anyone didn't get it.
Judy
smiled.
"I
might be able to arrange that. I'm supposed to take my crew up in a few hours
anyway. I just came by to see who was around, since I was in port. What's the
test for?"
Sam
suddenly looked like he was the inventor of bread and waved at Lewis, who was
holding the deep blue silk bag in front of him. The boy liberated a few of the
tiles and handed them around to various people. It was interesting to see who
he picked too.
Terry
got one, and so did Havar, Judy got hers with a little bow that was actually
almost correct, given that the boy was giving her a present. It wasn't his to
give, but Tiera didn't mind. She didn't get one at all, but he held his up to
his throat, which got Sam to do the same, and then the boy walked from the room
before speaking. She could hear what was said just fine.
"If
you hold one of these to your throat, anyone with another at their own can hear
you. It works up to fifty miles away from each other. They're for space
walking." That last term was a new one to her, but Kolb smiled at the use
of it.
Judy
quickly slapped hers into place. "Dang. Now that is amazing. We
need this pretty bad. Right now we have people going out into the big dark
trying to communicate with hand gestures. That don't work so well." A bit
of a Printer County accent crept into her voice, which Tiera assumed meant she
actually felt at least a little impressed.
Without
asking, Farlo took the one Sam had and tried it with a happy lilt to her voice.
"This
would work on the battlefield too, I bet."
That
started a discussion, but they were all just standing around in the dining
room, the wooden floor needing to be swept and the first years that had that
duty looking at them as if they badly wanted to leave, but didn't want to run
screaming at the little kids with waving brooms. Since that might well start a
fight, Tiera thought that was both a good, and polite, plan.
She
just walked out, and felt surprised when anyone at all followed her. Clyde and
Lewis both did however, sticking with their buddy, like they were supposed to.
It was going to make going to the restroom later a bit awkward, she decided,
but didn't make a big deal of it.
Instead
she listened to the others talk as she slowly made her way toward the practice
area. Really, she needed the magical weapons range, but that was about three
miles away. Judy waved at Kolb and then spoke, her voice a bit rougher than it
had been.
"I
really can't stay. I need to get back to the ship for lift off. We leave in
three hours, so if you all can be there an hour ahead of time, that would be
good. If you don't show, you don't go. We leave at eleven sharp,
regardless." Then she walked away, taking to the air as if it wasn't any
kind of big deal at all. Since she had a new shield unit, she didn't have to
use her hands to do it either. It was, Tiera decided, very interesting to look
at.
She
hefted the canvas sack and looked at Kolb.
"Two
whole hours to practice with the new weapons? Eh? Eh ?" The man actually
looked around at the group, and sighed.
"This
is a decent team for the first batch. Let's all head out to the range.
Kids..." He didn't say anything else, letting Havar take over.
"Three
miles from here, slightly to the north east. We'll fly in a loose formation.
Five sections of four. Keep your current groups, and you new people can work
into the ones that already exist." Then looking around he fixed his gaze
on Guide. "You can join with us, Eastgreen." He didn't wait to see if
Guide was going to say yes, but Tiera was still impressed. She hadn't been
aware that Havar knew the man's name at all.
She
ended up with Ali, which was a comfortable enough match. She was family after
all. She was also Karen's sister, so that would have worked too. The girl
simply bowed to Clyde first and then Lewis, who both looked completely at a
loss as to what to do. Etiquette wasn't something that had been covered a lot
where they'd been, it seemed.
"You
want
Judy
smiled.
"I
might be able to arrange that. I'm supposed to take my crew up in a few hours
anyway. I just came by to see who was around, since I was in port. What's the
test for?"
Sam
suddenly looked like he was the inventor of bread and waved at Lewis, who was
holding the deep blue silk bag in front of him. The boy liberated a few of the
tiles and handed them around to various people. It was interesting to see who
he picked too.
Terry
got one, and so did Havar, Judy got hers with a little bow that was actually
almost correct, given that the boy was giving her a present. It wasn't his to
give, but Tiera didn't mind. She didn't get one at all, but he held his up to
his throat, which got Sam to do the same, and then the boy walked from the room
before speaking. She could hear what was said just fine.
"If
you hold one of these to your throat, anyone with another at their own can hear
you. It works up to fifty miles away from each other. They're for space
walking." That last term was a new one to her, but Kolb smiled at the use
of it.
Judy
quickly slapped hers into place. "Dang. Now that is amazing. We
need this pretty bad. Right now we have people going out into the big dark
trying to communicate with hand gestures. That don't work so well." A bit
of a Printer County accent crept into her voice, which Tiera assumed meant she
actually felt at least a little impressed.
Without
asking, Farlo took the one Sam had and tried it with a happy lilt to her voice.
"This
would work on the battlefield too, I bet."
That
started a discussion, but they were all just standing around in the dining
room, the wooden floor needing to be swept and the first years that had that
duty looking at them as if they badly wanted to leave, but didn't want to run
screaming at the little kids with waving brooms. Since that might well start a
fight, Tiera thought that was both a good, and polite, plan.
She
just walked out, and felt surprised when anyone at all followed her. Clyde and
Lewis both did however, sticking with their buddy, like they were supposed to.
It was going to make going to the restroom later a bit awkward, she decided,
but didn't make a big deal of it.
Instead
she listened to the others talk as she slowly made her way toward the practice
area. Really, she needed the magical weapons range, but that was about three
miles away. Judy waved at Kolb and then spoke, her voice a bit rougher than it
had been.
"I
really can't stay. I need to get back to the ship for lift off. We leave in
three hours, so if you all can be there an hour ahead of time, that would be
good. If you don't show, you don't go. We leave at eleven sharp,
regardless." Then she walked away, taking to the air as if it wasn't any
kind of big deal at all. Since she had a new shield unit, she didn't have to
use her hands to do it either. It was, Tiera decided, very interesting to look
at.
She
hefted the canvas sack and looked at Kolb.
"Two
whole hours to practice with the new weapons? Eh? Eh ?" The man actually
looked around at the group, and sighed.
"This
is a decent team for the first batch. Let's all head out to the range.
Kids..." He didn't say anything else, letting Havar take over.
"Three
miles from here, slightly to the north east. We'll fly in a loose formation.
Five sections of four. Keep your current groups, and you new people can work
into the ones that already exist." Then looking around he fixed his gaze
on Guide. "You can join with us, Eastgreen." He didn't wait to see if
Guide was going to say yes, but Tiera was still impressed. She hadn't been
aware that Havar knew the man's name at all.
She
ended up with Ali, which was a comfortable enough match. She was family after
all. She was also Karen's sister, so that would have worked too. The girl
simply bowed to Clyde first and then Lewis, who both looked completely at a
loss as to what to do. Etiquette wasn't something that had been covered a lot
where they'd been, it seemed.
"You
want
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