Destiny's Chuckle
Chapter 13 of Starfighter! The
Iconoclast
By: Tom Sczepkowski
With editing and clean-up
by: Frederick P. Kopetz
Copyrights:
STAR TREK is © 2004 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. STAR BLAZERS is © 2004 by
Voyager International, and, STAR WARS is © 2004 by Lucasfilm, Ltd. GARGOYLES is
© 2004 by Disney Entertainment. The Technomugar Empire is © 2004 by Frederick
P. Kopetz and is mentioned here by the author's permission. All original
elements of this tale are © 2004 by Tom Sczepkowski. All rights reserved, not
to be copied without the author's permission.
The only part of Vaught's mission that concerned him was his
inability to keep a low profile. He had obtained instant popularity with the dock
and engineering crew assigned to the refit of the Argo. With the
exception of Sandor and Orion, this group of people happened to be no older
than his students in his own dimension. Here, he found himself unsuccessfully having
to suppress the teacher in him whenever he saw one of them struggling with a
piece of equipment. Most of the Argo’s crew was assigned to other
positions so he hadn’t an opportunity to meet them yet.
However, one person he had a chance to work with quite
closely was a civilian contractor by the name of Neville Royster. Royster was
the sort of man who carried himself as unprofessionally as the Star Force
carried themselves professionally. He wore shorts, golf shirts, and a oversized dress shirt that he wore like a Jacket, along
with a Yankees baseball cap that he wore backwards all of the time. Since most
of the time, everyone else wore an EDF uniform, this
made Royster stick out like a sore thumb. But his overweight appearance and
poor wardrobe wasn’t the only thing that was noticeable. There was also
Royster's booming, blustery Ralph Kramden voice, grammar and heavy
In spite of all of this, he was a great computer engineer,
since he usually ignored everybody and most of the time was about his work.
Vaught noticed that Royster was engrossed in two things,
namely...his work and baseball. One day, Vaught noticed that he was on a “date”
with his girlfriend, a slight red-haired creature, while he was working on the
bridge and a Yankee game was playing on the ship's video panel, as his
girlfriend sat and read a book. Of course, there wasn’t a second date. It
didn’t matter how long it took or how long he had been at something, Royster
was always true to his word, and had his work-related tasks completed on or
before schedule. And, despite everything else, he was reliable, although he was
a totally different breed than the Star Force or the other EDF personnel.
One day, Vaught found himself eating lunch alone at a place
not far from the EDF dockyards. Surprisingly, it was both a tasteful but fairly
inexpensive little restaurant with a sort of nautical decor.
"Mind if I sit down?" asked Sandor as he came up
to Vaught's table.
"No problem," said Vaught.
"I need to show you something," said Sandor as he
opened a portfolio. "Look at these design specs. I'm not 100% happy with
them."
"Is there a mistake you made?"
"No, some of these changes were imposed upon me."
"By whom?"
"Earth Defense Command.
Do you see what they want done with the main computer trunk?"
Vaught scanned the plans and caught on already. "They
want it to be an on-line fly-by-wire system with central AI control..."
"Like the Andromeda," said Sandor. "And I
haven't told Wildstar yet."
"When do you plan to tell him?"
"It'll have to be today. We have to start work on this
today. Stone said so."
"I wonder how Wildstar's gonna take it?"
"Speak of the devil," said Vaught quietly.
Sandor looked over, and saw Wildstar standing there in his
EDF uniform and peacoat. Nova stood with him, laughing at some joke; she was
again in civilian clothes, namely, her jacket, jeans, and sandals. Sandor
looked at Wildstar; he was laughing at Nova's addition to the joke. "I
don't have the heart to tell him this now, Vaught."
"Understood," said Corsair as he sipped at his
soda. Sandor put away the plans as Wildstar and Nova took the table behind
their own. Derek helped Nova out of her jacket and helped her put it over the
back of her chair; she wore a short-sleeved blouse under the jacket; a shocking
pink one.
"Okay,
Nova," said Derek. "Cute outfit, but, why are you in mufti today? Aren't you supposed to be at the hospital?"
"I was busy with Doctor Sane this morning since 0530. We
had elective surgery, but one guy cancelled, so we got the operation we were
supposed to have tonight as a result. It was a bionics replacement for the
guy's arm. When we got done, Sane said I was free to go for the rest of the
day. Considering that there isn't much to do at 1030 Hours, I went home and
changed for a walk on the beach. I was about to go out when you called.
Considering you were offering lunch, how could I refuse?"
"So you're not mad anymore?"
"Not now. You should have noticed that by now, Derek.
Or are you like Royster with Denise?"
Wildstar chuckled at that. "I do not sit around with my
nose in computers while you read a book."
"Most
of the time," teased Nova, who turned wistful a moment later as she pursed
her hands and drummed the leg of an adjacent chair with her foot.
"What do you mean, most
of the time?"
Nova giggled. "Most of the time, you're kind and
attentive. It's that ten percent when you aren't that gets to me."
"Ach, you mean when I consider the ratio of women to
men in shelters?" said Derek in a fake German accent.
"Derek!"
said Nova with a laugh as she slapped his hand. "You know I hate it when Royster does that! I cannot
stand Peter Sellers! He made fun of things that should be better left
alone."
"Yeah...he's always quoting Herr Sellers," said
Derek.
"He was English, not German," said Nova. "At
least I think he was."
"He was
English," said Vaught as he turned his chair around, making Sandor roll up
his eyes a little.
"Oh, hi, Vaught!" said Nova. "I see a big
portfolio there...what are you planning on lecturing on today at the
ship?"
"Uh...these were Sandor's, actually," said Vaught.
"Something to do with the refit."
"Yeah...that. That's all Derek's been talking about
maybe 25% of the time...the refit. From what I've seen, the Argo's going to turn out really nice,
isn't she?"
"I'm sure she will," said Sandor, who felt guilty
about ruining Nova's sunny disposition. "What were you guys discussing
this morning?"
"Talking a little about our future," said Nova
with a smile. "I wanted to make clear to Derek that there is a life beyond
the ship we all love."
"That's why I'm so quiet right now," said Derek
with a deadpan look on his face. "I mean, I call her up for a date, she
accepts, we talk, and we begin talking about things five years down the
road..."
"...one year down the road?" said Nova hopefully.
"One year. You said..."
"Never mind," said Nova sweetly. "Maybe you
misunderstood the equation. I mean, there's you, your
silly cigars..."
"Which I don't smoke..."
"Likely story.
If you smoke those things, how can you jog down the beach with me?"
"You're going to go jogging in those silly
flip-flops?"
Nova laughed at that. "No. You leave these beside the
sand when you go running. That's the point. You go running barefoot beside the
ocean. Preferably with a friendly dog chasing you and barking. And you find a
stick and get him to chase the stick. I love
animals."
"I don't like sand on my skin," said Sandor.
"I usually don't like the beach."
"Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud," said Nova.
"Someday, you are going to stand on the beach beside us, and like it. In
fact, we're making plans of a sort, and..."
Sandor's cell phone then went off. "Ohh...I hate when that happens," he said.
"Yes, Sandor speaking."
As Sandor began to talk, he noticed that Nova and Derek had
reverted to talking between themselves. It was something about the menu.
"Did you run overtime with lunch?" said Orion on
the other end. "There's something we have to look at with these plans. I
got an e-mail from Headquarters that makes no sense."
"I came from Headquarters," said Sandor grimly.
"I have the amended plans right here. Vaught and I were just leaving."
"Have you seen Wildstar yet?"
"I have...but...let's just say I don't want to ruin the
mood by telling him now."
"Why?"
"He's on a date with Nova, and they're having fun for once."
"Poor lad," said Orion sympathetically. "Well,
get over here, and we'll figure out how to tell him."
"Right," said Sandor as he hung up. He hung up,
and looked over at Wildstar, who said, "So what was that about?"
"Derek, we don't need to discuss business now," said
Nova in a soothing voice. "How's the flounder here?"
"Not fattening," said Vaught with a smile as he
guessed what Nova was thinking about. "I'm sorry, but we're running late.
Check please, waitress?"
"Okay," said Nova with a smile. "I guess
we'll see you later. Could you leave the radar software out? I want to look at
something on the ship when we get done with lunch. Derek wants to tweak his
weapons station."
"Fine," said Sandor, who was wondering, How do we tell him?
And,
at the dock, the Argo's refit went
on...
Later that day, Royster was busy working on the ship's
weapons control station when Wildstar came onto the bridge, joining a conversation
already in progress with Vaught, Sandor, and Orion. As the conversation was about modifying the
landing hatch to accommodate a new type of space torpedo plane, Wildstar
noticed Royster was taking the entire weapons station apart. Wildstar walked
over to Royster, since the panel was now in pieces with circuit boards
scattered all over the deck.
“Royster!” Wildstar exclaimed as a startled
Royster hit his head against the top of the panel and winced out in pain
“Wadda tryin' to do give me a
heart attack or sommetin!?" Royster
exclaimed while rubbing the back of his head.
“Why are you taking apart this panel? I check it yesterday.
There is nothing wrong with it, and it’s not in the update stat sheet!”
Royster turned back to the panel “It’s in mine,” Royster
said, “Besides you’re not going to have any use for it anymore."
“Oh shit,” Sandor muttered to Vaught.
“You still didn’t tell him?” Vaught said.
“No, I had forgotten,” Sandor said. "I was distracted
when Nova was down on bridge number two asking me questions about the radar
processor."
“Or...did you want
to forget?” Vaught said. "I know you're not happy about..."
Royster turned to Wildstar, “Look I gotta job ta do over here...Haus, wadda ya want to do?”
Vaught knew Royster wasn’t being disrespectful; it was just
the way he talked that was irritating Wildstar. Royster knew of Wildstar’s
famous temper; he took a slight step back, as Wildstar turned to Sandor.
“When did you know about this?” Wildstar said. "He's
changing my whole board around!"
Sandor looked at the floor “I knew about the design changes
shortly before Andromeda’s test
flight, Wildstar. The AI system..."
“Yeah!
And it’s perfectly OK with you that they make the Argo a mechanical monster like the Andromeda!?!?”
“Well what would you expect him to do?” Vaught said. “If
Sandor refused to carry out the assignment, then they would have found some
else to do it! Surely you can understand that he wants to be here, hoping maybe
that with his hands doing the work he can keep her pride and sprit intact.”
“Her pride and spirit don’t need to be tampered with at
all!” Wildstar shouted at Royster. "Reverse these damned changes right
now!"
“This was your Defense Command’s call...Captain....not
mine.” Royster said drawing a vicious look from Wildstar as he continued. "You
want I should hold up why you guys figure out whatcha wanna do? HUH?”
“I don’t think the subject is open for discussion, Neville,”
Vaught said.
“Trust me I’ve already tried...General Stone wouldn’t listen,”
Sandor said.
Wildstar turned on his heel and walked quickly towards the
door saying, “Yeah? They’ll listen to me!”
Sandor shouted after him however it was too late, as
Wildstar stalked off like a storm cloud. Then, Sandor sat at the console and
let out a frustrated sigh.
The bridge was quiet for a moment as Vaught and Sandor
walked off the bridge. Vaught went back to work on the Number One gun turret while
Sandor continued with the engineers on the dock.
The engineering work on the targeting sensors on the number
one turret was simple to Vaught. In fact there was at least a hundred ways that
he could improve it, however, he had to remind himself that he was still only a
visitor here. Although because of his
position in the Starfleet Marines, he could suspend the prime directive if he
needed to, it was an option that he could not exercise with a good conscience.
It was then that he felt a presence in the Force which
caused him to look up and over the bow rail where Nova had just walked up to
Sandor on the main dock. Vaught smiled at that. Considering that Nova was in
civilian wear, she was a little hard to miss.
"Sandor, do you know where Derek went? These changes
they're making to my radar system make no sense. What are they doing to the ship?"
"Centralizing the systems,
Nova. They're making them like the Andromeda."
"No!"
"Yes."
"Did Derek just find out? He'll blow a gasket...I know
him!"
Sandor nodded. Nova sighed. "I bet he went down to
Headquarters to butt some heads, didn't he?"
"He did."
The two of them
continued to talk for a few minutes down there as Vaught turned back to his
work. A minute later, he saw Royster, who was standing behind him.
“I put the weapons control panel back together,” Royster
said “I don’t want to shove your bosses' nose in it when he gets back here."
“Good call, Neville,” Corsair said.
Royster started to walk away, but then he turned around
again. “He’s not gonna gain any ground dere. I feel bad for him.”
“Why?” Vaught said
“This is his love.” Royster said. “We’re tearin' it apart.”
Vaught sighed, “I never saw any sense to the romanticism
between humans and mechanical instruments.”
Royster frowned “Everything’s not expendable, Haus,” Royster
said as he started to walk away.
It was then that a strange feeling came over Vaught. As his
eyes darted from side to side, Royster noticed his actions and thought he was
the cause of it .
“Whazzat something I said?” Royster asked.
“Clear the deck," yelled Vaught. "All
personnel on yellow alert!”
“Once more in da Queen's English?” Royster said, as Vaught
simply growled.
General Javier Singleton sat in his spacious office which
was high atop the
Stone was a fitting name for the middle aged general who was
a direct opposite of his friend and superior.
He was a very seasoned and disciplined solider who had been originally
slated to be the Argo’s commander on
her journey to Iscandar. However, an inner ear infection disqualified him, and
he had been replaced by Captain Avatar. Stone’s strict attention to detail
annoyed most of the people he had served with, because he would never let
anything go. Everything had to be by the book or else. He could be a very
unpleasant person, especially when he was crossed.
Both of them had put in a long day. Stone walked into
Singleton’s office as he poured himself and his friend a drink.
They both sat down and discussed the events of the day until
a commotion stirred outside.
“You can't go in there, Captain!” a young Ensign shouted.
"You don't have an appointment!"
They both know who it was and why he was there as the door
slammed open, showing the face of an angry Derek Wildstar.
Stone stood up to scold the young officer, however Singleton,
being of a calmer nature, motioned Stone to sit. Singleton knew Wildstar's
potential as an officer. He also knew that Derek never had come up to his
office before for anything. So it was his reasoning to let Wildstar have his
say regarding the automation matter, then to let the issue rest.
“The decision is already been made, Wildstar,” Singleton
said before he could even say anything.
“Well,
you could overturn it!” Wildstar said, shaking his
head angrily with his eyes closed. "Couldn't
you?"
“I could,” Singleton said. “But I won't.”
Stone interjected, “Captain, if the Argo is going to
remain in active in the fleet, than its technology has to be brought up to date.
We can't train separate crews for our ships, nor can we make separate,
non-standardized parts. Unless, of course, you want her
retired as an antique?”
Wildstar glared at Stone, “That’s not what I mean!”
“Then what do you mean?” Stone said.
“The Argo has spirit...she has life. To make her
automated would destroy that spirit and would both of you would be so happy as to
just crush it?”
“That has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever
heard!” said Stone with a derisive shake of his head.
“Miguel….” Singleton said
“It’s a machine!”
Stone yelled. “It’s made of metal and it has moving parts and gears and
circuits...and you speak of this thing
as though it were a person!? If it were a person, a human being...I could see
why you're acting like this...but the Argo
is just a ship! It is just sixty-four thousand metric tons worth of...”
Wildstar was about to retort the answer when all the lights
went dark and alarms started blaring……
All the power had gone out as the emergency lighting came on
at the Argo’s berth.
Vaught tapped on his watch as the Inferno’s computer
beeped rapidly.
“Full scan," said Vaught in a low voice to the computer.
"What’s happening?”
Sensors indicate that there
has been a interruption in the transmission of power from Jupiter's moon Titan.
“Why?”
Unknown.
Sensors indicate that there are no power emissions from the energy center.
“Can sensors indicate if the center on Titan has been
destroyed?”
Negative.
Starcraft is not in proper position for detailed scan.
“Scan for any unknown aircraft or unique transponder systems.”
As the computer was giving its response, Vaught felt a
strange tingling sensation wash over him. Then, he looked at a gravo crane
shaking violently, there was a small explosion as the
driver jumped to safety. However, the crane dropped its heavy metal load, and
began to tip over. Vaught looked to see if there were any victims in its path.
“Everybody, take cover!”
Sandor yelled as the crane begun to collapse. Sandor, Royster and Nova stood
transfixed as tons of metal were about to fall on them.
We're
dead, thought Nova as she covered her eyes, while Sandor closed
his and pulled Royster close to him in a rough embrace.
Nova hoped that she could utter a final prayer before the life was crushed out
of her body in a moment. Derek, we never
did finish that talk, and I never did make it clear what I wanted to talk
about...God, forgive....
Than there was nothing…The crunching of metal stopped.
Nova withdrew her hands and opened her eyes very, very wide in utter surprise as a high-pitched frequency suddenly
enveloped her. She noticed
that the crane and its contents were floating gently over her like a feather. She
looked at herself, shocked. She was in one piece, not even a scratch. The only
thing that was off-kilter was that one of her shoes had slipped off. Nova
hunted for her sandal and slipped it back on. Then, she turned from left to
right to see what had stopped the crane from collapsing.
Nova thought, Did I see that thing
floating over me, or was I hallucinating? I feel weird, I feel like the
universe itself has just picked me up and given me a hug. What is going on?
A strange thought came to her, seemingly from nowhere. Trust your feelings. Your eyes did not deceive
you. Your instincts are better than those of your comrades.
What?
Nova heard voices around her muttering. "My
God."
"Damn, what is this?"
"This is weird!"
Then, she noticed Sandor, Royster, and most of the dock crew
looking up at the bow of the Argo in
shock with wide eyes. Then, she saw what everyone else did…..
Vaught was standing on the deck, aglow in a strange, soft,
warm, yellow light that felt to Nova like the embrace she had felt from the
Cosmos. He had his arm outstretched and his eyes closed. As he moved his arm in
a sweeping motion, the crane moved as well, until it reached an unoccupied
section of the dock. Vaught lowered his arm and the crane came to a gentle
rest. The yellow glow dissipated and Vaught exhaled deeply, and opened his eyes
slowly. There he found himself being stared at by everybody who had witnessed
the event. But, the most piercing stares came from Nova as his eyes met hers.
Vaught just nodded slowly as he turned and left the deck of the Argo.
“Ok.” Royster said.
“Welcome to the Twilight Zone, people!"
Sandor ran over and said, “Are you guys OK?”
“Freaked but alive,” Royster said. “If you excuse me I have
to leave now...and drink myself silly. That guy ain't human, I'm tellin' ya!”
“Who is he?” Nova
said “How can he do what he just did? That was...impossible!”
“He cannot be from here, that is certain,” Sandor said.
Royster let out an exasperated groan “Ya Think?!” He yelled,
“Any other bright insight there, Poirot? What about you, missy! Ya look like ya
just saw a ghost!”
"No, I think I felt one," Nova said. "Yet...there
was something familiar about this...but I can't put my finger on it. Or him. I'd love to know..."
They turned and looked at Royster as he started backing away
“You....We.... just saw a six foot nine…..gorilla dude pick up a 30 ton grava-crane
carrying two tons of steel without even touching it and you want to find out
more about him?!….No, No, No, No, No, the last thing you want to do is to
&^%#! around wit a guy like that!”
Royster backed himself upon a guard rail where he let out a
small yelp.
“Well what would you do, Royster?” Nova said.
“I don’t know about you, honey-bunch,” Royster said, “But there
are things mortal men was not meant to know. I intend to go home, close myself
up, lock da door, and drink and watch old Peter Sellers movies…Goodnight.”
As they watched Royster hurriedly walk away Nova turned back
to the Argo.
“He might be right.” Sandor said “Maybe we should just leave
this to Wildstar. Maybe we shouldn't meddle in this, Nova."
“I never did care for Peter Sellers, and I do not intend to
drink tonight, nor do I intend to hide my head in the sand. I will see you
later,” Nova said in a rare icy voice as she turned and walked away leaving
Sandor by himself.
Next Chapter: "Solving for x"
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Introduction to Starfighter: The
Iconoclasts, click here