Forming Up
© 2020 by Walter Reimer


Thumbnail art by  ahro


Space, remarkably, was getting crowded.

Cargo ships of every description from seven different companies were inphasing at the transfer point, and Jemel had to keep his attention on the manual controls to avoid getting too close to ships that were in normal space, while the naviputer kept the Kiss Me in the Dark clear of an interaction with an active hyperfield. Of course, the computer was talking to the other ships, coordinating courses and speeds.

Jemel was an experienced helmsfur, so Meredith was relegated to sitting in her captain’s chair and watching while resisting the urge to butt in.

“Yes, that’s us, Fox Winning,” the wolf was saying into his headset microphone. “Uh huh – what? No! No, I d – “ He slumped in his seat and muttered, “Yeah . . . yes, it’s me, Karisa . . . What? No, I don’t think so; I think she’s busy,” and he swiveled around in his seat to give Meredith a beseeching look.

It took the golden palomino a moment before she remembered. Jemel’s sister was aboard that ship. She half-rose from her seat and pantomimed lowering her pants, her ears flicking as Ginny giggled, and Jemel said, “I think she’s in the toilet . . . well, that’s busy, isn’t it? It’s what you always used to say.” His shoulders flexed as his hackles rose. “That was different, and you can ask – ask him yourself; if you ask nicely, he might tell you to bugger off.” He suddenly winced and a paw reached out, terminating the connection.

Elroy gave him a sympathetic look, while his wife dissolved into a laughing fit. Meredith gave the rabbit doe a wry look and asked, “Your sister, huh?” The wolf nodded. “I’ve got two baby brothers at home, so it’ll be a few years before I can sympathize. Cubhood fights?”

Jemel rolled his eyes. “We’re twins, fraternals, but I was born first despite what she says about it. Karisa keeps insisting she’s older, and blacked my eye the last time we were face to face.”

“Ouch,” Elroy said, glancing back at his consoles. The beagle reached out and tapped his wife on the shoulder, and Ginny, still giggling, resumed her duties.

“Tell you what,” Meredith said, “if she calls again, kill your mic and I’ll take it.”

“Really?”

The mare nodded. “Things are nervous enough out here. Jamming comms with an argument will only make things worse.”

“Gotcha.” Jemel turned back to his station, gazing up at the main display. The screen showed the ships moving into a fairly simple formation as several more contacts, their IDs showing that they were Colonial Navy, began appearing. “Captain? All ships broadcast coming from the lead Colonial.”

“Main screen.”

The current display shrank to an inset while the image of a spare, almost androgynous-looking pangolin wearing the Colonial Navy’s gray working uniform appeared. “Hello, everyone. I’m Captain Bury Danyell of the Hammer, designated as Commodore for this group,” she said. “Coordinates for the new waypoint beacons are being uploaded to your computers now, along with protocols for navigation. I’m not going to tell you what might happen if one of you break formation while in hyperspace,” and she snapped scaly fingers to imitate an explosion.

“Inphase is in ten minutes, and we’ll be on our way. Keep your ID beacons on; if we do get jumped by some Confedder, we’ll need to know who’s who, right?” Her image disappeared.

Meredith took a deep breath and blew it out through her nose. “Okay, people, we’ve got our marching orders. “Jemel, we have that data yet?”

The wolf nodded. “Computer’s reporting a full upload, all smooth.”

“Great. Elroy?”

“Hyperdrive’s ready at your order, Boss.”

“Life support and all other systems are optimal, Boss,” Ginny said.

“Okay.” The mare sat back in her seat as the formation started to disappear, one by one, from the display. “We’re fourth. Inphase.”

Power wrapped around the freighter, and the starfield flipped inside-out before becoming the utter, featureless black of hyperspace. The rest of the convoy and the escorts phased in as well, and the ships headed along a winding, twisting path to the new waypoint.