Shervanis City, Astrokaszy
Maintenance Facility, ComStar Word of Blake Compound
16 November, 3053
0936, Local Time
Acolyte Corse sighed as his jeep was backed into the maintenance bay. He could see Craig's truck pulled in to the farther end. His gear, and all of his troopers' gear, was already packed in the jeep. Their go-bags had been a little more tightly packed than usual, but few paid much attention to the misfits, and certainly no one in the barracks that morning had. The routine run to deliver Jillani had gone as smoothly as usual, which was to say there had been the usual horrible traffic. Jillani had been perkier than usual this morning, at least until Corse told him to cool it. The energy was still there, but at least somewhat more restrained.
As Goodwin pulled the parking brake, the others spilled out of the back. Denman moved to close the overhead bay door, ostensibly to keep the heat and dust outside. The temperature was already above 35 degrees, and climbing under Astrokaszy's harsh sun. Of course, the door would also hide the cargo transfer that squad was about to conduct. Acolyte Craig emerged from behind a shelving unit and gave a thumbs up as the door sealed shut. James and Lisa followed him with tentative looks on their faces. They'd never met Corse or his troops before. Craig made introductions all around:
"Anant and Lisa James-Mishra, may I introduce Acolyte Randall Corse, and his troops, Elizabeth Hamm, John Denman, Harry Neil, James Goodwin, and Eric Jones."
Randall shook the two communications techs' hands and said, "Thank you... we couldn't be doing this without you."
Lisa smiled and replied, "Well, there certainly wouldn't be any 'this' without you either, so thank you too!"
Opening the turtleback, Craig said, "All right, let's get this thing loaded up. I've got containers for spare water, just in case. Elizabeth, would you be so kind as to instruct Lisa on how to use the other end of that business?"
Grinning, the trooper picked up a red container and led Lisa back behind the shelving again to avoid overly embarrassing her.
Truth told, there wasn't that much to load. The troopers' gear was already aboard the jeep, along with Jillani's, and Anant and Lisa's luggage was relatively light. Only the extra water and rations were any work at all. While the bags were being transferred, Corse relayed the 'bad' news.
"Just one hitch, Chief. Ops laid on another mandatory indoctrination training for two hours, starting at 1000. Apparently, he thinks we need the distraction to keep us out of trouble. We should be back a little after 1200, which should give us enough time for lunch before we have to fetch Jillani."
"No problem, then. Enjoy training..." Craig replied, shaking his head.
"Oh, sure..." Corse said, gathering his troops.
After the troopers had left, Craig offered a place between some shelves for the James-Mishras to nap until they left. It was going to be a long day.