The Honeymoon’s Over
By Yuki Wildstar
A Star Blazers Fan Fiction work
Chapter Three: TRAINING TIME
I. BRIEFING
Space Battleship Endeavor
Central Strategy Room
July 31, 2204
0700 Hours-Standard Earth Space-Time
As everyone assembled in the Endeavor’s Central Strategy room on the
large deck-screen reminiscent video deck of the destroyed Yamato, Captain Derek Wildstar walked in with Lieutenant Commander
Lee. “Everyone is present and accounted for, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Wright
informed Captain Wildstar as the crew snapped to attention.
Wildstar took a pointer
from Nova and began pointing to graphics of the galatic system as he spoke.
“Well, as you all know, many of our crew members have no battle experience.
Many of you have only passed simulations that you have sat through in school. I
know that some of you have had first hand combat experience when we fought
against the Denguil Empire. We all lost many great fighter pilots and crew
members in years that Earth was at war.”
Wildstar continued. “To
prepare you for the possibility of combat, we will be conducting a training
exercise before heading to planet Dunbar where
we will be escorting many civilians back to Earth. These civilians were able to
migrate to Dunbar in the hopes of escaping the
flooding that Aquarius threatened Earth with. They were the lucky ones until
now. Nova, give us an environmental report about Planet Dunbar.”
“Yessir,” said Nova as
she took the pointer and a graphic of a blue-brown planet appeared on the deck.
“We discovered Dunbar in late 2203 aboard the Yamato while we were searching for a New
Earth. While it is a planet on which humans can live, its oxygen content was
not concentrated enough to support even the entire reduced population of Earth
of about 700 million. However, up to fifty thousand Earth people could have
lived there even with the available free oxygen in the atmosphere. That
was…until now. Within a short period of time, Planet Dunbar has begun to show
disturbing signs of increased tectonic activity and increased volcanic
activity. For those of you who are aware of your history, these are almost the
same conditions that eventually made Planet Gamilon become gradually unlivable
in the mid-to-late 22nd century; the same conditions that turned
Gamilon into an unstable hell filled with sulphuric acid oceans. We think that
this could begin to happen to Dunbar in one to
two hundred years from now.”
“Sounds ugly, ma’am,”
said Pesci.
“It is ugly. The thought
of it makes me sick, since Dunbar used to be a
beautiful planet.” said Nova. “In the meantime, there have been planetary
quakes that have affected our settlement there. Also, there have been other
terrible things happening there. For an explanation of that, I return the floor
to the Captain.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant
Commander,” said Wildstar. “On top of the disturbing conditions Forrester has
described, there has also recently been hostile enemy fire hitting our
settlement from a nearby planet. We don’t know who they are or what they want;
all I know is that we are to get these civilians safely back to Earth. The
Space Marines with the leadership of Staff Sergeant Robert “T” Booker will lead
the civilians to an awaiting evacuation ship. We will fly along providing cover
for them. Once all civilians are on board the unarmed space ark and our new
spacecraft carrier Nimitz, we will
then escort them back to Earth. The Space Marines will stay back to protect any
valuable information that may be taken once everyone is evacuated. Once the
mission is accomplished then the Space Marines will be picked up at a later
time.”
“Sir, wouldn’t it be better if
we just destroy the base with the wave motion gun and have all our crew return with us?” Lieutenant Tony Pesci from the Black
Tigers asked.
“Unfortunately, the EDF doesn’t
want that. They feel that destroying all that information will be a blow to
science and upset those scientists. All the data that was collected on Dunbar seems to be vital to their studies.” Wildstar
replied. “Therefore, Lieutenants Pesci and Delvechio…you will follow my Super
Star fighter and back up the Space Marines on their descent to Dunbar…”
“Yessir,” said the pilots.
Derek continued. “Lieutenant Lee
will resume my duties as Captain until my return to the ship. We all will be in
constant communication on radio. Let’s hope that we don’t have encounters with
any hostile forces. If you are fired upon you are to return fire; without an
iota of hesitation! Keep any and all enemy ships from attacking that space
shuttle with the civilians. I expect the best from you and nothing less! You
all have your orders! Lieutenant Lee…you are to take command. Pesci and Delvechio, let’s get ready for training ops.”
The men and women saluted as
Wildstar walked off the deck screen, which went dark. The briefing was over.
As they all went to take their
stations, Nova pulled Derek over, “Captain Wildstar, may I speak to you for a
moment?”
“We got a delay?” teased Pesci.
“Ah, guys…I’ll catch up to you,”
said Derek. Wildstar said while turning to Nova, “Yes, Lieutenant
Commander? What is it?”
“Sir, request permission to
speak freely,” Nova asked.
“Permission granted,” Wildstar
replied. “Speak,” he said with a slight smile.
“Derek, I know that we talked
about being professional and all that, but I just wanted to tell you to be
careful. Please! I know that things can turn dangerous in a second’s notice,
just come back to me in one piece! I wouldn’t know what I’d do without you!
There, I said it, sir,” Nova finished
speaking with eyes glittering with unshed tears that wanted to be shed.
“I know, and don’t worry, Nova.
I wont take any unnecessarily risks, because I love you” Derek said in a low
voice while holding her chin and looking intensely into her eyes. Just looking
into each other’s eyes said it all; with them, it was a stolen kiss.
Nova nodded back, smiling just a
little as they walked out together into the passage.
Derek then went towards the
flight deck, while Nova went to the bridge to her station.
II. TRAINING EXERCISES
Asteroid Belt near BV218
Space Battleship Endeavor
July 31, 2204
0742 Hours-Standard Earth Space-Time
“All hands to battle stations, all hands to battle stations!”
Lieutenant Lee snapped over the intercom. “All hands to battle stations; Now hear this! Exercise will begin in 5
minutes, repeat, exercise will begin in 5 minutes!”
As all hands ran to their posts,
Wildstar was making last-minute checks on his Super Star Type 52 Fighter,
making sure that all was well. Derek thought, All
seems fine. No loose bolts, no abstractions, no dented plating, no scratches in
the ceramic heat-shield cladding… Derek smiled as he felt every inch of his
ship. I must make sure everything in is order; I don’t want to make Nova a
widow before her time, he thought
as he ran a rag over his ship while thinking of Nova.
Derek then jumped into the Super
Star and started making checks on all his equipment. He was checking on his systems over and over
in his head. As the buzzer to the flight deck buzzed, Wildstar’s ship was
carried over to the flight deck on the lift. “Wildstar, here…I’m ready for
launch!”
“Bridge here, prepare to launch
in 10 seconds,” Miamato said into Wildstar’s helmet.
“10...9.....8....7....6....5......4.....3"
Wildstar made last minute checks as he counted down out loud..
Derek flicked switches and thought, Maneuvering
thrusters, check, forward guns, check. Gyrocompass, check.
Astrolabe, check. Main engine, check, Missiles, check,
heavy water tanks on autoswitch mode, check. “.....2......1 .....launch!”
The ship’s brakes released, and
Wildstar pulled back the throttle. His ship was moving! It was out of the lower
bay hatch in an instant. As Wildstar’s ship launched into space, the other
Black Tigers launch from the hull of the ship behind him. In a matter of
seconds, they were in formation with Wildstar leading the whole squadron. Into the asteroid belt they went. The two
Tonys worked it like pros… Wow these guys are good, Derek thought to
himself. They remind me of Conroy and Hardy… now those were some great
fighter pilots!
“OK,
guys!” Wildstar snapped into his helmet “Show me what you can do!”
“Yes, Sir!” The two Tonys both said in unison.
“Shall we show the Captain what
we can do ‘T’?” Pesci said.
“I think we can accommodate the
Captain,” Delvechio replied.
Their piloting skills were
excellent; they maneuvered in and out of the asteroid field just like a ship
sailing on smooth water. Their accuracy was undeniable, “OK, fellas lets not
get too cocky; you don’t want to outdo the old Captain here!” Wildstar said
with a grin.
Even the ship’s gunners were on
point as they blasted right into the target asteroids 10 kilometers away with
utter precision. “Well, besides some of these guys having some reports in
their jackets, I have to admit they are good men, Wildstar thought to himself.
The ship’s cannons continued to
fire on target, and the exercise seem to be going as
planned.
However, Wildstar spotted
something amiss out of the corner of his eye. It was something that was coming
his way. One of his Cosmo Tiger fighters was losing control!
Ensign Layman was doing his
best; and he did everything like the text book. He thought, Wow… the Captain sure knows
how to fly, and the two Tony can really work those star fighters. I just hope
that I do as well if we are ever in a real battle…
Layman’s thoughts were cut short
as something hit an asteroid near him and sent his ship spinning around
uncontrollably.
The Ensign tried to regain
control of his Astro Fighter, but he felt himself losing control as the stick
stopped responding. “May day, may day
this is Ensign Layman! Tiger fighter six niner niner, I’m losing control and
declaring an emergency! Something hit an asteroid near me and the pieces hit my
ship, damage to my left wing, I repeat damage to my left wing. May day may day.”
Layman yelled into his helmet mike.
Worst of all, his spinning plane
was heading right for Wildstar’s Super Star.
“Kuso…” muttered Wildstar, cursing in Japanese as he tried to get
out of the way, but not in time.
The spinning fighter that Layman
was in hit his right wing and that tore it off, and sent him on a spin of his
own. Layman then screamed and spiralled into an asteroid.
He tried to eject, but his
ejection mechanism was damaged. With an agonized scream, Layman died with his
Tiger as it exploded.
Breathing hard, Derek also tried to regain control of his wounded bird,
but without a wing and its thrusters, it would be nearly impossible. He commanded
the others, “Clear the way…I’m losing her, ejecting from ship! Send rescue ship!”
With that, Derek pulled his
ejection rings.
Luckily, his ejection unit
worked as he ejected right into the asteroid field as his Super Star hit a
large asteroid and blew up. After the
explosion, Wildstar passed out.
On the
Endeavor, Nova caught an image on the
main screen of Derek’s fighter spiralling into the asteroid and blowing up.
“DEREK!” she screamed. “DEREK!” she
cried at her post. My God, I’ve lost you,
she thought (not having seen him eject).
I…I…
Then, Nova collapsed into tears.
Thoughts, just like a few months before when she thought Derek had been killed
after the first hyper-radiation missile attack;, thoughts of pulling out her
Astro-Automatic and putting it to her neck and ending it all if she had to go
on alone ran through her mind.
Nova was actually beginning to
quietly pull out her weapon, thinking, Who needs to be calm
and collected now? when a voice came over her speakers. “Cosmo Radar! This is Jawolski below in all-celestial scan radar!
The Captain punched out! He’s alive, but life signs are very weak. Ma’am, do
you copy?”
Nova nodded numbly, her
professionalism snapping back up like an iron shield around her even though she
wanted to…die…. “Roger…roger that,” she said as the bridge crew watched her.
“Have Flight Ops prepare a rescue ship. Mister Lee, request permission to leave
my post,” said Nova.
“Reason?” said Lee.
“To participate in the rescue,
sir,” said Nova. “I will be needed in Sickbay!”
“Granted. Go.”
Nova nodded, saluted, and ran
off.
III. RESCUE THE CAPTAIN!
Asteroid Belt near BV218
Space Battleship Endeavor
July 31, 2204
0910 Hours-Standard Earth Space-Time
On full alert, the rescue
ship took off before Wildstar’s last words came through the radio. All ships
were called back in for the exception of the Two Tonys and two other fighters.
They began to search
in the area where Wildstar was last transmitting from.
It took 30 minutes
but they found him. Unconscious and badly bruised, they rushed out to get to
him and placed him on the rescue ship.
“Sir are you all
right, Sir?...” the medics said while trying to bring
him out of it.
Once back on board
Doctor Spada and Nova awaited the rescue ship in the flight bay, and the medics
took Wildstar to Sickbay quickly, while escorted by Doctor Spada, Nova and two
big Marines. Nova was beside herself but she could not show it. She had to stay
calm in front of all the crew, not wanting to repeat her shameful performance
on the Bridge, even though she wanted to just crawl up somewhere and cry, but
she could hear Derek in the back of her mind saying,
“I’m OK honey…I just need some
rest”
Please, God,
Nova thought as she held his cold, silent face. Please let him wake up and be all right!
Doctor Spada worked
quickly; he had all the tests and initial diagnostic scans run as they were
heading to the medical room. By the time they reached the medical room, the
tests were already done.
All aboard
waited for news on the Captain.
“He’s gonna be fine,
Nova,” said Doctor Spada while looking at the test results a few minutes later.
“He just got the wind knocked out of him and he got a slight concussion, but
there is no major damage that I was able to spot. He’ll need rest and time…
that’s all,” Doctor Spada told Nova. Not knowing that she was more scared then
anyone on board ship, Doctor Spada had no clue that Nova and Wildstar were
married. As he walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders, he said, “Nova, go
tell the crew he will be fine, I’m sure that they would like to hear the news.”
However, Nova replied
calmly, “Why don’t you tell them, Doctor? I’m sure they would rather hear it from
you. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the Skipper,” she said as she prepared
to get him out of his uniform and into pajama bottoms.
“If that is
what you like…then OK”. Spada said.
He left the room thinking to himself, Boy she’s taking it pretty hard… he
only got the wind knocked out of him and got slightly knocked out… I guess she
takes her job seriously…
Just when Doctor
Spada was going up to the Bridge to let Deputy Captain Lee know the news,
Doctor Spada walked right into Lieutenant Springer.
“Oh, hello there
Doctor…how’s our Captain doing?” she asked.
“He’s doing just
fine; he might wake up with a huge headache, but he’ll be just fine…” Doc Spada
said.
“Well I hope so…I
don’t think that Lieutenant Commander Forrester would recover if we lost him,”
Springer said with a grin.
“I’m sure that we all
would feel the loss, Lieutenant…I hear that everyone on board really respects
and admires him,” Spada said, not knowing or guessing what Springer was getting
at.
“I’m sure we all do,”
Springer said as she walked towards the mess hall. ”Well, keep up the good work
and make sure that our Captain is well taken care of, later Doc.”
As Doctor Spada enter the bridge he saw Deputy Captain Lee. “Sir, I’ve just
left the Captain and he is doing fine. Nothing major…right now he’s
unconscious. When he wakes up, I’ll let you know so as you can tell the crew.
Nova is with him now watching over him”
“Lieutenant Commander
Forrester is with the Captain?” Lee asked.
“Yes
,sir …she is my nurse after all, is there a problem?” Spada said looking
puzzled.
“No, no, I’ll just
drop in a few minutes and check on the Captain” Lee said. “Oh…thank you, Doc.
I’ll be sure to pass on the good news to the crew.”
“Oh and by the way,”
Doctor Spada asked “what about the other pilot?”
“Sorry Doctor, he
never ejected in time, his ship hit an asteroid, this is our first loss on this
mission,” Lee said with sorrow in his voice. “Once Wildstar wakes up, he’s
gonna ask a lot of questions, I know he’ll feel responsible for the pilot; I
know I do in a way, but we all must move on and move forward”
Twenty minutes later
Deputy Captain Lee went down to check on the Captain. As he entered the room,
he could see the lights turned down low and the Captain lying in bed,
bare-chested, in only his pajama bottoms. His uniform had been neatly folded by
Nova and placed on a bedside table by his boots. While Nova sat in a chair next
to him in her nurse’s minidress and operating room clogs, she just sat there
staring at his face. You could tell that she was crying. As she looked up and
saw Lee standing in the hatchway she got up, “Sir, he’s doing fine…he’s just
sleeping.”
“Nova, how are you?”
Lee asked.
“I’m fine just
checking on his vitals and making sure that he is getting the proper care,”
Nova replied in a strangely flat voice as she quickly wiped at her cheeks. Never let them see you crying, she
thought, never let them see you crying,
be strong, damnit, be strong…even though my heart is breaking inside! Be
strong!
“No Nova, really how
are you holding up? I know that this is not easy for you. You two have been
through a lot together, and when things like this happen it drains you to the
bone. I should know, because I was once in the same situation.”
“Oh?” said Nova in a
flat voice.
“You see, Nova… I
lost my fiance’ a year ago on an exercise much like this one. I stayed drunk
most of the time after that, because I couldn’t bear it any more. I was called
to General Stone’s office so he could have a talk with me… and let’s just say
that one thing I didn’t care much of what he had to say about my conduct and
how I should move on. I know how much you love Wildstar, I had that once too,
and I’d hate to see someone as nice as you and Wildstar lose that. Nova, you
two are being tested, remember that. Stay with him. That is an order. If I need you on the bridge I’ll call for
you. Take your time in the mean time, and watch over him and rest….” With that
said, Deputy Captain Lee left.
Nova just fell apart,
she sat down and dropped her head on Derek, “Oh Derek, please wake up, please, please…I’m not ready to be
alone….please…don’t let it be what I fear it is…subdural hematoma…brain
deficit…pressure relief…shunt tubes, why is Spada so damn nonchalant about him?
What kind of doctor is he? He needs
observation! Please, God, make him wake up!”
Then, she just cried.
And cried. And cried.
Nova stayed with him
all night and into the morning when Doctor Spada walked in.
“Are you still here?
Nova…you need to get some rest! Why don’t you go and I’ll stay with him? You
need to get something to eat and get some rest. The Captain will be fine. When
he wakes up I’ll inform the crew.”
“I cant
leave him now, Doc!” Nova cried in a gravelly voice. Spada wondered why she
sounded like that, not aware that she had been up most of the night crying on
Derek’s sleeping chest. “I’ll be all right…I just need some coffee,” Nova said.
“You sure take your
job seriously,” Spada said to Nova. “But if you must…at least I can get you
some coffee from the mess hall, I’m on my way there anyway.”
“Fine,” said Nova.
“And I am bringing
you a sweet roll. You need to eat something,” said Spada. “You can’t afford to lose
much weight. You’re so slender that there isn’t much
of you to lose.”
Nova nodded
robotically with the ghost of a smile on her face. The exhausted young woman
then fell quietly asleep on her husband’s bare chest in an exhausted drowse.
She had been awake for over twenty-four hours straight.
She sure is devoted to the Captain, thought Spada as he shook his head. She’s so beautiful…I’ll make her a little more comfortable.
Spada got a blanket.
He knelt on the deck and slipped Nova’s clogs off her bare feet so she could
sleep a little more comfortably. He then covered her slender legs with the
blanket, and, ignorant of her relationship to the Captain, he gently kissed the
sleeping young woman on the forehead. “I’ll be back soon. Get some rest. If you
had someone, I wish it could be me. If you are so devoted to a patient, you
would probably be even more devoted to a significant other….”
Spada left, not aware
of Nova’s murmuring “Derek…” in her
sleep as she smiled a little in a pleasant dream about being with him again on
the beach.
Doctor Spada started
on his way to the mess hall. He walked in and saw a few of the pilots seated
and having breakfast.
“How’s the Captain,
Doc?” One of the them yelled out.
“He’s doing well, he
should be coming around soon,” Doc yelled back.
He started to pour
Nova and himself some coffee and he grabbed a sweet roll for her, when he felt
someone tap him on the shoulder.
As he was ready to
turn and give them the same answer about the Captain, he found he was looking
into the the face of the same Lieutenant Springer he was talking to last night.
“So how is our captain, Doctor?” Springer purred.
“He is still
unconscious, but I think he’ll be coming around soon.” Doc Spada said.
“Well how’s the Mrs. holding up?” Springer asked.
Spada was confused. Mrs? The Captain’s not married! Spada
thought.
“Oh my gosh, you don’t know do
you?” Springer asked surprised.
“Know what?” Spada
said while looking even more confused.
“Your nurse! Lieutenant Commander Nova Forrester is Captain Wildstar’s
wife! You didn’t know that? That’s one reason she’s never left his side!”
Springer let out a laugh as she said that.
Doctor Spada just
stood there, shocked at what he heard. Why didn’t Nova tell me that she was
the Captain’s wife? Spada thought.
I must have looked like a fool trying to ask her out! She never mentioned that
important part! And I just kissed her in her sleep while she was lying on her
husband’s chest? I am such an idiot! The more he thought about it
the more he became more mad. He just wanted to march
up there and scream at her…how could she had lead him
on like that? He drop both coffee cups and threw her roll in the trash with
digust and he went straight to the medical room.
There he saw Nova
still sitting there by his side, awake. He couldn’t do that to her, not now, he
realized, not put her in a spot while the man that she loves is laying there
not knowing when he will wake up. Just then Nova looked up and saw the doctor
standing there. “Where’s the coffee? And who put this blanket on my legs and
took my shoes off?” Nova asked. “Is everything alright, Doctor Spada?”
“Uh, yeah…
everything’s fine, you fell asleep and were getting goosebumps, that’s
all…how’s our patient doing?” he asked.
“Still the same, I
just hope that he comes out of it soon! The crew needs him and without him this
mission could be scrapped! All those poor people waiting to be rescued, I, I,
just hope he comes out of it,” Nova said with a sigh.
“I’m sure he will,
you should get some rest, Mrs Wildstar, you wouldn’t be of any use to him if
you can’t function yourself from lack of sleep.”
Nova just stood
there, “So you know, I, I .....”
“I just found out, I
must have looked like a fool trying to flirt with you, I had no clue. I am so
sorry. When I first found out I was pretty much embarrassed, then angry, but
after seeing you sitting there all day and all night…it hit me. I was the one
to come on to you, you were always polite. But you should have told me!” Spada
said.
“Told him what?”
Wildstar said after waking up in mid conversation.
“Derek!” Nova ran over to him and hugged him
tight. “Oh my darling! I was worried sick about you!
How do you feel, do you feel ok?”
“Nova, I’m fine
except for a little headache…how are you?” Derek saw the stress on her face.
At that the Doctor decide to stepped out to give them time for each other. He
walked towards the bridge to give the crew the good news.
After Spada left, Derek
and Nova were left alone. Nova crawled up onto the bed with Derek to hug him.
She said, “Oh, Derek, I was worried sick, how could you do this to me on the
first run at the beginning of the mission?” Nova said as tears ran down her
face.
“I’m sorry babe, I
didn’t mean to worry you,” Derek pulled her close to hug her. “I promise it wont happen again,” he said in a husky voice. However, they
both knew that was one promise that they both couldn’t keep. After all, each
and any mission could end it for both of them. This would prove to be a
difficult and very dangerous deployment.
“So what were you and
the Doctor talking about; what was it that you didn’t tell him?” Derek ask while playing around with the hint of a wink on his
face.
“I guess he was the
only one on this ship that didn’t know that we were married, Derek!” Nova said
while blushing like crazy. “Uhhhh…he asked me out twice but I turned him down
nicely,” Nova stammered.
“Thank heavens, he is
very handsome,” chuckled Derek. “Okay, though, why not just tell him we’re
married?”
“Derek, you’re
silly!” Nova sniffed. “I just naturally assumed that he knew. But think he is
OK with it. Oh. Yeah, he was one of the suitors that my dear mother try to fix
me up with once upon a time, long ago,” Nova explained.
“Oh really, should I
be jealous?” Derek asked with a
smile. “Maybe I will have to fight him for you; you have such a cute face…and
legs,” he added as he saw her legs, still bare down to her toes, curled up on
the bunk beside him. And the rest of her isn’t
so bad, either, he thought in the understatement of the 23rd
Century.
“Oh you! Derek, you know that you are the only one for me!” Nova
laughed. “Now rest a little more before you take over your command again,
Captain.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,”
Derek said with a salute.
All she did back was
smiled and held him. Nova never wanted this moment to end; even though she knew
duty would soon call them again…
TO BE CONTINUED…
