27: 79-02-62

_Travor quickly covered the distance between me and the door; once he did he nodded to the other man and simply walked away.

_The man behind Reichart stepped in and shouted in a deep roll, "Hurry up and get one, you're obviously having too much fun in here!" I could see the two chuckle a bit, their frames heaving up and down.

_Within 3 minutes I found a good-sized buggy and wheeled the various things out from in front of it. It started clean and sound, then pulled out the doors into the cool breezes and heavy sunbeams. Reichart closed the doors and pointed to another garage. I motored over and rolled onto the automatic door pressure panels. The barn doors opened and revealed another garage just as spacious, but with areas for repair and parking and such. After leaving the buggy there, I went out. Reichart had pulled up to the access door. The other man was in the passenger seat, so I hopped in the back.

_We stopped under a shed and began walking into the building it was next to. The man offered his hand. "Mauno?" I said.

_"Yep, c'mon and set down for a few."

_The inside was a cafeteria, with kitchen doors in the back and a bar on on side, then stairs up the other. Mauno and I sat down at the end of one of the long tables, Reichart slipped over to the bar. "You were Force? So was our last pilot. But... he was retired. And so he retired out of us, too." Reichart came back with glasses and a pitcher of water. "You're a bit young for that, so what happened?"

_Reichart glanced up from his drink and cut me off with his hand, "his enlistment ran out."

_"Good money. But it leaves a hole." At least it did when I left. "That's how I ended up out here. Saw an advertisement for free land and head as soon as I got of the transport, so I got myself on the next one here. I wasn't disappointed! Even in the capital there was gunfighting in the streets and the occasional loose beastie. When I stepped off I went straight to the land office and got turf. Some of the guys came with me out here and we decided to put our lots together."

_Then the doors swung open and twenty or so dusty, sweaty, grease-covered hands came in and sat down. "'Bout time you got to Travor then, see you two at dinner." Mauno turned and began chatting with his men.

_Outside were three trucks parked next to Reichart's. We hopped in his and traced back the way they had come. Around the common house and past some empty corrals was a small airfield. The hangars between the house and the strip must've blocked out the sound of anything that was being done, because I hadn't heard anything and there were three craft still cooling down just inside them.

_We stopped in the last of 3 hangars; Travor walked up. "Bring your helmet," then he turned to Reichart, "I'll need you, too."

_"Well, I didn't come to watch."