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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ptolemy" data-source="post: 9267218" data-attributes="member: 1412">Day 7If any of us thought that it was all over we had a rude awakening the next morning. I mean that literally. Shouts coming from a nearby room pulled me reluctantly into wakefulness and I took a long moment to remember where I was and what was going on. I had fallen asleep in my clothes and I was hungry and sore. I had bruises from being banged round that tin can and I winced as much from memories back as from pain. The shouts turned out to be just one of those over reactions which will occur when people have been through a lot and are at the end of their tether. I spent the majority of the day working as an orderly for the doctor who took over. Considering Walston is a relatively low tech world they were pretty impressive. I really am going to enrol for medical school when I can afford it. The rest of the gang ran errands in Highndry as we had the only ship on the planet. We found out that someone had died form their injuries on Ocean’s Bounty. They simply didn’t have the medical equipment on board to cope with the situation. While this was a sad moment for everyone it was hard to feel anything other than relief and a sense of achievement. Everybody in this part of Walston knew the part we had played, many of them had been tuned into the feed we had been broadcasting or listening to our conversations with the Dictator. The whole community pulled together.Week 2The ash is still raining down on the town of Salbarii and it will have to be abandoned. A huge construction programme is underway at Central Lake, but another is already being debated. Walston is not a wealthy planet and the eruption will likely result on its joining the Third Imperium. Dictator Masterton has asked us to take a request for aid to Flammarion when we go. We will be a few more days. We want to run some tests on Highndry after the pounding it took in the pyroclastic flow. I’m particularly concerned about the power plant and I haven’t even looked at the J-drive yet, which is worrying me. I don’t think we can rely on our luck to hold sufficiently for us to survive two missjumps.Week 3We’ve spent the week carrying building supplies and people or running tests on the power plant and the J-drives. We are reasonably confident that we can make the three jumps to Flammarion. Technically we could do it in two but we have fuel vouchers which we can use at Bowman and Astatine. Tomorrow will be exactly three weeks since we landed here and it has been incredibly eventful. We each have several kilts from grateful locals and our kitchen is brimming with home baked goods and snacks. We are loaded and as ready as we will ever be.We left our digs at the Highport early as we didn’t want to make a fuss. We saw an A2 trader touching down just as we set off for the downport. It looked like it was going to be a bright sunny day, if typically cold. I like Walston but it will be nice to get to Bowman and feel like we are part of an interstellar community instead of local heroes on an isolated sphere. We went into the customs offices, dropped our bags and glanced round for the customs officers and made our way out the backdoors. A few metres in front of us a couple of men stood with their backs to us, watching the A2 take off. It had evidently been commissioned to drop off its passengers and had no other business here. To our left a woman was leaning against the wall of the customs house, staring at the side of a cargo container which formed a sort of alley with the customs house. Something didn’t feel right. We were looking for one of the customs officers to reclaim our weapons but there was not even anyone out back. The man on the right turned and said:“Looks you you have cleaned her up for us. Thanks. But you changed the security codes so we’ll be needing your comms.”He drew an auto pistol from his jacket pocket and pointed it at us. The woman pushed her self off the wall and, hands on her jacket pockets, turned towards us.“We’re not giving you anything.” said Peter. The bloke alright ahead of us turned abruptly and fired his shotgun. Peter’s abdomen blossomed red and he went straight down. Helena and Vasquez dived behind an electric people/cargo carrier to their right and I turned to see the woman pointing an auto pistol at me. My training took over and I mentally reached out and snatched the gun from her hand telekinetically. It went off as it was pulled forward out of her grip but missed me. I caught it and fired, missing, and dived for the cover of the container. She looked astonished and turned and ran. I head a couple of shots from an auto pistol and looked back. Peter was lying in the open and Vasquez and Helena were crouched behind the small vehicle. Peter looked bad. The guy with the shotgun came into view and fired at me and pellets sang as they hit the container. I tossed the gun to Vasquez and retreated back and round the container. I almost ran straight into the woman. She looked scared but her hand holding a dagger was steady. I lashed out and caught her on the side of her head. She reeled and tried to strike back. Her trust went wide as did my next blow. I heard gun shots from the other side of the container, including a shotgun. I reached out and poured fear into her mind and she broke and ran. I peered around the container and saw the guy with the auto pistol on one knee aiming at where I supposed my friends were. I hurried along the side of the container trying to keep as close to as possible to avoid standing out. As I got to the corner nearest the gunmen the one in my range of vision saw me. I threw my knife which took him in him right side. His shot went wide. I glanced round the container and saw that the one with the shotgun had taken cover behind a couple of large water barrels. I turned to face the container and moved. I appeared immediately behind the one with the pistol and grabbed his gun arm. I think he nearly feinted! Not many people get grappled by teleporting enemies. He tried to break free but he was hurt and I was determined. I wrenched the gun from his hands and turned it on him. Clutching his side in pain, bewildered and afraid he started to back away. A spray of pellet from the shotgun went over my head. I winged the guy with a shotgun, but only a nick. Seeing that attention was on me Vasquez was already in motion. She ran from behind cover, kick over one go the barrels and and shot the shotgun guy in the side of his head. Helena was just as active. She tackled the one with a knife wound and had him pinned. I ran over to Peter just as the door to the customs house open and an unknown but obviously local face appeared.“Get a f***ing doctor.” I bellowed. I took off my shirt and pressed on the wound. He hadn’t taken the full force of the shotgun blast but it was pretty bad. Vasquez checked the one she shot and picked up his weapon, searched him for others and came up with a body pistol. “Checking for others,” she said and disappeared around the container. I think she was afraid of what might happen with Peter and didn’t want to watch. My medikit was in the bag I had left in the customs house. When another face appeared a moment later, this time one of the other guests at Highport I barked an order to get my bag. He brought all three. By now half a dozen people were congregated. Some had heard shots and some had seen the one getting the doctor shouting for help after he had called. I numbed Peter’s pain and then did what I could. He was seriously injured but I thought he would make it. While I was working someone found the customs officers. It turned out they had be surprised by the old crew of Highndry, tied up and shoved in cupboard. They were horrified when they saw Peter. The doctor arrived and Vasquez returned. We waited.An ambulance took Peter away and we went back to the Highport. We sat, Vasquez, Helena, Mrs. Allard and Gashkrinel (Mary), in the common room, avoiding each others gaze. Occasionally Mrs. Allard would pour coffee. It was the complete opposite of the events around the eruption a couple of weeks earlier. Then time had seemed to speed up. Now it crawled. Mrs. Allard’s phone rang. She answered, sobbed one long sob and handed Helena the phone. She grimaced and looked up. “He has come out of surgery and is doing well.” We all sagged.Week 5We carried on helping out on Walston while Peter recuperated. After 10 days he came out of hospital and after a few more days of rest he declared himself strong enough to fly. I’m writing this as we accelerate towards our jump point. I liked Walston but I am glad to be leaving. The shooting left a sour taste in our mouths. One of our assailants died from a gun shot wound to the head. The woman was caught a day later and the one with a minor knife wound was caught straight away, as I already wrote. They are going to be tried for attempted murder on Walston and will then be extradited to the Imperium to stand trial for privacy - trying to steal and IISS vessel. We will need to come back this way in a few weeks to give evidence. Right now I need to turn my attention to the J-drive and make sure we get to Bowman in one piece.</blockquote>

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