular basis, it couldn't hurt to have the safeguard."

"If you don’t know what it does, how did you know what to hook it up to?"

"It just needs power and grounding. Otherwise, it's all self-contained. Whatever it monitors, it does it on its own internally. "

The Silloni pinto fell quiet and mulled over what she had been told. Finally, she looked over the guys and said,