[Will all passengers wishing to visit the surface of the planet please report to the common area on the fourth floor for sorting and transport vessel assignments.] The ship's announcement declared.
Max, Nico, and all of the Battalion Commanders were waiting there for the intrepid passengers to come and get officially prepared to leave Terminus.
Terminus herself would be pretty much empty by the time they finished getting everyone loaded, a strange situation for the Colony Ship, but a little planetside vacation was exactly what everyone needed after all of the chaos that they had endured lately.
There was more than enough room in a single Cutter to load all the passengers as well as the Mecha compliment, but it was better to mitigate the chances of catastrophe by spreading them out between all three that were going to be off duty to start the visit.
The sun was just about to come up over the waterfalls, and that was a moment that Max didn't want to miss, as the light refraction through the falling water and off the crystals looked amazing in the remote scans.
"Welcome everyone to the first official shore excursion. This is as new to us as it is to the rest of you, so bear with us if there are some hiccups along the way.
The three roughly even lines you have formed will be your ship assignments for the landing. Each Cutter will take a slightly different route to the planet's surface, so you all will get a unique experience of the view on the way down.
It occurred to us that since everyone was sharing their photos on social media, it might be more interesting to have some differences between them, where possible. Nobody likes reposts, right?"
Max's speech made the Innu laugh and snap pictures of him in his casually Reaver tunic shirt and leather pants.
The Cutters had been stocked with an assortment of beverages, snacks, spare swimsuits, towels, and miscellaneous items that Logistics thought might be needed on the surface, such as art books and colored pencils.
Max wasn't sure which artist would forget such essentials, but it was better to be prepared for every eventuality.
"If there are no objections, please follow your team leader to your vessel," Max ordered, then started walking toward the hangars to catch up to Dave, Molly, and his siblings, who were already waiting for him there.
Nico was headed the other way, though, back toward the aft of the ship where the First Battalion and the Drones, as well as their own quarters, were.
"Did you forget something?" He called as Nico split from the group.
"Not at all. I prepared my own transport to the surface in case we need to do a rapid evacuation or reorganization. An ambulance, if you will." She replied, waving as she walked away.
That actually wasn't a bad idea. They had prepared medical teams, but the amount they could do on the surface was limited, and getting a Cutter ready for orbit took time. Having an Orbital Insertion Drone as an ambulance could save a life if things went very wrong.
But as far as Max knew, they would have to load the injured person in the bomb bay, not exactly the most comfortable of accommodations, even if they were large enough for the patient and paramedic while the cockpit could hold two persons.
Max read Nico's thoughts as she left, just in case she had done something strange again, but it looked like she had just set up a first response cot in a standard Orbital Insertion Fighter Drone.
That gave Max a good idea for the next trip, though. Slightly bigger drones, with seats and windows, so that they could do low-altitude flying tours of wherever they were visiting. It would also make for a great passenger shuttle for them, instead of their Kepler military-issue cargo shuttles, which were likely to draw some unwanted attention if they had to use them in a populated area.
Max added it to the list he had for projects to be undertaken when they had time, though realistically, it would be mostly Nico and the Engineering team that would most likely make the new vessel.
He really should have made her the boss. His paperwork load was suspiciously high, while she had a lot of free time, and it couldn't all be explained by her doing her tasks as his second in command digitally in the background.
"Uncle Max. Are we really going to go play on a whole new planet?" One of the girls that Max had to identify by her thoughts, as Sasha asked.
"We are. There are no people living there, only the people from the ship who are visiting. Have you explored the Cruise ship and met the new people yet?" Max replied.
"We did, we did. Molly didn't want us to go, she said she was tired, but we got to meet the Innu camera people. They said we could be in their documentary. We could be famous in a whole other world. Isn't that awesome?" Sasha giggled.
"Ask the younger Innu to play on the waterslides with you the next time you have free time from your studies. They love the waterslides." Max told her with a wink while Molly, their former foster worker turned surrogate mother sighed in frustration.
"It's hard enough to keep them concentrating on their work as it is. They don't need more excitement to look forward to." The long-suffering woman told Max.
"Just wear them out first. Ask Dave how he handled me. He was pretty good at finding ways for me to burn off excess energy." Max suggested while Molly cast a look at the two sets of twins, implying that such tactics were not possible with this group.
"Well, they will be tired by the end of the day today. There are camping supplies in the Cutter, so we should load up and get ready for the drop."
Max herded his family toward the Cutter, letting the Battalion handle the mass of tourists while he settled his group into one of the smaller private rooms.
[Attention all Passengers. We will be departing in three minutes. Please take your seats and secure your restraints as described in the instructions on your seat. Thank you for your understanding and please enjoy your flight.]
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