Chapter 23: The Invitations

I wandered over to Hangar two, searching for Lieutenant Commander Grier. I eventually found him under one of the two shuttles at the rear of the hangar.

"Ah, Admiral, have you come to check up on me?"

"No, I haven't, but I have to confess to an overwhelming curiosity. Are you able to satisfy that?"

"This has been quite an interesting problem. I had a word with the leader of those SEALs to ascertain their modus vivendi, so that I might merge it with the peculiarities of the Burton drive. I think that I have a unique solution. You see this grab rail along the side of the shuttle?"

"Yes."

"Well I've insulated the tops of these pods as well as the grab rails from the rest of the shuttle's hull, but they can be switched into contact. By making the SEALs gloves and boots conductive, they can be safely carried on the outside of the shuttle, standing on the pods. They will be as secure as if they were inside the shuttle. I've also installed a hoist which can be extended through the doorway of the shuttle."

"What's the hoist for?"

"I understand that they'll be returning with a comatose body, if they're successful. The hoist will enable them to take the body into the shuttle. I've got another idea that I want to try out. It'll make for an easier recovery process."

"And what's that?"

"It's an idea that occurred to me, but I'll need to experiment further before I know if it will work or not. I wouldn't like to get your hopes up for nothing. I want to adapt the principle we discovered in towing containers to Osmum. I'll tell you if it's successful."

I had to content myself with that description of his efforts, as he slid back under the shuttle. I left the hangar and made for the Mess. I was greeted there by Norman in the language of Derst.

"That was some teaching session this afternoon, Admiral. I would never have believed it, if someone had told me that I could learn so much in one short afternoon."

"It's one of the advantages of working with other members of the Federation," I replied in the same vernacular. Then switching to English," and remember Lieutenant, the day's not yet over."

The evening session was a repeat of the one held in the afternoon, except that it was based on the planet Phlerph. Afterwards, I explained the object of the mission. It amused the SEALs that they were extending diplomatic invitations in a manner that could not be ignored or refused. I don't think that they had ever done anything like this before. Before wishing them a good night, I told them to report to Lieutenant Commander Grier at nine thirty the following morning.

At breakfast in the Mess, I directed the lieutenants Crisp, James from the Beagle and Brian from the Argo, to exercise with the SEALs as their shuttle pilots. Both lads were among the best of our pilots. They had led the shuttle display at the Air Force Open Day.

I heard laughter outside my office. Then there was a knock.

"Come in. Good morning Kate. What can I do for you today?"

"We're introducing a new class of space craft, a postal carrier, and I thought I had better consult the fount of all space craft names, you."

"Well sit yourself down, while I consult the oracle."

She did so, while I went online."

"Will eighty three names be sufficient?"

"Wow, that's fast service for you. What are they?"

"I thought the names of the Postmasters General might be appropriate. The first five are Benjamin Franklin, Richard Bache, Ebenezer Hazard, Samuel Osgood and Timothy Pickering. How's that for starters."

"My, and you say that there are another seventy eight?"

"Yes. There might even be a few more before we run out of names. Then there are the Confederate Postmasters General, and then I suppose we could continue with the British."

"Wasn't Roland Hill one of the early British ones?"

"No he wasn't Postmaster General. He did invent postage stamps though. Did you know that for a while the British had two Postmasters General at the same time. It was all to do with splitting patronage between their two political parties"

"No, I didn't. Well, thank you, Sir. Perhaps you'd send me an email with the next seventy eight names. I can keep them on file."

"I'll do that. How are you coping with the new job?"

"Oh, not too bad, Sir. As each new aspect comes up, I have to establish the best way to organize it. To establish a protocol, if you like. Then that part of the job becomes routine. I'm getting to the point where a lot of the new tasks are similar in some ways to the more established tasks, and that makes it a lot easier."

"I wonder how far you'll go, if we apply the 'Peter Principle."

"What's that, Sir?"

"It's the principle of promoting someone on the basis of their performance in their current job. If they're good at it, then they are promoted, eventually, to one they're not so good at."

"I should hope, Sir, that if I'm offered a job beyond my ability to do it, then I'll turn it down."

"Good for you. I'm not so sure that I could predict my skills that accurately."

That gave her a chuckle as she left the office. As she shut the door, she turned to me and gave me a broad wink. I asked Shona to see that both the Beagle and the Argo would be ready to depart after breakfast on Tuesday morning. I then decided to look in on the Emigrant course to see if there was anything that they needed.

As I crossed the road, I could see a shuttle hovering over the end of the runway. There were figures ranged along the side facing me with some sort of framework on their outside. While I was watching, the figures stepped onto the framework which then began to descend.

When the framework reached the ground, the figures jumped off, and sprinted across the runway. They returned at the same breakneck speed, and positioned themselves on the framework. It ascended, and when it reached the shuttle, they all walked round the pod to the door and entered the shuttle.

I continued on my way to the Emigrant building. There, I found Roas, and Looess in conversation.

"Hullo, Bill," said Looess,

"Hullo, I thought you would be teaching the colonists. What have you done with them?"

"This batch of colonists only arrived today," said Roas, "so the English speakers are taking time off while the rest are using the educators to learn English."

"I popped in to see if you needed anything?"

"No, I don't think so," replied Roas, "I'm getting a lot of practical feedback from Reginald on Secundus. His input is proving invaluable."

"It's making me feel redundant," said Looess.

"In that case, would you care to accompany me to Phlerph, and Derst, to see if we can knock some sense into their leaders."

"I was going to insist on it!" replied Looess.

"I'll look forward to it, then," I grinned as I bade them goodbye.

We had arranged to split the SEALs between the Beagle, and the Argo. Norman's number two would command half the SEALs on the Beagle, while Norman commanded the others on the Argo. They would fill the Argo, so that I decided to travel on the Beagle. When we reached the Seventy Ophiuchi system, we would make for the area of the beacon on Derst.

When we arrived, we found that it was snowing furiously on the mountain top in the vicinity of the beacon. Instead of gathering in the Beagle for our last conference before going into action, we decided to stay where we were and network the meeting. The Argo was going on to Phlerph to collect their Monarch, while we picked up the Dictator of Derst. Then we would follow the Argo to Phlerph for the joint meeting with our 'invited' leaders.