STAR BLAZERS: A VOYAGE TO REMEMBER

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

Frederick P. Kopetz

EPISODE FIVE: SAUCERFULS OF SECRETS

September 29, 2199

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On Planet Gamilon, Desslok was meeting with several of the generals in his Staff: Krypt, Volgarr, and a third officer known as Hairm Kelzart.

“You are three of my brightest Generals, I am told,” Desslok said. “Explain to me what happened to that spacecraft carrier we sent to bomb Earth. Why did they suddenly go off my screen? They were saying something about fighting a new Earth battleship?”

“Leader Desslok,” said Kelzart. “We believed that the target was an underground city. We wanted the ventilation tower for that city destroyed. Ganz told me that.”

“Yes, so you thought that it was a target that couldn’t fight back?” Desslok said with a sneer in his voice.

“Now, Lord, we have a huge new space battleship as a target!” said Volgarr. “The telemetry confirms it!”

Desslok shook his head and openly sneered in something that sounded like a demented laugh. “So, the Terrans are still fighting on even after losing at Pluto? Don’t they know that they’re defeated? What utter fools! Krypt, prepare me some video of the loss of that carrier captured from one of our planes before that…Terran…thing shot it down? I need to shove it into Colonel Ganz’s worthless face so that I will give that idiot some incentive to finish off that pile of scrap.”

Desslok motioned with his hand and a still of the Yamato came up on his screen. “Look at this, gentlemen. The Terrans are going against us with a pile of reclaimed scrap that looks like an obsolete Naval warship. More evidence, gentlemen, that we are dealing with barbarians that have to be wiped off the sacred soil of what I am sure is Galmania, our mother world. When we reclaim Terra, I will build a paradise…on the rotting bones of those Terrans. Remember our need, my Generals. And remember, we must not show them an iota of quarter nor pity. No matter how suicidally and futilely brave those idiots are.”

Desslok left with a dramatic flip of his cape.

“He asks too much of us,” said Volgarr.

“Never let him hear you saying that,” rejoined Kelzart. “I will have to report this to Admiral Dietz. I’m sure he will not be happy.”

“The man we must fear…is Desslok,” said Krypt.

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TWO DAYS LATER…

It was now October 1^st, 2199: at 1100 Hours.

Captain Avatar had called a meeting of his primary Group Leaders in the Yamato’s messhall.

At the head of the table, to Captain Avatar’s right, sat Lieutenant Commander Steven Sandor, whom Avatar had selected as the Technical Group Leader and First Officer of the ship.

To Avatar’s left sat Lieutenant Derek Wildstar, who was the Combat/Tactical Section Leader. Beside him sat an officer who had recently boarded the Yamato, a Junior Lieutenant known as Dashell Jordan, who would be in charge of Gunnery Systems under Wildstar. The spectacles-wearing officer had already picked up a nickname, “Dash”.

Avatar called the meeting to order and said, “Sandor, are these are department heads?”

“Yes, all of them, with the exception of Lieutenants Conroy, Hardy, and Grant, who are picking up their planes at the moment. We don’t have a man assigned to the Fourth Squadron as leader yet, I’m entrusting to Conroy.”

“Okay, we can fill those men in later in about a day or so,” said Avatar. “I’ve called all of you here so that you can all become familiar with each other and take the measure of each other. Of course, I know that Wildstar, Venture, Forrester. Doctor Sane, and IQ-9 already know each other due to your performance in our first battle. We are now five days away from X-Day; October the sixth, when we are scheduled to take off.  I wanted to advise you first that, since we have a worldwide crew, the name of this vessel needs to reflect that. There is a legend that long ago, a ship of brave explorers left their home nation in the Greek Islands in search of a Golden Fleece that would save their kingdom. Their ship was named the Argo. In honor of that legendary mission, and in honor of the fact that this crew consists of the best men and women from all of Earth, not just Great Island, I conferred with Commanding General Singleton, and he agreed that it was fitting to rename this ship the Argo. I want each of you to introduce yourselves to the crew, starting with Lieutenant Wildstar and his row, followed by Lieutenant Commander Sandor and his row. Wildstar, you lead us off. Stand up when you address everyone. Consider this practice for your command voices.”

“Yessir,” said Derek after he cleared his throat. “My name is Lieutenant Derek Wildstar. I am twenty years old, going on twenty-one. I was born in Oregon, in the United States, but my family ended up moving to  Great Island, on the Miura Peninsula near Yokohama. I have had, naturally, parents, aunts and uncles, a cousin whom we haven’t seen for years, and, of course, my brother, Captain Alex Wildstar of the Paladin, who died in the Battle of Pluto. I am a trained fighter pilot and tactician, was in the top Twenty of the Class of 2199 at the Earth Defense Academy, and I play a musical instrument or two and played some intramural soccer and basketball at the Academy. I wanted to go varsity for soccer, but my studies didn’t allow for it. I feel, if you’re going to do a job, go and do it. No hesitation. NONE. I also hate the Gamilons with a hatred that is utterly visceral!”

“Don’t we all, lad,” sighed Lieutenant Commander Patrick Orion from his end of the table as his beard bristled.

 “That’s all I have to say,” said Derek as he sat down, glaring at everyone.

“Good introduction,” said Avatar. “Next?”

Next, Lieutenant Jordan stood up. “I’m Junior Lieutenant Dashell Jordan. I’ve been here in Great Island for a while, but I hail from Wellington, in New Zealand. We were one of the first cities to get hit. I was visiting Great Island with my uncle when the bombs hit; never saw my parents again. I ended up at the Academy, where I ended up on the rifle marksmanship team. I’m twenty-one years old, I’m a Leo, and if any of you lovely ladies want to have a date with me, you know where to find me,” he said with a bow while Nova, Natalie, and Dr. Carroway rolled up their eyes at him.

“Player,” muttered Wildstar as Dash sat down.

Dash chuckled and turned to the young man in red and white next to him. “Mister Hoshina?”

The young dark-haired Japanese officer came to his feet. “I’m Ensign Toru Hoshina; I’m twenty, and I’m from the Kanto region of Japan. I’ll be the security chief during this mission. My sport at the Academy was fencing; I’m very good at it,” he said. “I’m…looking forward to serving on this cruise. For those who may have been aboard the ship, I’m brand-new to this position, like only a week. I was appointed after the security chief originally chosen for the cruise…he got into trouble. He was court-martialed…and executed. It was not a good situation.”

Hoshina sat down, and the table buzzed a bit, wondering what had happened to cause this change in officers…and to cause an officer to be executed.

Wildstar bent over and asked Hoshina, “Okay…what the heck happened to Lieutenant Shinya Ito? Wasn’t he the guy with that smile on his face?”

Hoshina nodded and said, “Yes, it was him, all right. Doctor Carroway and I apprehended him. He was found doing something quite vile to a woman who since quit the crew. Shame, too. The nurse in question would have been Lieutenant Forrester’s second in the Medical Group.”

“Damn, no wonder he was executed,” whispered Wildstar.

Beside Hoshina sat Lieutenant Mark Venture, who was in charge of Navigation. Next to him sat a freckled man who had recently been released from the hospital as his second-in-command; Lieutenant Christopher Eager, the late helmsman of the Kirishima at the Battle of Pluto. Two other officers, younger, sat next to Eager: a man named Ensign Travis Ryder, and a young red-headed woman known as Ensign Holly Parsons.

Venture stood up next and began to speak after Avatar cleared his throat and Wildstar sat down. Mark stammered a little as he said, “I’m Lieutenant Mark Venture, Navigation Group Leader. I’m twenty, I don’t play any musical instruments, and I’m from Amsterdam, New York, United States. Amsterdam is…was…a smaller town north of New York City. I still have my parents and a little brother named Jordy, who idolizes me like you wouldn’t believe. I played intramural soccer at the Earth Defense Academy, too, sometimes with, and sometimes against Wildstar here. He’s not half bad, but I think he took the ball off his head one too many times.”

“Watch it, Venture!” Derek snapped as most of the people around the table chuckled.

“Mister Eager,” Avatar said. “You’re next.”

Eager stood up. “Chris Eager; Navigation Officer. I’m twenty-three; I hail from Briggs, Texas. I play some dobro guitar; brought it with me, and I graduated from ROTC at Texas A & M. Also wrote a book on space navigation and natural phenomena in space. I was on the Kirishima with Captain Avatar at Pluto. We got our royal butts kicked out there. I’ve got this on and off relationship with a girl named Lisa, who’s a teacher. I’m also hoping to write and produce a children’s video series about a cartoon snail someday if Earth ever survives this mess. And, that’s the story of me,” he said as he sat down.

Ryder then stood up. “Ensign Travis Ryder. I’m nineteen, and I’m from Georgia, United States. I kinda grew up around one of our pilots, Jefferson Hardy. I’m good at Astro-Navigation; played soccer at the Academy, and I’ve got a sister, but she’s too young for you guys to date; she’s just ten,” he said as a few people chuckled.

He sat down, and Holly Parsons then got up. “My name’s Ensign Holly Parsons, I’m twenty, and I’m from Australia, originally. My mother, Tonya, is a widow…Dad got killed years ago in the bombings. I was seeing this guy from the Academy, but we just broke up. I used to sing in my church choir and I used to like to sing until this craziness hit. I…I don’t have that much more to say. Thanks!”

At the other side of the table, two men sat next to Sandor; a man with somewhat long hair almost like Wildstar’s named Lieutenant Neil Holloway. Next to him sat a very nervous-looking individual, a very slight man with a mop of hair and glasses known as Ensign Neville Royster.

Beside Royster sat Lieutenant Nova Forrester of the Operations/Living Conditions Group, who was wearing a gold and black blouse, skirt and boots today rather than the jumpsuit she had frequently been seen in. Next to her, in a gold and black jumpsuit, was her friend and second-in-command Junior Lieutenant Natalie Fisher, who was trying to keep her flip of brown hair from falling into her left eye. Next to Fisher sat a young brown-haired Japanese Ensign known as Yuria Misaki, who wore her hair in two interesting-looking pigtails at the back of her head.

Avatar nodded at Sandor next, and he stood up. “I’m Lieutenant Commander Steven Sandor. I was born in Russia. I have doctorates in Engineering and Astrophysics, and I was a partner in an aerospace corporation and I also taught at two different universities. I’ll be the ship’s Technical Group Leader, and I’ve designed a lot of the tech on this ship, including something I call the Dynamic Replicator, which I hope to demonstrate later. I was a graduate of the Earth Defense Academy, but that was years ago. I was always in the lab and I had a good friend who was heavily into sports, and…well…I think that’s enough,” said Sandor. He sat down.

Sandor’s second stood up next. “I’m Lieutenant Neil Holloway; I was born in Britain but raised in the West Indies. Came here early when the bombing began when my father, also an EDF Officer, was reassigned here to the Kanto Space Station. I’m twenty-two, graduate of the Academy, and I play drums and have a small folding set of drum pads on the ship if we ever have occasion to have a band.”

Eager then said, “Well, you know I play guitar. I know that Nova plays both keyboards and guitar, so ah think we have the core of a ship’s band here, Neil.”

Holloway smiled back; he had worked with Eager before, and he said, “Sounds good…if we ever find time, we’ll rehearse if the young lady is willing.”

Nova nodded as, next to her, Royster, who was shorter than she was and who wore glasses, began to sweat. “Not sure I want to…talk…” he said.

“Royster, it’s okay,” Nova said. “No one here is going to make fun of you!”

Royster stood up. “I’m Ensign Neville Dana Royster; graduate of the ROTC program from Cornell University; I came from Scranton, PA in the United States before this craziness started. My specialities are Cosmic Engineering, Astrophysics, and I have an Astrophysics Doctorate, and I’m…thirty. I had a long educational deferment and I just got called up…”

“Tell them what you designed,” said Sandor.

“I largely designed the basic airframe of the Black Tiger, a new fighter/bomber we’ll be flying,” he said as he saw the pilots coming in; there were four Squadron Leaders; a tall man with a crewcut, a slightly shorter man with a crazy mop of hair hanging in one eye, a tall African-American man with a short haircut, and a man slightly shorter than him with another short crewcut. The four pilots wore black uniforms with gold markings.

“You sound smart,” said the leader of the pilots who had come in.

“Guess I am,” Royster said. “Captain, sir, may I sit down?”

“Yes,” said Avatar. “Lieutenant Nova Forrester, you take over.”

“Yessir,” Nova said. “Hi! I’m Lieutenant Nova Dawn Yukiko Forrester, and I’m twenty-one,” she said as she stood up. “I’m in charge of the Shipboard Operations and Living Conditions Group, and I’m also third in command of the Medical Group just behind the ship’s doctors. I graduated from the ROTC program at University of Colorado at Boulder, and my majors were biochemistry and physics. As Eager said, I play guitar and keyboards, and my college sports were gymnastics and swimming in different years, and I was also a cheerleader! I like people, coffee, and I used to love the beach before Earth got ruined,” Nova said. “I also have a Master’s Degree as a Certified Nurse-Practitioner and when we succeed in this mission and restore Earth, I’d love to go to Medical School.”

“Sounds great,” said the strange little man who sat near Orion. “Could you give me a physical, ma’am? I bet you have nice, soft hands.”

Nova gritted her teeth and shut her mouth while Orion said, “Sparks, that was tacky! She’s yer superior officer, lad. Apologize!”

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant, ma’am,” he said.  “Thought she’d realize I was kidding. Nova and I go waaay back,” said Sparks.

“I know other people in this crew far longer than I know you, Sparks,” Nova rejoined. “And, I hate to bring this up, but you and I are not friends!”

Next to Venture, Wildstar whispered, “That Sparks guy is weird!”

“Yeah, what’s he got against Nova? She’s real nice and everybody likes her!” said Mark.

“Some guys are just creeps, I guess,” Derek muttered.

“I heard that, Wildstar,” sneered Sparks from across the table.

“Mister Sparks, enough!” barked Avatar. “Miss Fisher, you’re next.”

Natalie stood up and said, “I’m Junior Lieutenant Natalie Fisher, Lieutenant Forrester’s second in command. I’m a little younger than Nova, but I’m twenty-one, too. I was also born in Boulder, Colorado, and I’ve known Nova since I was eight. My parents worked for her dad’s law firm. I am also an ROTC graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder. My major was Biochemistry, but while I will be assisting at times as a nurse myself, I will be assisting Nova in the operation of her Living Conditions Group, particularly in charge of life support, food stores, and growing of food in the hydroponic garden Nova created aboard ship. I was a cheerleader for a time, too, and also on the college swim team with Nova. And, that’s my resume’.”

Avatar nodded and said, “Ensign Misaki?”

Yuria stood up. “Sir, I’m Ensign Yuria Misaki; I’m nineteen, but I was pushed through the Academy quickly. My primary skills are radar and inter-ship communications ops and I will also be assisting Lieutenant Forrester in electronics repair. I’m also psychic. I can see ghosts and sense weird things of all sorts.”

“How do we know you can see ghosts?” said Venture.

“Because I’ve seen men from the sunken Yamato around the ship, that’s why,” said Misaki with a tone of voice as if she was speaking to a two-year old. “I had a long conversation with Captain Kosaku Aruga, the Yamato’s last Captain a while back. Captain Avatar, he wishes you luck, along with the young officer who will eventually succeed you as Skipper. He didn’t tell me who this officer would be.”

Ensign Ryder began to laugh out loud at that. “That sounds creepy,” he said. “Ensign, once we bury the dead, they stay dead, either in Heaven or Hell.”

“How do we know that?” Nova retorted. “I’ve seen…interesting…things aboard this ship at night, too. Oh, by the way, Yuria, I’ve seen Captain Aruga too. Interesting, even though I only chatted with him for a moment.”

“Well, Yuria, Nova, kindly give Captain Aruga my regards and tell him that I appreciate his good wishes,” said Avatar. “We may experience strange things on this cruise, gentlemen and ladies. It would be a good idea if you could keep…open minds. Doctor Sane, you…next…”

Next, there were the officers in charge of the Medical Group. Doctor Sakezo Sane sat next to Misaki, peering at the group through his small glasses. Beside him sat a woman in young middle age with reddish blonde hair and glasses known as Doctor Denise Carroway; Doctor Sane’s second-in-command of Medical. Nova, sitting at her own place, was of course herself Sane’s third-in-command of Medical.

Doctor Sane stood up and said, “I’m Lieutenant Commander Sakezo Sane, MD. I’m from Japan, and I’m fifty-four years old, a skilled surgeon; I detest false and phony attitudes, can easily tell when someone is lying to me,” he said as he stared hard at Captain Avatar. “I’ve had people in my life I’ve lost. My wife died six years ago because of the radiation sickness…and I just lost my daughter two years ago…same cause of death. The only person left who’s close to me is my cat, Mimi. But I want to do what I can on this mission to try to make sure people stop, and I mean stop, dying from these bombs. Doctor Carroway, you’re up next.”

Sane sat down, and Doctor Denise Carroway stood up. “I’m Doctor Denise Catrina Carroway, a civilian employee of the Defense Forces; I’m twenty-six, and I was born in France. I just finished my Residency not long ago, and when Doctor Sane asked me to come on the mission, I came. I brought my own nurse, who, has, unfortunately, left the crew due to a regrettable incident. I will be backing Doctor Sane up, and if anything happens to him, I will be the ship’s surgeon. I look forward oui, to working with you all,” she said.

“Thank you,” said Captain Avatar. He looked next to Carroway. Next to Doctor Carroway sat another young man in the gold and black of Operations: Ensign Homer Glitchman, a young man with sandy blonde hair. Nova was his section chief, but he would be assigned to work with Venture assisting him with Navigation as well as Communications. Homer’s Communications Group was almost a Group unto itself. Beside Homer sat a young Enlisted man, Master Sergeant David Sorin, a man from Tel Aviv who had just joined the crew the previous day.

“Mister Glitchman, introduce yourself,” said Avatar.

“Yessir,” he said. “I am Ensign Homer Glitchman; I will be working Communications under Lieutenant Forrester and Lieutenant Venture. I’m twenty-one, and I’m from northern Poland, near Russia. I worry about some things, but I am looking forward to doing a great job. Sergeant Sorin?”

Sorin got up as Glitchman sat down. “David Sorin, ladies and gentlemen,” said the dark-haired young man. “I’m from Tel Aviv, Israel; I’ve been in Japan for some years, and I’m twenty. I was out in space twice in battles before Pluto, and I know that this is not a business for the ill-informed or the weak. Captain Avatar knows me and he chose me. We…we served together once. I can never forget it!”

“Of course,” said Avatar. “Now, the Engineering staff…then…our pilots.”

Finally, there was the Engineering staff; Lieutenant Commander Patrick Orion, also late of the Kirishima, was the Group Leader. Beside him sat his second-in-command, a heavyset Japanese man known as Senior Lieutenant Sho (or sometimes “Joe”) Yamazaki. Finally, at the table’s end sat Ensign Sam Sparks, a portly little man with hair hanging into one eye. Sparks was the third-in-command of Engineering, and Derek Wildstar had heard rumors which he saw conformed earlier that he had a rather obnoxious, strange personality.

Orion quickly introduced himself as he stood by saying, “Hullo. I’m Lieutenant Commander Patrick Orion, from Dublin, Ireland. I’ve been Captain Avatar’s chief engineer for a number of years; a long time, matter of fact. I helped construct our ship’s engine based on Queen Starsha of Iscandar’s plans, and I’m sure she’ll do all we call upon her to do.”

He sat, and then Senior Lieutenant Sho Yamazaki stood up. “Sho Yamazaki, from Osaka, Japan; I’ve also been out with Captain Avatar and Orion on a few campaigns. If anyone here has any doubts that we will make it back and forth between here and Iscandar,” he said as he looked hard at Sparks. “Then, I suggest you leave them at home. Sparks, introduce yourself!”

“Sir,” said Sparks. “Ensign Samuel Travis Sparks, from the United States, Phoenix, Arizona, to be exact. I’m going to give my best on this cruise. That’s all.”

Last of all, the pilots stood.

The first pilot stood up. “I am Lieutenant Peter Conroy, California, United States, in command of our Black Tiger fighter group and commander of Alpha Squadron, Black Tigers. Pardon the brief introduction, but I asked my men to make this quick.”

He sat down, and Hardy stood up. “Ensign Jefferson Davis Hardy, from Georgia, United States, in command of Beta Squadron, Black Tigers.”

Then, the third man stood up. “Ensign Kyle Grant, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, commanding Charlie Squadron, the first Interceptor Squadron, flying the Super Starfighter.”

He sat, and the fourth man stood up and said, “Ensign Jose’ “Buzz” Taylor, from Argentina, sir, commanding Delta squadron, second interceptor squadron of Super Starfighters.”

 “And you, my friend?” Avatar said to IQ-9.

“IQ-9, genius robot, trained in all aspects of the mission,” said the small red robot.

“Sir, do you think you can be a professional on this cruise?” asked Natalie.

Nova tapped her arm and said, “Natalie…hush! Please!”

“Oh, I’ve got my reasons for asking, Nova…believe me,” said Natalie with an evil grin.

“What happened between us before was an accident, Natalie,” said IQ-9.

“Yeah, I BET,” she said.

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A while later, Commanding General Singleton and General Stone boarded the Argo for a brief ceremony, at exactly 1300 Hours.

The officers who had been at the meeting earlier were grouped on the Argo’s massive main, upper deck by the bow for a ceremony that, due to the radiation, had to be brief. All of them had dress jackets on over their uniforms.

Avatar and Forrester stood on a platform near the bow, before the forward hawse hole.

Captain Avatar spoke into a microphone and speakers set up earlier by IQ-9, as he said, “We will be taking off for Iscandar in this vessel, as scheduled, in five days. As you know, we have decided to rename our vessel the Argo, owing to our connection between our quest for Iscandar and the legendary Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece. Jason’s vessel was named the Argo, so, likewise, our ship will also be named the Argo. However, to send the Argo off properly, she must be christened by a woman, as tradition states, who will also sponsor the ship. Lieutenant Nova Forrester has agreed to act as the Argo’s sponsor and to christen her under ancient tradition. Lieutenant, do your duty!”

“Yessir!” Nova said, looking very pretty in her blue dress jacket, gold skirt, and white boots. “Today, in accordance with tradition, with one of the last remaining bottles of champagne on Earth, I re-christen thee, our newest space battleship, Argo!” Nova said as she smashed a bottle of champagne against the bow; the champagne was wrapped in ribbons.

The bottle smashed and the fizzy flowed down the bow as the group applauded and Nova gave a small bow before Avatar and Singleton helped her jump off the platform to the deck.

“Dismissed!” said Avatar. “All hands, continue preparations! We will see the rest of the crew aboard the Argo tomorrow, at exactly 1400 after the parade to the ship. Then, the final preparations will begin, since we are set to take off on Sunday morning, the sixth. Tomorrow morning will be the second, which will be Wednesday. We will need to work hard to ready her for launch. Are we clear?”

“YESSIR!” said all of the officers as they saluted Avatar. None of those present knew yet that some of those who survived the mission to Iscandar and other wars would be aboard the same ship again thirty-four years later when this same vessel, heavily rebuilt, would again be re-christened by Nova, who would, by then, be acting in a far different role.

THE NEXT DAY

October 2, 2199

0630 Hours

All of the members of the Star Force, for the very first time, were now assembled in a large assembly hall at the edge of the underground Tokyo Megalopolis as Captain Avatar addressed three hundred and thirteen men and women on a large stage as he explained what the mission to Iscandar would entail and how their mighty space battleship had been renamed the Argo.

“Our objective, as I said, is Planet Iscandar,” said Captain Abraham Avatar. “On the way there, we are sure to meet the Gamilons many times.”

He paused as he looked out at the crowd. “If some of you do not wish to go, it will be no disgrace. I will be waiting for you aboard the Argo. Thank you for your attention!”

The crew saluted as one, and Avatar returned the salute.

A few minutes later, the crew was marching in a large parade through a major street of the underground Tokyo Megalopolis to the Earth Defense Forces March while most people applauded.

Some people yelled insults and they were shouted down.

Mark Venture heard some people yelling, “What, are you idiots running from Earth?

“Shut up!”

“Please, please make it back safely!” yelled a woman up on a balcony.

Confetti and flowers showered down on the ship’s company occasionally as they marched.

As Venture marched along, he thought, I wonder if we’re all a bunch of fools. How do we know the Argo can really make it? I hope to God we can make it here and back in a year, or…

In the meantime, a young boy, maybe eight years of age, ran up to Mark Venture holding a lei of pink flowers.

“That’s my brother!” he yelled.

“Jordy!” called Mark as he got out of ranks to talk to his little brother Jordan.

Jordy put the lei over Mark’s neck as Lieutenant Venture bent down. “This is for you, Mark! It’ll bring you good luck!”

“Thanks, Jordy,” said Mark as he hugged his brother.

“Bye, now!” called Jordy as he ran off.

Mark looked on at him and then got back into ranks.

Another heckler, up in a balcony, yelled, “Hey! You jerks! Who’s gonna take care of your families while you’re gone?”

Another man grabbed him by his shirt and shook him. “Listen, buddy…I didn’t see you volunteering for anything! Someone’s gotta do this job and it doesn’t look like it’s gonna be YOU!”

“Aaaaa…you dummy,” the other man said.

In the meantime, a woman in a green blouse with white slacks and boots with her dark hair up in a bun was looking at the crowd and yelling, “Nova! Nova, NOVA!” she cried out as she saw her daughter marching past.

Nova Forrester, in her regular jumpsuit, also came out of ranks and ran towards her parents. “Mother! Dad!”

Nova’s mother, an artist and art professor named Dr. Teri Forrester, ran up to her daughter and hugged her hard…not wanting to let go.

“Oh, Nova…do you really have to leave us for a whole year?” she said as she sobbed.

Nova smiled and said, “Look, you two! A year goes by fast! We’re going on a great adventure, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything! Oh, Mom, Dad, I’m going to miss you both!” Nova hugged and kissed her parents and then took off, sobbing a little for a moment as her father cried, “NOVA!”

“Oh, my Baby, NO!!!” sobbed Teri Forrester.

As Nova disappeared into the ranks of her shipmates marching down the street, Karl said, “Nova told me she always wanted to take off on an adventure. Remember when she was five and she read the Narnia books? She was crawling into every cupboard possible for a whole month looking for Aslan and Lucy. Well, she’s finally getting her wish.”

“How can you say that, Karl? She’s joined this crew of…hooligans and weirdoes…and she’s probably going to go off into space and get herself killed!”

Karl said, “Our girl has her faith, the Good Lord is with her, and she’s always had a knack for taking care of herself. She’ll probably come back home with a medal or two; might even find a boy she really likes; unlike those guys you try to set her up with.”

“They were perfectly good men,” sniffed Teri.

“What about Scott Foley?” said Karl rhetorically. “I would have punched him for what he tried to pull with our daughter, but Nova slugged him first!” Karl said with a smile of fatherly pride.

Teri just ground her teeth at that. She had her own ideas.

PLUTO: GAMILON BASE

 “Colonel Ganz, we’re getting video from Gamilon!” screeched Major Bane, the XO of the balding Colonel who ran the base on Gamilon.

“What the heck?” said Colonel Ganz as he was working on some live Baldonian Octopus. Baldonia, one of the planets of the Empire, had some rather tasty small species of octopus. However, to best savor the flavor, one had to eat them while they were still alive. “My food will not be fresh anymore if I stop to look at this message!”

“Sir, you can finish your lunch later; Desslok is commanding your presence!”

“Leader Desslok?” said Ganz. “By the gods…”

Ganz ate a few more bites of his live octopus and he went to the base Situation Room with a tentacle still squirming in his mouth as he chewed it.

A few moments later, Ganz was watching the video of the destruction of their carrier from the other day.

“That old Earth battleship is firing back at us!” he cried.

There was a bas-relief of Desslok below the main screen. The eyes lit up, signifying that a transmission was coming in from the Throne. “What are you so excited about, Ganz?” said Desslok’s voice from the bas-relief.

“Leader Desslok! That old Earth battleship was firing back at our carrier!” Ganz said, sweating after he snapped a salute.

“And the carrier is finished,” purred Desslok. “You should know the laws of physics, Ganz. Our Gamilon Base on Pluto is not threatened by that…Terran contraption. They will never get that antiquated wreck to fly!”

“Lord, I request permission to test our new Ultra-Fusion missile on that ship.”

Desslok’s eyes went bright and faded. “A missile target? Hmmm? All right, Ganz…you can do that!”

“Thank you, Leader Desslok!” snapped Ganz as the eyes on the image flashed and then went out.

“Missile Number One, prepare launch sequence,” snapped Ganz after he hit a switch that began to raise the missile as klaxons began to blow all over the base. “Aim at…and destroy…that Terran battleship!”

-----------------------------

On Earth, it was now 0700.

In the meantime, Wildstar sat next to Venture in an air-bus that was sweeping them towards the Argo through a travel tube.

“What kept you, Venture?” Derek sneered.

“Oh, you mean why did I have to run to get back in ranks in the parade?” said Mark. “This lei I have on…my little brother gave it to me. He kind of waylaid me in the crowd.”

“Oh, lovely,” Derek said sarcastically. “You had to say goodbye to your little brother. Spot the man three points in a volleyball game!”

“You know, Wildstar, sometimes you act like a real jerk!”

“I’ve got my reasons,” Derek sneered.

They heard a hatch slamming in the back of the air-bus, which had been going through the tube system for the past forty minutes or so.

Derek and Mark looked back and they saw Nova emerging from the hatch, brushing her hair out of her eyes. She looked a little flustered.

“Wonder how long she’s been in the head,” Derek sneered.

“Long enough to freshen up, Wildstar,” Nova said. “I had to run a bit to catch up, too. My parents showed up to see me off. My Mom’s a real trip sometimes,” Nova said with a chuckle as she sat down in an empty seat behind Wildstar and Venture.

“Yeah, parents can be funny at times,” said Mark with a grin.

“Yeah…families,” Derek snorted. “Looks like everybody’s got one!”

“Where were your folks, Derek?” Nova asked in all innocence. “Would have been interesting to see if you look more like your mother or your father.”

“My parents sleep in my mind,” Derek snapped. “Excuse me, Mark, Nova. I’ve got to go use the head, too. Must be motion sickness. Feel like I wanna puke.”

Derek stalked off and slammed the hatch.

“What’s his problem?” Nova said, perplexed. “Looks like I hit his nasty button! Wildstar can be awfully insulting at times!”

“Oh, he’s got issues, Nova,” sighed Mark.

“Too bad,” Nova sighed. “I heard you guys discussing volleyball. I used to be halfway good at it once. I wonder if they have beaches on Iscandar? Based on that image Starsha sent us, it looks like an aquatic planet.”

“What’s your obsession with beaches, Nova?” said Mark.

“I always liked the sea,” Nova replied. “And the beach is the perfect place to play volleyball. Hope Derek excretes his nasty pills by the time we get to Iscandar. You two might be fun to hang out with on Iscandar.”

“Yeah, I hope he gets rid of his nasty pills, too, Nova. He’s been murder to live with lately…”

“Yeah,” Nova said softly as she sprawled her long legs out on the empty seat next to her and turned to looking out the bus window, her thoughts unreadable to Mark.

Venture thought that if Derek was an enigma, then Nova was an enigma wrapped in a riddle. There were times he just could not figure out what was going on in that blond head of hers.

A FEW MINUTES LATER…

The Star Force, bus after bus, arrived at the Argo and marched aboard the ship through the maintenance hatch at the aft part of Bridge Number Three as the civilian workers aboard the battleship stood saluting them.

Sandor was keeping count, quickly checking in officer after officer, enlisted man after enlisted man. He soon had the help of IQ-9 once he was finished with some other shipboard tasks, and he had further assistance soon afterwards from Nova once her bus arrived and she began checking in crewmen and crewwomen and assigning them quarters with the help of Natalie Fisher.

This task took nearly three hours. It was exactly 1400 by the time Captain Avatar came below to check the crew list as Nova and Natalie folded up their laptops to get busy with some other business. Nova handed Sandor the final crew manifest with a smile and a thumbs-up before she took off with Natalie for her other business.

“Captain, with the exception of Makoto Harada, who left a few days ago after that business with Ito, and Ito himself, the crew manifest is complete,” Sandor said. “No one stayed behind.”

Avatar nodded with a grunt. “Nova, before you leave, when are you and the Medical staff going to give the crew their physicals and shots?”

“During the voyage,” Nova said. “No time now. Natalie and I just barely got all these people assigned quarters, and the last of the supplies and food just got delivered via truck. We were about to help the enlisted people in our Group inventory the food.”

“Good, but don’t take too long, Nova. Remember what I said about delegating jobs and forgetting the forest in favor of the trees. Same goes for you, too, Fisher.”

“Yessir,” Nova and Natalie said together, snapping salutes before they left.

“They work too hard,” sighed Avatar.

“Captain, we’ve got a ship to run,” said Sandor. “Which reminds me. Now that everyone’s aboard, I have to start allotting damage control supplies. I don’t think the Gamilons are going to let us get off-planet without some opposition.”

“I agree,” said Avatar.

----------------------------

In the meantime, on Pluto, the missile had been raised from its silo. It was now 1500 Hours, Earthtime on October 2, 2199.

“Ready for launch, sir!” said Major Bane. “We shot off the last planet bombs an hour ago to give this missile a clear path.”

“Good,” said Ganz as he closed up a personal holo of his daughter Hilde. “Commence the countdown.”

“Begin countdown!” snapped Bane into a microphone in his weird, nasal voice.

“Beginning, sir,” said a Lieutenant below.

The countdown started and then ended. The missile launched.

“Colonel Ganz, estimate that the missile will hit Earth and that battleship in exactly eight Terran hours at 2300 as they call it!” laughed Bane.

“Excellent,” said Ganz. “Maybe Leader Desslok will make us first-class Gamilons for this?” he said.

“I hope so, sir,” said Bane. “What do the Terrans call that hunk of glorified wreckage, anyway?”

“I got an intelligence intercept before; we’ve been tapping their planetary video, of course,” said Ganz as he put on a pair of glasses to read the printout. “The ship was originally named the Yamato; the idiot Terrans renamed her the Argo for some reason known only to those stupid barbarians. And they have some special missions crew manning her; they call them…the Star Force; and their Captain is named Abraham Avatar. All of that intel has also been sent to Gamilon, of course. Krypt will have it by now.”

“It would be interesting if we could get personal e-mail addresses for those barbarians so we could send them nasty e-mail notes to sap their morale like we did two years ago with the leadership of Planet Alteria before Leader Desslok sent Gimleh in to vaporize their cities when they got...uppity!” Bane said as he laughed. “I bet that was fun! I love seeing mushroom clouds! They’re so pretty!”

“Well, there will be a lovely mushroom cloud hanging over the grave of their ship Argo,” said Ganz. “What a stupid name for a warship!”

----------------------------

A little later on at 1600, Nova was changing her sweaty uniform in her cabin. It was a bigger officer’s cabin, and her new cabinmate was Doctor Denise Carroway, the ship’s second doctor.

Doctor Carroway wasn’t in; the auburn-haired MD was down in Sickbay assisting in physicals of some incoming crew members.

Nova began to pull on her alternate uniform; blouse, with collar, a little like a polo shirt, and a just-above the knee length skirt with a slight slit. Whistling to herself, she put on her gunbelt, buckled it tightly, and spent a moment or two cleaning her sidearm. Then, she plopped herself on her stomach barefoot on her bunk to read a manual on vaccines when the door whirred open.

Doctor Carroway came in. “Hi, Denise!” Nova said brightly. She and the Doctor had agreed that they would be on a first-name basis in their cabin.

“Hi, Nova,” said Carroway in her slightly higher voice.

“How’s it going down below?”

“Not bad. I did the exam on Sparks so you wouldn’t have to do it. I know you two have some issues…”

“Yeah…anyone would after he, in order, pipes aboard, asks me out in the crassest fashion you could think of; I tell him “no” nicely, he doesn’t get it, tries to kiss me and asks if I just want a roll in the hay without commitment, I tell him “no” more forcefully and tell him if he tries that again, I’ll belt him because I’m saving my body for the man that I will marry on the wedding night. Unlike that Scott Foley, I told you about, he got the message then, but he began asking me if I was on the ship for any other reason than to find a husband! I said, hell yes, to serve mankind. He then accused me of being a lesbian and said I belonged home playing with Barbie dolls.”

“I can’t say I blame you, but what if you have to treat him in the future? You’ll need to show some detachment; some objectivity. Want some ramen soup?”

“I’d love some ramen,” Nova said. “Getting as hungry as a horse and my feet hurt. Well, I can catch up with my friend Natalie later. She’s rooming with that other nurse, Michele Sakamoto. Michele seems pretty nice, but Yuria and I put you in here because we know you need the room. We can also share medical books, manuals, and data cartridges.”

“Smart decision,” said Denise. Then, her phone rang. “Yes?” she said, flipping it to speaker.

“Ma’am, this is Nurse Sakamoto. We could use you and Nova down here for a while. Doctor Sane’s been hitting the bottle again and he lost interest in his work to play with his cat!”

“I told him about that,” Nova huffed. “Okay, Sakamoto. The Doc and I will be below shortly.” Nova then hung up and began rooting in her locker for footwear.

“I’d put your sandals on if I were you,” said Doctor Carroway who had them on herself as she slipped into her lab coat over her white Medical blouse and skirt. “God knows how long we’ll be on our feet down there with Sane three sheets to the wind!”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” sighed Nova as she stepped into her shoes. “Also, some of my friends were rude to me before on the bus.”

“What did they say to you?” said Denise.

“I don’t really want to talk about it now; I’m very disappointed in them,” Nova said. “Let’s get going and do those physicals.”

--------------------------------------

On the Argo’s First Bridge, it was now 1730.

Venture leaned over the chair at his post (he was alone on the First Bridge with Wildstar) and he threw his lei over the top of his seat and said, “Jordy, Mom, Dad…don’t worry, we’ll make it back to Earth; I’m sure of it!”

“What makes you so sure of that, Venture? We’re just kidding ourselves if we think we’re going to make it back!” Derek snapped as he sat slouching in his chair, looking like a juvenile delinquent to Mark.

“What?” snapped Mark.

“Listen, Captain Avatar’s never been that far out in space! Do you really think he knows what he’s doing?”

“Wildstar, if you feel that way, why did you join the Star Force?” said Venture.

“What makes all of you think Avatar’s such a great man?” Derek said as he got up and started yelling. “Sure, he wins a lot, but look at the cost in lives!”

“I know you miss Alex, and I know you’re upset that nobody came to see you off earlier today. But, number one, you shouldn’t have jumped down Nova’s throat like that when she asked about your family; she doesn’t know you that well yet. Number two, you can’t blame Captain Avatar because Alex never came back!”

“Oh, yeah? Well, Alex was my brother!” said Derek.

Then, Conroy, Dash, Eager, and Homer came onto the Bridge. Each of them saluted and reported to Wildstar and Venture.

Both men said, “Thank you!” as Captain Avatar came down from his cabin on his chair-lift, which locked into place at his bridge station at the rear of the bridge.

Captain Avatar said, “Our energy buildup is almost complete. We can take off a little earlier than we planned. The Commander and I decided that we’d better take off before the day ends so we won’t be a target for the Gamilons.”

“Captain, what does ‘energy buildup’ mean?” asked Venture.

Didn’t you study your tech manuals for this ship? Avatar thought irritably to himself. “Let me explain,” he said, keeping a calm demeanor. “We need an enormous amount of power to start our wave motion engine for the very first time; more than we can keep on board. So, a world-wide power grid was built, and all of the surviving nations of Earth are sending us power.”

“Wow!” Derek and Mark said together.

Avatar then picked up a phone and made a call. “XO, I’m ready to make the final inspection. I’m bringing Wildstar and Venture with me. Get the Section Leaders for your group, Engineering, Medical, and Living together as we discussed earlier today.”

Avatar didn’t share the answer with Wildstar and Venture, but they heard certain chimes going off over the shipboard PA system that they would soon become familiar with.

Avatar got up and said, “Wildstar, Venture, I’m going to make a final inspection tour of the Argo. Would you two join me?”

“Yessir,” they said.

------------------------

In the meantime, in the underground Earth Defense Headquarters, an officer said to the Commander and Stone, “Sir, we’ve just picked up a very large new Gamilon missile coming at high speed towards Earth; probably heading for the dried East China Sea Basin near Kyushu!”

“Not now!” barked Singleton. “The Argo’s not ready yet…Avatar advised me he moved the launch time up to 2300 tonight, but he can’t push it any more than that. The energy buildup is still going on!”

“What’s your confidence on that?” barked General Stone.

“Confidence level is eighty-one percent,” said another one of the officers.

“Get us an updated scan on that, Lieutenant,” said Singleton. “When you’re sure, send a message to Captain Avatar!”

On the Argo, Avatar guided Wildstar and Venture around the ship as he said, “Wildstar, that gunnery computer I showed you is under your command.”

The two of them entered a very large space. “This area used to be for officers’ quarters on the old Yamato,” said Avatar. “But now, it’s the mainframe computer room. The mainframe is that large computer over there that’s cooled with liquid sodium coolant. Officers are now quartered with the enlisted men in our new Central Crew’s Quarters.”

“What a computer,” said Venture.

“Who’s going to be running it?” said Wildstar.

“All of you will have node connections to it, but the officers who will most frequently be running it will be Sandor, yourself, Venture, and Miss Forrester. She’ll be assisting you with space warp calculations, Venture, particularly when we make our first test, possibly in a few hours.”

“What the heck is a space warp?” said Wildstar.

Wildstar, did you forget to study that part of the manual, too? Captain Avatar thought. “A space warp is a fold in the time-space continuum that we will have to make regularly in order to make it to Iscandar and back in less than a year. The wave motion engine will allow us to do this, something which only the Gamilons could do until now! I studied enough captured instruction manuals from Gamilon ships to learn they call it a “Gestcham Jump” in their language. We were trying to reverse-engineer a drive like that from their wrecked ships until we found that the engine plan Queen Starsha sent us would work a lot better. It will be explained after we take off in our first full Department Heads’ Briefing,” said Avatar as he walked along. “Follow me. We’re going towards the bow of the ship.”

Finally, he and the others walked through a huge iris out into a part of the ship that Derek and Mark had never noticed before.

“What the heck is this?” muttered Mark.

“It looks like a large, rifled cannon,” muttered Derek.

“You’re partially right, Wildstar. Do you and Venture know what this is?” Avatar said as the three of them walked into the huge space.

“No, sir,” said Wildstar and Venture together.

“The firing gate of the wave motion gun,” Avatar said.

Both Wildstar and Venture looked around, suitably impressed.

Avatar said, “The wave motion gun is the most powerful weapon I know of. Without it, we’d never make it to Iscandar. It operates on the same principle as the wave motion engine, harnessing tachyon particles that travel faster than the speed of light.”

The three of them spent a few minutes staring out at the ruined Earth as the sun began to set on what would be their last day on Earth for some time.

--------------------------

In the meantime, at Earth Defense Headquarters, an officer said, “Commanding General Singleton! Our latest computer plot has verified the missile’s target. The missile has just crossed the orbit of Mars and it’s roaring in towards Earth.”

“Where, what’s the target??” snapped Singleton.

“Commander, that missile is heading right for the Argo. Based on our current estimates, it will hit the ship at exactly 2300; just four hours from now!”

“Oh, my God,” said Singleton as he broke a pencil in his hands. “Notify the Star Force ASAP!”

“Sir, I’m trying,” said a comm officer. “I’m getting heavy EMP static! A planet bomb just hit near Guam! I’ll have to try again in an hour!”

“Do it, for God’s sakes!” said Singleton.

----------------------------

In the meantime, the inspection tour continued.

Wildstar and Venture walked into a space they had never been before on the vast ship.

To their shocked eyes, Nova turned from a panel and saluted them. “Good evening, gentlemen. I believe we’ve met?”

“Aye, ma’am,” Derek said.

“I’ve got to talk to the XO,” said Avatar after he hung up a phone that hung against a bulkhead. “Nova, conduct them around the Observation Spaces, Holography and Sickbay. Get them up forward to Technical when you’re done.”

“Yessir,” Nova said. “Wildstar, Venture, follow me.”

After a walking tour of a few minutes during which Nova sounded to Wildstar like a perky tour guide at Tokyo Disneyland, she said as they glided along a moving people mover belt in the deck, “Next thing I’ll show you two is the Holography Room.”

“What’s a Holography Room?” said Venture.

“Come and see,” Nova said. “This is sort of my baby.”

The two surprised officers walked through a set of double doors straight onto a Hawaiian beach, where two hula dancers were dancing along to drum music in what looked exactly like some demented luau.

“This Holography Room was designed by me for crew morale,” Nova said. “As you see, it projects three-dimensional images of life on Earth, as we remember it. I’m sure we’ll need a break now and then from these grey bulkheads, and this is going to be the place to go,” Nova said with a smile.

IQ-9 came in and began to do the hula with the dancers. “This is great for my universal joints!” he said as the two surprised young men watched him.

“We can also quickly change the configuration to show almost anything, including the personal memory cassettes that we recorded a few days ago. Behold, one of my memories of Fujiyama,” Nova said.

Nova pressed a few buttons, and the view changed to a snowy forest around Mount Fuji. Snow was falling all over the place and it felt cold.

“What happened to the palm trees, and the sun, and the girls in the grass skirts?” said IQ-9. “You can see I’m not dressed for cold weather!”

All three of them laughed at IQ, until Nova seemed to remember something. “I have some...unfinished business from before I have to attend to.”

Artwork: “Argument in the Holography Room” © 2021 by Frederick P. Kopetz-Thanks to Dtill359 for the uniform idea for Nova.

“Oh, no,” said Venture. “The bus this morning?”

Nova nodded gravely. “I really have to talk to Wildstar about this. Alone. Mark, please get IQ-9 out of here.”

“You’re in troooubleeee…” said Mark as he tapped Derek’s chest.

“Venture, please!” snapped Nova. “This is serious.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am,” he said seriously as he saluted Nova (who had more time in grade than he did) and left.

Nova turned to Derek, and changed the scene abruptly to a backyard with a house and a pink swing set.

“What’s this place?” said Derek.

 “MY childhood home and backyard in Boulder!” Nova snapped. “At least before the Gamilon planet bombs flattened it.” 

Nova took a deep breath. “Okay, Derek. This is going to be tough for both of us, but I have to address this. I know your brother Alex is missing. I asked you about your parents before, and you almost jumped down my throat! That was very, very rude and you owe me a major apology, Mister! I don’t know what the story is with your parents…do you want to tell me about it? Maybe I can help you instead of your giving me verbal punches about it?!?”

“Nova…I…I’m sorry I jumped down your throat about it!” Derek said as he put up his hands.

“You’d better be sorry!” Nova snapped. “I don’t care how damn much you’re hurting, bud, you don’t talk to a lady like that!” she said as she glared at him with her hands on her hips.

 “Okay, Nova. I said I’m sorry,” Derek said as he thought. Well, Wildstar, you’ve blown another friendship with a girl you barely know. “Could you forgive me for being a jackass? Please? I kind of like you. You’re…different.”

Derek thought Nova was about to tell him to go to Hell, but he looked at her face and she seemed to relax a bit.

“Okay, but do you want to open up to me about your family sometime, even if you’re on bad terms with them? I’m not on the best of terms with my mother myself,” Nova said as she shut her eyes and looked at the deck. Then he noticed that Nova had very full and lovely eyelashes…just like the dead Princess Astra of Iscandar.

“Right now, Nova…I’d rather not talk about it,” said Derek. He extended his hand. “But please accept my apology.”

“Apology accepted, on one condition,” Nova said as she shook Derek’s hand as Mark came into the room, wondering what was going on.

“That is?” Derek said.

“You let me steal your nose,” Nova said with a grin. Then, she grabbed his nose and “stole” it.

“YIKES!” yelled Derek.

“Got your nose,” Nova giggled as she held up her thumb and shut down the holography units. “I’m holding it for ransom until you’re nice to me,” Nova said.

“Okay, okay,” said Derek. Then, Nova’s personal comm unit (worn on her gunbelt) went off. She looked down and said, “Oh, great. Give me a minute, please, guys. I’ll take this around the corner. When I get back, our next stop will be Sickbay.”

Nova took off, running along quite fast in her crepe-soled wedgies.

“What a strange girl,” said Derek in a low mutter to Venture. “One minute she wants to kill me, next minute, she’s getting silly!”

“I think she likes you, Derek,” Mark said.

“Where do you get that idea from? Maybe that robot was right a few days ago; maybe she is a sadist! She seemed to have lots of fun giving me a shot with her needle the other day!”

“She’s just perky and high-spirited; was probably trying to cheer you up,” said Venture. “And I never had a girl steal my nose before, Wildstar! It would probably be wise not to tick her off, though.”

“You heard her out here?”

“Some of it, Derek. No wonder she’s named Nova. She’s got a temper like yours; a hot star blowing up! You two damn hotheads are made for each other!”

“Well, at least she won’t kill me on this cruise,” Derek said as Nova came back around.

“I hope to only kill people in the line of duty…if I have to,” Nova said. “Gamilons, mostly. I hate what they’ve done to Earth! They’re horrible!”

“Where’s our next stop?” said Derek.

“Sickbay,” Nova said. “Look out for Doctor Sane. That phone call was from Doctor Carroway; you met her already. She tells me he’s acting…weird.”

“When doesn’t he act weird?” said Mark as they went back down on the people mover in the other direction.

-------------------------

In Sickbay, they encountered Doctor Sane who staggered up and laughed.

“Ha, ha ha ha! Nova and Doctor Carroway told me you’d be down here sooner or later! Have I got something to show you; the ship’s long-term sleep tubes!”

“What do those do?” asked Venture as they came into a pink-walled room with a good number of what looked like beds connected to machinery.

“The idea is, if we run low on supplies, or someone is critically injured, we can put them under for a while and wake ‘em up later when we get more food or we’re ready to work on ‘em!” said Sane as he held his bottle. “This is a great place to be if you need to…really…chill out for a while! Observe!”

Sane yawned, held his bottle, and plopped down after he pushed a few buttons on a control panel near the bed. “They’re not gonna need me…I think, until after we launch, so I’ll take a nap and sleep off this sake!” he laughed. “See?” he said as he pushed the last button.

Then, a glassteel cover whirred shut, and gas filled the little chamber, putting Doctor Sane to sleep for a while…hugging his bottle!

“What, he’s gonna be out for…how long?”

“Ten hours, I think,” Nova said with a smile. “He should be okay by then. I hope.”

“Yeah, and he’s going to leave me with all of the work,” said Doctor Carroway as she came up. “Nova, we’re done with the physicals for now so you can take your bridge station later.”

“Thanks,” Nova said. “I’ll need to get these guys forward to Technical, and then report to the messhall. Stomach’s growling like a cat!”

Mimi then mewed around Nova’s ankles. She picked her up. “No offense meant to you, m’ dear,” Nova said as she began to pet the little gold and black tabby. Mimi sniffed at Nova’s nose and licked it. Nova giggled.

“Well, we know she likes you,” chuckled Venture.

“C’mon, baby, I’ll get your dinner after I get mine,” Nova sang to Mimi. “Come along, gentlemen. I’ve got to get you forward before the Captain wonders if I got lost.”

“Okay,” Derek said as he gave Mimi a pat on the head before Nova put her down. Mimi sniffed him curiously and gave him a head-butt.

“She likes everyone,” said Doctor Carroway with a smile.

“Except Sparks,” Nova commented.

“What’s going on between you two?” Derek asked.

“I’ll tell you later over coffee,” Nova said. “It’s…it’s not a nice story. Maybe he should have been thrown off the ship around the same time that Ito pulled his garbage. C’mon, enough about him, let’s talk about you guys!” Nova said cheerily as she took off.

Carroway looked at Nova and thought, Lieutenant, you’re sure good at keeping secrets and not spilling the beans about that asshole Sparks…especially after the crap he gave you six weeks ago. I might have killed him for that. You just slapped him. I think he deserved more than that.

At that, the shipboard tour continued…even as the Ultra-Fusion Missile drew closer and closer to Earth…and the Argo…

TO BE CONTINUED…