The flight to Lum went without incident. Sarah had to wonder if it was because of Yager's injury that she caused or if he was afraid that he'd run into a military patrol. Or knowing him, he might've not felt like it.

"All right radio operator, contact the tower and ask if we can begin landing procedures." Dave ordered. "They'll probably want is to pull into a different docking area."

Sarah opened her notebook to where she had the landing lingo written.

"This is Echelon calling Port d'Lum Tower. Port d'Lum Tower, come in, over."

A few seconds passed. She had turned on the receiver, right?

"Echelon this is the Tower at Port d'Lum. Read you loud and clear, Echelon. Over.”

Well, step one of docking completed. Hopefully, it wouldn’t turn into a complex ordeal. Sarah sighed in relief but knew she couldn’t keep silent for too long or the controllers would start to get concerned.

“Um, yes. We would like permission to dock, over.”

“Acknowledged, Echelon. Stand by for further instructions, over.”

Sarah cast a look at Heather, who simply nodded. She took that as a sign that she was doing a good enough job so far. Dave gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up and a huge grin, but he was probably doing that to make her a little less nervous. She hoped that the instructions weren’t too complicated, only the basic landing phrases were written in her notebook. The tower came back on.

“Echelon, you are to land immediately and await an inspection team, over.”

An inspection team didn’t sound like a good thing, but it sounded like something the Syrealians would have.

“Roger that, Tower. We will touch down as soon as we find a clear space to land. Over.”

“Let us know when you’vel landed, Echelon. Tower over and out.”

Heather got up from her seat and looked out the windshield, searching for a place that they could land. Dave watched her walk back and forth. His hand tapped against the yoke of the steering and he sighed loudly.

“Well Heather, can we land or not?”

“It would’ve been nice if they gave us a suggestion instead of leaving it up to us. You can’t land a ship like this just anywhere. It takes up so much room and there aren’t many wide open spaces around Lum.” Heather huffed in annoyance as she went back to her station and grabbed a map. She traced her finger along it, muttering to herself as she came to a stop. “Sarah, get back on the radio and ask them where we should land. And remind them that the river is not an option unless they want all the boat traffic stopped.”

Sarah nodded and activated the microphone. “Echelon to Tower, come in tower. Over.”

“Reading you loud and clear Echelon. Have you started landing procedures yet? Over.”

“Negative, Tower. We’re having a bit of a problem with finding a place to land. Suggestions would be welcome, over.”

“And not the river!” Heather shouted from the windshield.

The controller sighed. He probably wasn’t getting paid enough to put up with whatever shenanigans the Syrealians were trying to pull at the port.

“Stand by, Echelon. I’ll go ask someone again. Over.”

It took him quite a while to come back. Sarah passed the time by looking over some notes she had jotted down about Paradisian pronunciation. Heather continued studying over the maps, trying to determine the coordinates of a possible landing zone. Sarah could hear her mutter something once and a while. Dave kept the ship in a holding pattern, whistling the whole time.

“So, anyone want to explain why we’ve been flying in circles for the past fifteen minutes?” Claire questioned as she entered the bridge area. Thanks to her arm in the sling, her coveralls were only halfway on. It made her look like she had just woken up, even though Sarah knew for a fact that she had been awake for a while.

“Syrealian shenanigans. They want us to land somewhere other than a port so they can have an inspection team board.” Dave explained as he gently turned the yoke as they began yet another circle. “Problem is, this is Lum. The only safe place is the port.”

It was after that statement that the radio crackled to life. Both Heather and Claire gathered around it, crowding Sarah. She pushed aside her discomfort and answered the controller.

“There is a land strip a mile outside the city you can use. It is an amphibious ship, correct? Over.”

Dave nodded at the controller’s statement. The controller then gave them the coordinates for the landing strip. The landing itself was smooth, but not as smooth as a water landing since Sarah could feel the wheels touching the ground and bump up a little bit because of the friction. As soon as they landed, Dave locked the yoke and leaned back in his chair.

“I still got it with the land landings. I guess muscle memory stays around even after five years of being out of the Air Force. Suppose the only thing we can do is kick back and wait for the inspection team to arrive. Oh, and if anyone needs to hide anything they don’t want them snooping through, stuff it in the hatches in the floor and put something over it.”

Sarah knew about the hatches. She just wished she had known about them before the toe of her shoe caught on it and she tripped and nearly landed on her now-just-not-sore face. She had been using that space for her diary and books since the room didn’t have shelves yet.

“And if they find it?” Claire questioned. “Are you going to bail us out when they accuse us of smuggling some sort of contraband?”

“It’s just extra storage space. If they fuss too much about it, show them the plans. They’re right there, so it’s not like a smuggling hold. Most cargo ships have them in the crew quarters.” He got out of his chair, grabbing his cane. “They’re mostly coming here to check our papers, so I wouldn’t worry about it. But go tell the Doc and Ash to get out here. I don’t want it to look suspicious that we aren’t all waiting to greet them.”

“Form a welcoming party, got it.” Claire went down the hall to get the other two.

Heather gathered a stack full of papers. It was smaller than the one that she had shoved into the Alemanian agent’s arms, meaning she had probably found a way to streamline the paperwork. Of course, there was no telling what they did while she had been attending classes at the university. Dave put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder.

“Say Sarah, you said you understood Syrealian pretty well, right?” He scratched the side of his cheek. “How well?”

“I can hold and understand conversations. I can read it too, though it takes a bit longer to do that. They use different characters after all.”

Dave nodded, though she could tell he didn’t understand what she meant by the last statement. Most people would call them letters, though that wasn’t really what they were. Characters was more of an academic term.

“I think maybe we should keep that to ourselves, for a while at least. They already dislike you for being Liban. If they learn you speak Syrealian so well, they might think you’re an actual spy. Besides, I’m sure they’ll be speaking Syrealian amongst themselves a lot and it’ll be helpful to have someone around that understands them.”

"You're asking me to eavesdrop on them. " Sarah concluded. Dave nodded, refusing eye contact with her, as if he were ashamed to be asking that of her.

"I mean if you don't want to, you don't have to…"

Sarah weighed her options. On one hand, eavesdropping was rude no matter how rude the other person was being to you. On the other, it was rude to converse in another language in front of others with the intention of keeping them in the dark. She looked at Dave.

"I'll tell you if they say anything important that affects the crew."

Dave smiled a bit. "That's all I ask, Sarah. The rest of us will try to keep the attention off you the best we can so they don't notice what you're doing."

The others came back. Mel's hair was a bit of a mess and it looked like he had just rolled out of bed. He yawned and removed his glasses to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Ash was wearing an apron with various kitchen stains dotting it. He dried his hands on it.

"Fortunately I was cooking something that doesn't need to be watched." He grumbled a bit. "I hope they don't draw this out too long. It'll just waste everyone's time."

"Don't you know that the Syrealian Army likes to waste everyone's time?" Claire zipped up her coveralls as much as she could. "We'll be lucky if one of those inspectors doesn't steal any of our stuff."

"Maybe they won't be interested in anything we have. After all, a lot of our equipment is old compared to what they have." Mel pointed out as he put his glasses back on. "And none of us carry anything valuable like jewelry or expensive watches."

"Oh trust me, they're sure to find something. I just hope they don't invite any of us out.”

Sarah flashed back to when she was fleeing from Paradis, first running into the group of young Syrealian soldiers then into the Sergeant. They both offered her things on their tab, though the Sergeant was wanting to meet up after her “errand”. She wondered what that had been all about.

“What’s so bad about that?” She questioned. Claire would give her an honest answer, even if she had a tendency to be blunt. “Just out of curiosity in case that ever happens to me.”

Claire gave her a look and tilted her head. Sarah felt herself avoiding eye contact. Something told her that Claire realized she wasn’t being hypothetical with the question. The mechanic straightened her head and put a hand on her hip.

“Well, for one thing, it’s not wise to go with someone you barely know, which I don’t think that’s an issue for you. But you have to be especially careful when Syrealian soldiers do it. If you accept their invitation, they’ll take you to a nice little place that’s wired with hidden cameras and microphones and record the whole thing and see if they can pin anything on you.”

That made sense. There was no other reason for either party to be that friendly with her unless they were planning something. Sarah nodded.

“Good to know.” Now Sarah was really glad that she had refused both parties, though something told her that maybe the Sergeant’s offer had been more genuine. And here she had thought the soldiers were just flirting with her. “Don’t go out with Syrealian soldiers.”

“Unless they’re an officer and really insistent. Then it’s best to just play along and grin and bear it.” Claire added. She talked as though she had experience with that sort of thing. “But there are those times when they are genuinely flirting with you and want to have a lunch date. It’s hard to tell though.”

Her cheeks turned slightly pink at the thought that the Sergeant may have been attempting to flirt with her. Of course, he might’ve been doing that in order to gain some sort of information on the Colonel’s orders, but it was still a bit embarrassing to think about. Claire raised an eyebrow and ruffled her hair.

“You feeling alright, Sarah?”

All Sarah could do was nod, though she wasn’t sure if she could face the Sergeant again any time soon knowing what she did now. But it wasn’t like he would be out here. No, he’d have more important things to do for the Colonel. She had a feeling the Colonel would show up, if anything to try and intimidate her into confessing something.

There was a knock on the door. Ash went over to it and looked out the small window on the door. He stepped back, grabbed the handle, and pulled the door open. There wasn’t much room to open the door even with his back to the wall. Maybe it would’ve been wiser for Mel to open it. Then at least the team could enter more than one at a time.

All the inspectors were Syrealian soldiers, though they had different colors than most of the soldiers, meaning it was probably a special position. All of them had clipboards and were chatting away in Syrealian. So far, they weren’t saying anything too important, just talking about what they were going to do after the inspection. The chatting stopped when Colonel Smirnov stepped on board, followed closely behind by the Sergeant.

Sarah met the Sergeant’s gaze for a second before looking elsewhere. He did so too. Of course, his embarrassment probably stemmed from just letting her walk away from him with such a flimsy excuse. The Colonel looked around the bridge with a critical eye then examined the crew.

“Which is Captain?” He asked. Clearly he hadn’t practiced his Aboloanian since he had last spoken to them. Then his eyes fell on Ash. “Big, strong man. Must be Captain. Am Colonel Smirnov. Trust you have papers.” The Colonel shook his hand. “Strong grip. Good for man to have.”

“Actually Colonel Smirnov, I’m Ash Letterman, the cook, quartermaster, and loader.” He showed the Colonel the apron to demonstrate his point.

“You would be looking for me, Colonel.” Dave sauntered up to him and held out his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet the man behind the voice. I’m Captain David Sherman, at your service. Welcome aboard the Echelon. I know she doesn’t look like much, but she’s a mighty fine ship.”

Colonel Smirnov looked at his cane then at him. He eventually did shake his hand, but without as much enthusiasm as he had with Ash. Clearly, Dave wasn’t matching up to his standards. But Dave didn’t seemed to be bothered by that.

“All right crew, introduce yourselves to the good Colonel. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him a lot, seeing how much business we do in Paradis.”

“Perhaps some other time. Very busy, should probably get on with inspection quickly.” Apparently, the Colonel was in no mood to be social. He probably wasn’t used to people being friendly with him during these things. “No time to socialize.”

“We are on a bit of a tight schedule.” Sergeant Ivanov stepped in. “But thank you being cooperative. Sometimes cargo crews aren’t. May we first see your papers before we begin the inspection?”

Heather came forward and gave the papers over to him. “I’m sure you’ll find everything in order, Sergeant, for every member of our crew.”

“Thank you, Miss…?”

“Mrs. Letterman, Heather Letterman.” She made sure her wedding ring was visible as she went over to Ash and threaded her arm through his. “I’m the navigator of this ship, effectively making me the second in command. If you have any questions pertaining to paper work, please direct them to me.”

That got a bit of a chuckle out of the previously humorless Smirnov. He turned to the inspectors and said something to them about Heather’s spunk and something unsavory about her looks. The inspectors agreed and added in a few comments of their own, all equally as unsavory as his. Sarah had to turn and look at something else so she wouldn’t glare at them. It was appalling to talk about a woman like that, especially a married one. They didn’t even have the excuse of knowing she wasn’t married.

“Most of the papers look to be in order,” Ivanov declared as he flipped through them to the last page. “I’m not sure about this probationary work visa. It’s a valid legal document but I’m not sure how we’re dealing with these yet. What do you think, Colonel?”

The Colonel turned serious once again and snatched it from Ivanov. He muttered and cursed a couple of times as he examined it. After he crumpled it up slightly, he smacked it back onto the Sergeant’s chest.

“Will do… for now. But keeping close eye on Liban. Tricky sort, right Sergeant?”

“It appears so, sir.” He replied, not looking toward Sarah. “Perhaps we should get on with the inspection. I’m sure the crew wants to get about their own business too.”

“Yes, enough chit chat. Should not take long to inspect ship this small.” The Colonel’s mood seemed to improve just a little bit. “This bridge, yes? You!” He pointed to an inspector. “Check bridge. Rest of us go check everywhere else.”

The inspector saluted and they moved on. Naturally, the first door they came to was the door to Dave’s quarters. She supposed it made sense that the captain’s quarters were the closest to the bridge. They were spacious and surprisingly well organized considering Dave’s personality. Maybe he didn’t have much stuff.

“This is my room, though all I really do in here is sleep.” He informed them as the inspectors searched the place. “I do have a nice bottle of whisky stashed away if you fine gentlemen want any after your done.”

“Syrealians do not take bribes.” Colonel Smirnov informed him. “Though may have to confiscate to make sure not contraband.”

Ash leaned forward a bit to Sarah so he could whisper to her. “It’s not a very good brand of whiskey. Dave’s been trying to get rid of it for ages.”

The inspection team found the whiskey in the desk drawer and did confiscate it. Boy, would they be in for a surprise once they tasted it. Having found nothing else of interest in Dave’s room, they moved onto Ash and Heather’s room.

The bed took up most of the room, though there were two trunks at the end of the bed where they kept their clothes. A desk was pushed into the corner, though it looked like it didn’t get used very often.

“How long have you been married?” Sergeant Ivanov asked as the team inspected they best they could while navigating around the large bed.

“Two years.” Ash informed him. “We were courting for a year before that. Well, sort of courting. I don’t think we went through many of the courting procedures, given our class differences.”

“It was still a wonderful time regardless.” Heather leaned against her husband. “And getting the bed here was no minor feat. Sure, the frame was easy enough, but the mattress…”

This time, it was Claire who made a comment to Sarah. “Yes, they’re always this mushy even with other people around. I don’t know whether it’s sweet or annoying. Sometimes both.”

Sarah thought it was great that they were so affectionate with each other and not afraid to show it. And it was a bit funny to see the usually stoic Syrealian soldiers be a bit uncomfortable. They didn’t spend much time in their room.

Then came Sarah’s room. This time, the Colonel joined in the inspection. She wasn’t sure what he expected her to have. After all, she had left most of her things in Paradis. He talked to the inspectors, asking if they found any secret hatches or things in code. They replied no. Thanks to the boots they were wearing, they merely stepped over the groove to the secret hatch in the floor. She could tell he really wanted to find something, but they didn’t have time to do a deeper search.

The inspectors searched the kitchen next. The Colonel pointed to the punching bag that was hanging from the ceiling.

“Not usual kitchen tool.”

“I train with it.” Ash stated as he demonstrated a couple of punches on it. The inspectors turned a bit pale at the power behind the punches. “There wasn’t any other place to put it.”

“You’re a boxer, Mr. Letterman?” Ivanov inquired. “You certainly do have the build for it.”

“I was, but I’m retired now. I still keep up the training though.” He stilled the bag to keep it from moving around so much. “It’s good exercise and gives me something to do while waiting for things to cook.”

How could he be a retired boxer at his age? Sarah wasn’t sure of his exact age, but he couldn’t be older than twenty six. Maybe he had gotten injured and was forced to retire or maybe he just grew to dislike the sport. She could understand why. She didn’t understand the appeal of a sport where it involved someone getting brutally beat up every match. After that demonstration, she noticed that most of the Syrealians weren’t watching Heather like they were before.

Then came the infirmary. Apparently, Mel’s room was attached to it, which made sense. While the team conducted their inspection, the Colonel looked over the various supplies that Mel had stock piled and nodded in approval.

“Which is medic? Very nice set up. Very professional. Not like most other cargo ships.”

“T-hat would be m-me, sir.” Mel hesitantly stepped forward, exposing himself to the Colonel’s critical gaze. “M-my name is M-Mel Whitmore.”

One of the inspectors came out of the room and handed the Sergeant something in a frame. Ivanov looked over it and then his gaze settled on Mel.

“You’re a fully licensed doctor? I suppose we should call you Dr. Whitmore then.” He handed the frame back to the inspector, who returned it to Mel’s room. “Unusual for a licensed doctor to be working on a ship.”

“I-I d-don’t….” Mel’s stutter came out so much that Sarah couldn’t pick up any words out of it. Finally, Dave stepped in and put a hand on his shoulder.

“He’s saving up money to open his own clinic and no one was hiring a fellow doctor at any of the practices in Kingsgrove. Right Doc?”

Mel nodded, but his posture was still tense and he refused to look at anyone in the eye. Clearly there was more to the story, but the Syrealians weren’t very interested in it and the group soon moved onto the cargo area and then the engine room which also served as Claire’s room. All she had was a hammock and her clothes hung on a line.

“Welcome to my humble abode!” She waved her hand around the area. “Feel free to look around, but be sure not to stick your noses in any places they don’t belong. Wouldn’t want you to lose them.”

“Ah Claire, such a kidder!” Dave cut in when the glares turned toward the mechanic. “She just means to watch your fingers around the equipment. It’s easy to get something smashed if you aren’t careful.”

“Ms. Lorne, do you mind me asking why your arm is in a sling?” Sergeant Ivanov questioned as he pointed to the sling. “And Captain Sherman and Ms. Hidalgo, your faces…”

“I got in a fight with pirates a few weeks ago. Those two over there got mugged a few days ago in Kingsgrove.” She stated so casually as if it weren’t a big deal. “But we’re all in one piece, so you don’t need to worry too much, soldier boy.”

“Soldier boy…?”

The Colonel cleared his throat and started to push the Sergeant out of the room. “Think have seen enough of ship. Thank for cooperation. May go about business in Paradis for now. But will be watching, so no mischief, from any.”

The last statement was directed toward Sarah and she could only nod. The Colonel would never trust her and she would have to accept that. But the Sergeant managed to get a little wave off to them before he regained his proper footing.

The crew followed the group out. Sarah kept a close ear on the conversation but she wasn’t hearing anything new. Something about how they were all probably scheming and would eventually slip up to where they could catch them. The Sergeant didn’t seem convinced but then Colonel Smirnov said something that made him hesitate.

Sarah was glad to see them leave. She suddenly became aware of the crew staring at her, expecting her report of what she overheard.

“Well, they certainly had nothing nice to say. Perhaps I can tell you over dinner. Of course, I wouldn’t dare repeat exactly what they said…”

Dave gave her a hearty pat on the back.

“And we wouldn’t want you to do it any other way, Lady Abigail. I have a feeling that this crew is going to benefit a lot from having you around, Sarah.”

Though now she was left with one question as Ash brought the pot and plates out. Who was Lady Abigail and was that a good thing to be called?