STAR BLAZERS: A VOYAGE TO REMEMBER

A fanfic recapitulation of Series One “The Quest for Iscandar” by

Frederick P. Kopetz

EPISODE ELEVEN: PANDORA’S BOX

October 5, 2199

(Big Thanks to “Bells of Nevermore” for some beta-reading and some ideas and rough writing for this chapter regarding the characters of Dexter Cross & Cody Tiriganiaq)

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Later that day on October the Fifth, after leaving Titan, the Argo began to maneuver out slowly into the rest of the Saturnian system of moons.

At that time of day, well after dinner, Captain Avatar didn’t have the conn. It was Wildstar’s watch as Officer of the Deck until 2000 Hours. Beside him to his right sat Dexter Cross at the helm. Eager was at the Battle Radar, Yamazaki was at Engineering, and Dash and all of the first-line Bridge officers were at their normal stations.

 “I’m getting…a weird feeling about this place,” Nova said. “Almost…eerie.”

“Okay, Nova,” teased Derek. “We’re going to navigate based on what we feel now?” he said, with a note of bluster in his voice…but he felt…something like hairs standing up on the back of his neck for some reason.

“No, Derek,” Nova insisted. “Something about this sector of space feels…strange. Like we’re disturbing something best left alone. Don’t you have that sense, Derek?”

“I…”

“Don’t ye knock it, laddie,” said Cross from his place at the helm. “We’ve learned, and I’m sure ye’ve learned…that impressions out here can be just as important as th’instruments. Aye?”

“I thought I felt the sense my dead brother might have been looking after me when I found his weapon before on Titan,” Derek said. “Tell me…Cross…Nova…do you think it was a coincidence?”

Nova shook her head, and she and Derek looked at Cross. “Yer’ taking yer first steps into more realms than just the’ stars, m’friends. There are practices and impressions that ye’ can’t quantify.”

Dash said, “Yeah, sure. Next thing you know, we’ll be making a port turn at Neptune because somebody on this ship sees a spook. Boooooo!”

He began to laugh, but Homer remained quiet. “There are things that are beyond our comprehension, Dash. The Tanakh says so.”

“What the hell is that?” sneered Dash.

“Ancient Jewish Scriptures!” Nova countered. “Did you ever study them?”

“’Tis one way of lookin’ at the Divine, luv,” said Dexter. “Some of ‘ye are on to somethin’,” he said.

“We’re picking up something!” Homer said.

“What, Moses on the Mountain?” teased Dash.

“You idiot!” said Homer. “I’m picking up a radio transmission on a very low band that just started a minute ago. It’s at 4700 kilocycles, and it sounds like this…”

Homer put the message on the speakers. It was a pattern that repeated. Four notes. “BLLEEP…BOOP…BEEP-BEEP. BLEEP…BOOP…BEEP-BEEP.”

“Possibly background radiation from Saturn,” mused Sandor. “But I’ve never heard of cosmic radiation changing notes like that before. Nova, do a radio-telescope scan for it.”

Nova nodded. “I’m…triangulating it. It’s coming from a satellite of Saturn near the ring system, over a thousand megameters off our current course. I’m localizing it on Pandora.”

“Pandora,” said Derek. “Isn’t that one of the really small satellites near Saturn’s rings?”

“You’re right,” Nova said. “It’s just 84 kilometers across…made of frozen ices, snow, a little bit of iron. It was first photographed by the old NASA Cassini probe in December of 2016. Not much. It’s much smaller than the Floating Continent was,” Nova said as she scanned the tiny moon and put an image up on the screen at full magnification. “I don’t think the Gamilons would have a base there; barely any gravity. But…those radio signals…”

“It could be an automated station that we set off,” Sandor said. “They could be transmitting data somewhere so that the Gamilons can try an attack.”

“That sound is creepier than you guys,” teased Homer as he looked at Cross.

“Since I know you’re in jest, m’friends, ‘tis forgiven,” said Cross as he smiled, showing some metal teeth. “And, Dash, no more comments. This is somethin’ material.”

“Do you think we should check it out?” Nova said. “We can’t risk another attack while we’re around Saturn. What if they force us into the ice ring system?”

“It’s probably a good idea,” mused Derek. “But wouldn’t we need the Captain’s permission to stop?”

“If we stop, it has to be a short stop, no more than one hundred twenty minutes,” said Yamazaki. “We’re behind schedule as it is. Sandor?”

“I agree with Nova and Wildstar,” said Sandor. “This needs to be checked. Wildstar, I’d just send recon planes in. I don’t want the ship getting lost in the rings. Nova, is there anything nearby we can anchor to?”

Nova scanned. “There’s a minor planetoid Sierra Alpha Oscar 2344 off to port, one megameter distance. Very small…just fifteen kilometers across…but solid, with a slow orbital curve.”

Derek said, “Cross, take us to that point. I’ll fire the rocket anchor and moor us there.”

“Aye,” said Cross as he massaged the helm and maneuvered close in to the planetoid.

“Rocket Anchor, FIRE!” snapped Wildstar.

The Rocket Anchor was duly fired for the first time. The chain unreeled and the anchor slammed into the planetoid. Between that and Cross’ careful use of the thrusters, the Argo came to a stop.

“Ship stopped and moored,” said Cross.

At the same moment, Holly Parsons, she of the red ponytail and green on white uniform, appeared on the bridge. “Mister Eager, here to relieve you.”

“Very well, Ensign,” he said as he got up and saluted and let the young woman take over.

“Noted, change of watch at Battle Radar,” said Wildstar. “Now, as for calling the Captain…”

His intercom went off a minute later. “First Bridge, Officer of the Deck speaking.”

“Wildstar, why did you stop the ship?” barked Avatar. “This is no place for sightseeing!”

“Sir, we picked up a radio signal in a repeating pattern coming from the satellite Pandora,” Wildstar reported. “It could be a Gamilon station of some kind. Request permission to send out an away team to investigate, sir.”

“Permission granted. Send out only two planes; the Type 100-C you and Nova used before, and one fighter. Get the pilot and a crewmember in the fighter armed. We don’t need another close call like a few hours ago.”

“Yessir,” said Wildstar. “Thank you.”

“Make the investigation snappy,” said Avatar. “Assign Sandor as Deck Officer in your place if you go. It’s almost his watch anyhow.”

“Yessir,” said Wildstar as he saluted. “I’ll lead the first team. IQ-9, you’re coming on the mission; no shenanigans this time.”

“Yes, Fighter Captain,” IQ-9 said glumly. “Probably all men, right?”

“No, because I’m volunteering,” Nova said.

“I like that better!” said IQ-9 as his dome leaped.

“You heard Wildstar…NO grab-ass this time!” Nova said.

“Okay,” said IQ-9.

“I’d like to come,” said Cross.

“Request denied. I need you at that helm because Venture and Eager are off watch,” Derek said. “But…I do get a weird feeling about this…”

“I suggest ye’ take my brother Cody, then. He’s a good fighter and he knows all sorts of ancient languages, aye.”

“Good idea. Yamazaki, can we spare Mister Tiriganiaq for this mission?”

“I don’t see why not,” he said. “Conroy’s available as your fighter pilot.”

“Good idea,” Derek said. He sent an order below to Conroy to have their Type 100 and a Cosmo Zero prepped.

Nova said to Parsons, “You take over at my post, if that’s all right with Sandor. We should be back soon.”

“Good idea,” Sandor said.

Parsons nodded and left her post and took over Nova’s post.

At that, the party left.

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FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER…

A Cosmo Zero, aka “Super Starfighter” and the Type 100 were maneuvering towards Pandora.

“The radio signal is still going on and on,” Nova said in her spacesuit as they approached the mysterious moon. “It seems to be speeding up.”

“I’m noticing the same thing myself,” said Cody from his plane. “And I sense an aura about this place. Someone was definitely out here…but very long ago.”

“The signal gets stronger the closer we get,” said IQ-9.

 “It feels weird out here,” Derek said from the cockpit.

“Like a haunted house,” Nova mused. “We’re close enough to triangulate again. The signal is coming from inside the moon.”

“You and IQ-9 start scanning the moon to see if we can get in there,” Derek snapped.

“Roger that,” IQ and Nova said together. Then, Nova reported. “Derek! We’re being painted by radar of some kind.”

“What the hell?” he said.

“Powering up guns,” said Conroy from his plane. “It could be a targeting mechanism.”

“But it’s not on any band the Gamilons use,” Nova said as Derek readied the Type 100’s minimal guns. “I’m picking up movement!”

“Where?” Derek snapped.

“The…moon…I’m reading a hatch opening,” Nova said. “And the radio signal just changed! It sounds like…music!”

“Music?” Derek said.

“Patching it over,” Nova said.

Soon, all of the party heard tones playing a strange, haunting melody they had never heard before. A part of the theme sounded to Derek like an old march from Argentina…”It sounds a little like Avenida De Los Camellias!” Derek said. “This is weird!”

“It sounds like a fanfare,” Nova said. “But…why? What? Now I hear words in that signal. WHAT?”

Then, they all heard a dignified computer voice, which sounded female, saying, “Kalos Irthate, Kyria!” Then everything went silent as they saw the hatch opening.

“What did it say?” Derek said.

“One word sounded like…Greek,” Nova said. “Kyria. Ladyship?”

“That sounds right,” said Cody. “It could be automated…but…I don’t think so.”

“Translation,” IQ-9 said. “Welcome, Ladyship!”

“Now…I am…weirded out,” Nova said. “How does it know I’m here?”

“That makes no sense,” Conroy snorted.

“I’m the only one of the female gender on this party,” Nova said. “It doesn’t feel like Gamilons…but why the heck is it summoning me? I’m a mere human! I’m not any kind of…royalty!”

“Nova, do you know how far back your ancestry goes?” said Cody after a long moment.

“No…but…”

“There is an interesting sense around you,” Cody said. “I do not say this to hurt you. I am intrigued,” he said as he heard Kalevi’s voice in his mind. This may be a clue to her true importance. She is much more important than she thinks.

Derek bit his lip and said, “Nova…if you want to go back, I’ll do that. Conroy and Cody can finish the mission. They…”

“No, I’m going,” Nova said. “I’m…frightened, but very curious,” she said as strange childhood memories came back to her mind. She thought they were dreams, but…

I wonder if there’s something magical about me? Nova thought. I try to follow the Lord…but…there’s always been something I’ve never been able to figure out.

“All right, we’ll go. Nova, you’d better tether a line to me in case something attacks you. I don’t want us separated.”

“Very wise idea, Wildstar,” Nova said as she took several deep breaths.

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They stopped on thrusters near the cave opening, fired cables to secure the two ships, and the party opened their cockpits and glided in. Conroy and Cody were tethered together, and Nova and Wildstar were likewise tethered together.

They floated in, followed by IQ-9. The gravity was practically non-existent, but there was ferrous material in the strange mix of stuff that made up the moon, so they activated both the retractable spikes and magnetic holds in their boots. IQ-9 turned on a spotlight, and the five of them half walked, half-floated, into a chamber.

“Are you recording video, IQ-9?” Derek snapped.

“Affirmative,” he said.

“The place looks like…a crypt,” Nova mused as she looked around. There were indistinct carvings largely covered by ice, and inscriptions in what looked like four different languages below the carvings but above the box, which was not natural, but obviously worked.

“I estimate the stonework in here was last altered about two thousand years ago,” IQ-9 said. “There are signs it was worked with lasers and hand tools.”

“Someone was here,” said Cody. “They left…ghost imprints of who they were.”

“The radio transmitter is in this crypt as well, along with a mechanism to open the hatch,” said IQ-9. “The technology is powered by a small nuclear fusion unit encased in the outer part of this moon. It is based on crystals, silicon, and other precious metals. Including what appears to be an isotope of silver I have never spotted before. The technology is not Gamilon,” IQ-9 said.

“So, other aliens were in our system long ago?” Derek said.

“Old histories say that,” said Cody. “Our Inuit legends also tell us that gifted angakoks or shamans had and still have the power to journey in trances and in dreams, visiting places that ordinary mortals can only experience in the afterlife, and we believe that there are other worlds in the sky where other beings live, other than the Gamilons or Iscandarians…”

“The carved images look like women,” Nova said as IQ-9 shone a light there. “Almost like Queen Starsha…Astra…or…”

“Or who?” Derek barked.

“Myself,” Nova said in a small voice. “But these women’s faces look grim…angry…almost…I…” Then, Nova looked carefully at the images. “That one looks like a warriors’ form of Starsha…she’s wearing a helmet…I think…and the other one is wearing a headband…and the face has two curls at the cheekbones…like…”

“You,” Derek said as Nova shivered.

“My God,” she murmured. “And…do you see those inscriptions above the box? Two of them are carved in letters that I don’t even recognize, and I saw clips of Iscandarian letters in Starsha’s plans for the wave engine before we did a translation. But…one of them…looks like…”

All of them looked at the worn, ancient letters carved in the polished, ebony-like stone.

“That is Greek,” IQ-9 said. “Permit me to attempt a translation.”

The inscription seemed to read:  ΑΥΤΌ…ΟΤΌΠΟ…ΡΟΣΤΑΣΊΑ…ΘΕΏΝ. ΣΚΟΤΕΙΝΈΣ…ΟΝΤΌΤΗΤΕΣ…ΧΆΝΟΝΤΑΙ, ΣΤΟ ΌΝΟΜΑΤΟ...

“Pardon the bad pun, Nova,” Derek said as he patted her shoulder. “It looks like Greek to me. I can’t make head or tail out of it?”

“But why would aliens be writing that in a Terran language?” Nova said.

“Let me translate,” said IQ-9.

“No,” Nova said. “It doesn’t look modern. If I can take a guess…from the way it’s written, all capitals, they all ran together. That’s the way Koine Greek used to read.”

“What’s that?” said Conroy.

“Biblical Greek,” Derek said. “I know what it looks like, but I can’t read it…”

“I can make out only one or two words,” said Cody. “It’s a mess, and even though I am a PhD, that is not really my area of expertise.”

“I can make out a little of it,” Nova said. “Aftos…topos…prostasia…tou…theou ton...skotienes…sto onomatos...”

“Is topos like topography?” Derek said. “And theos means…”

“God. Like theology,” said Cody. “The study of the Divine.”

“I think this is what it means,” Nova said. “It’s fragmented. A lot of words are covered by ice…or someone was here and defaced them. It seems to read, “This place…holds…under…God…Dark spirits…leave…in the Name of…”

“A warding inscription,” said Cody. “And look what I just spotted!”

“Runes?” Derek said.

“It looks like something from…The Hobbit,” Nova mused.

Conroy started to laugh, but Cody said, “Don’t laugh at her! You be quiet! Professor Tolkien based his fictional works on actual Scandinavian runes! These look Icelandic. A Doctor Denneman, the head of my…study Group at one time,” he said, “Was a scholar in these runes. He made sure we knew them all. This is incomplete, but I can sure as hell read it,” he growled. “In the Icelandic…this reads… Dökk aðila sín, í Nafni Nafn ofan og öllum Nöfnum…”

“Are you talking through your nose, Mister Tiriganiaq?” burbled IQ-9.

“Wildstar, shut that damn robot up or shut him the hell DOWN!” barked Cody. “I don’t need this crap!”

“You be quiet, Tinwit!” Nova yelled. “You’re not being funny!”

“Okay, if everyone is against me…” he said. IQ-9 refused to speak again for the next few minutes.

“What do the runes mean?” Derek said as he stood between Nova and the runes, almost as if he was protecting her from…something. Strangely, she didn’t mind.

Cody said, “Sort of the same thing that the other inscription reads: “Dark entities begone, in the Name of the Name above all Names. For Doctor Denneman, that would be the All-Father Odin, and I believe in him and other similar deities from my Inuit tradition.”

“God or Christ for me,” Nova said. “What’s that intricate symbol? It looks like a star!”

“It is a warding symbol,” said Cody. “Specifically, the Aegishlamur stave. And the magick is still about this place…”

“It looks a little like a Pennsylvania German Hex Sign to me,” Nova said, trying to equate it to something she knew.

Conroy chuckled again. “Witches? Hex Signs! This is too weird! Are we back in the nineteenth century?”

“I am a genius robot,” IQ-9 said. “And, honestly, NONE of this makes any sense whatsoever! We are rational! We should not fall prey to superstitions! They are not advanced or logical. Are we spacers, or children crying into the dark unknown?”

“You both be quiet!” Wildstar said. “I know it’s not scientific…but…I heard of those too. They were supposed to keep…witches of ill intent from cursing cattle and the like?” As Derek said this…he began to feel…weird.

He felt…cold…and he could feel some kind of entity in there.

“This is really like a haunted house,” Derek mumbled. “Nova, I think we’re screwing around with something mankind was not meant to…”

“I feel weird,” Conroy said. For no reason at all, he made the Sign of the Cross.

“Nova, do you think that seal is like one of those…Hex Signs?” Derek said as he held Nova…awkwardly, but protectively. “Even though I think we’re entering into Weird Stuff…here…”

“Correct,” Nova said as Cody nodded.

“You’re not far off the track, Miss. Very perceptive!” Cody growled. Then, he recited something under his breath, “Ægishjálm er ég ber, milli brúna mér…”

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from Evil,” Nova said in Derek’s arms. She was surprised to see he had murmured along with her. She added, “this…in…in Jesus’ name…”

“Amen,” Derek said softly.

Nova took a deep breath, and gently stepped away from Derek…but not too far away. His presence was…comforting, somehow.

“Not exactly what the spell I just recited was,” Cody said with a smile. “But pretty close in intent, Miss Nova! And congratulations on your first spell!”

“Spell?” Nova said. “It was part of the Lord’s Prayer…”

“Also, an invocation to Higher Authority like what I said,” Cody said. “I said, in Icelandic: I bear the helm of awe between my brows…and that is what that symbol is called. The Helm of Awe.”

“I feel like someone…or something…was watching us,” Derek said. “But he or it backed off when you and Nova spoke.”

“Not bad!” laughed Cody.

“It’s calling to me,” Nova said. “I think. That box…”

“Let me touch it,” Derek said, tapping at the lid. “It’s sealed.”

Conroy tried next, and nothing happened.

Then, IQ-9 tried. Nothing.

Cody tapped it. There was a brief flicker of blue light that went out.

“Nova, you touch it,” Cody said.

Nova tapped it with her spacesuit-clad fingers, and it glowed bright blue and then opened.

She had…literally…just opened Pandora’s Box.

Years later, she would realize that the strange journey her life had taken her on began at that very point.

“There’s…jewelry in there!” Nova said. Before Derek or Conroy could stop her, she reached in and picked up the items. “Two shiny chains…with small stones on them…and a ring with a tiny…amethyst on it, I think…amethyst is my birthstone,” Nova said. “It’s very small…and everything looks like silver…but it should have tarnished after lying here for so long?”

“IQ-9, scan those…make sure they aren’t poisonous or radioactive or something,” Derek said.

“Scanning,” replied IQ-9. “No radioactivity, traps, or poison detected. The silver is a very curious isotope…or…alloy. It is similar to ¹⁰⁹Ag, but is very stable and seems to contain tantalum and titanium which makes no sense because it is very hard to make an alloy of those metals. It appears to be a naturally occurring and bizarre alloy of silver, tantalum, and titanium not found on Earth, or even anywhere we know of in the solar system. It came from far beyond any star I know of, and I am a genius!”

“Very interesting,” Cody said. “I will take these…for now”

“Sandor has to analyze them first!” barked Wildstar.

“The necklaces,” said Cody. “I claim for myself and my brother. The ring…we shall give to Nova. It is only right and fitting since she opened Pandora’s Box and it is her birthstone.”

“All right,” Derek said.

“Oxygen is down to twenty minutes, almost in the yellow,” Nova said. “We’d better get going. This was…weird.”

“Not weird,” Derek said. “Uncanny.” He was a little surprised and awed that Nova had been able to open that crypt…and that the whole place seemed to be calling to her…and that…invisible thing that was watching them…that was warded by Cody’s…spell? And Nova’s prayer?

But why? Derek thought. What is there about her that I don’t understand? And is there really a God behind this all? A hereafter?

Derek took Nova’s hand because…she looked very weirded out with wide eyes.

And, although he did not know it, it was at that moment that his life became intertwined with hers in a Skein of Destiny.

When they stepped away, they heard the Box closing and locking on its own.

And all of the transmissions stopped…not to be heard again for decades.

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“Hmmm,” Sandor said as he analyzed the stones, chains, and the small ring and its stone.

The Argo had pulled away from the Saturn area, and she was now cruising at speed towards the edge of the solar system.

“What do you say to this?” said Captain Avatar. He was around the analysis chamber with Wildstar, Nova, Conroy, Cody, and Dexter.

“There are no harmful properties that I can detect from these scans,” Sandor said.

“You think these are safe to hand out?” said Avatar.

“Yes,” Sandor said. “And the metal is very interesting. Maybe it can be found on Iscandar?”

“What do you think we should call this alloy?” Derek asked.

“Mithril?” Nova suggested. “After the mysterious, fictional metal of the Dwarves in Lord of the Rings?”

“I like that,” Avatar said with a smile. “Nova, we’ll call it mithril, then. Sandor, list her in the scientific records as the discoverer of this alloy, along with Wildstar, Conroy, and Tiriganiaq.”

“Yessir,” said Sandor.

Dexter said, “There’s two stones here. A black one, and a dark brown one. I’ll take the black one,” he said as he took the necklace and put it on. “Brother, ye’ take the brown one.”

Cody nodded and put on his necklace.

“There’s the ring,” said Avatar.

“May I take it and give it to Nova?” said Derek.

“It seems fitting, somehow,” Avatar said. “Yes…put it on her. If it’ll fit. It appears to be very small.”

Derek took the ring and tried it on Nova’s fingers. Nothing seemed to fit until Derek slipped it onto her pinky finger, right hand.

“Does it feel all right?” Derek said.

“It does,” Nova said. “It seems I can think a little more clearly…I’m not sure why, though.”

Cody said, “Birthstones are all supposed to have different properties. Yours would be an “air” or “wind” stone, which means that it may give you the ability to see things more clearly, and may serve as a hedge of energy around you.”

 “It’s not a bad gift,” Nova said. “Derek, thank you for putting it on me.”

“You’re welcome,” he said with a blush.

“Okay…back to your assigned stations and duty periods,” said Captain Avatar.

The others saluted him, and he returned the salute.

Then, Avatar said, “Let’s go on to Iscandar…by the Grace of God.”

No one disagreed with that.

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LATER….

Nova was in a simple white nightgown, getting ready for bed.

“So, they gave you that stone?” said Doctor Denise Carroway in their cabin.

“Yes. For some reason I don’t understand…I was able to open that crypt,” Nova said. “But so much about what happened at Pandora is a mystery. What do you think of Cody and Dexter?”

“What they believe in and study is…strange,” Denise said as she yawned in her grey pajamas. “However, what does their behavior tell you?”

“Cody, at least, didn’t want any harm to come to us. He said his prayer…or incantation. I said my prayer…and that evil influence that we felt inside Pandora vanished. I think we both called upon God…in our ways…”

“And He listened, obviously,” said Denise. “That’s what I always thought of them. I didn’t always agree with them, or their beliefs, but they weren’t and aren’t evil men. Still, they need to be cautious…and so do you.”

“Why do I need to be careful?” Nova said in all innocence.

Denise chose the next few words carefully. “You’re very intuitive and sensitive to your environment, Nova. You told me yourself that one of the carvings you saw in that cave looked like you. I think you may have an interesting…ancestry, Nova. You look like Astra of Iscandar. You surely saw that…”

“I did…it scared me a little,” Nova admitted. “When Doctor Sane and I autopsied her…I had to cover her face with a cloth for much of it. Why? Because I had the strange feeling that I was performing an autopsy on…myself.”

“Interesting observation,” said Doctor Carroway. She’s getting close to the truth on her own, Denise thought. “It looks as if the Iscandarians may…just may…have been here in our star system before, Nova. Maybe one or more of them blended with Humanity…and maybe…you’re a descendant of one of those unions.”

“Maybe,” Nova said as she climbed into her bunk and looked up at the overhead. “And…there’s…Derek. Oh, my God…he can be so rude at times. A total wise-ass. Yet…he’s in such pain over his brother. Together…we looked at his probable grave site at the wreck of the Paladin. He was so sad. And he didn’t mind that I comforted him…and he helped to protect me…on Titan…and in Pandora’s Cave…and then he put this ring on my finger. That was strange…almost gallant.”

“All that is gold does not glitter,” Denise said.  “What do you think of Wildstar?”

“I couldn’t stand him at first…for a time...but now…he’s a friend…and a very close friend, at that,” Nova said.

“Perhaps he will become an even closer friend to you, Nova,” said Denise.

“And what do you mean by that?” Nova said.

Denise smiled at that. “You’re a smart young lady, Nova. You figure it out. Good night,” she said as she turned down the lights and got into her bunk.

“Good night,” Nova said.

And, as she fell asleep, her thoughts turned to Derek Wildstar…for the first time…but not for, shall we say…the last?

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TO BE CONTINUED…

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TO BE CONTINUED….