PATTERNS OF THE FORCE

Chapter 28 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.  

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Space Battleship Argo

Deep Space

Derek Wildstar couldn’t have been happier with how well Vaught acclimated to the Argo and the Star Force. With the exception of the very volatile relationship between Vaught and Venture, that is. Venture made his dislike for Vaught well known. However, only Vaught knew what he thought about Venture, and he did not allow himself to be goated by Venture’s regular outbursts and as time wore on they eventually subsided…to a degree, anyway.

The Space Marines, however, were a different story. They were unrefined and undisciplined to Vaught’s eyes as he watched them carry on in the mess hall. He sat down almost unnoticed in a far corner of the room after making a salad in the kitchen.

“Hey, boss,” Royster said wiping down a table next to him

“Mr. Royster,” Vaught said quietly

“Got a minute?” Royster said

Vaught gestured to the chair as Royster sat down.

“I didn’t get why you wanted me on the bridge the other day,” Royster said.

“Kingsail didn’t speak to you?” Vaught asked.

“Well we’ve been kind of busy since Blutarsky and the boys from Delta House arrived,” Royster said

Vaught nodded and understood his reference. “Kingsail and I agree that cleaning tables is far below your station for a man of your talents. “I admire your sense of responsibility of wanting to pull your weight instead of just lounging around and Mr. Kingsail said you are very diligent in your work.”

“You don’t want me,” Royster said

“Why not?” Vaught asked

“Boss, take a good look,” Royster said standing up showing Vaught his apparel; namely an oversized T-shirt and shorts with a baseball on his hat.

“All right, so I wouldn’t want to go into battle with you; but it is agreed that your talents are wasted in the galley. You’re an engineer and we need engineers.” Vaught said

“Vunderbar,” Royster said sarcastically. “So where do you want me?”

“You’ll be working with myself and Nova.” Vaught said

“Great,” Royster “Couldn’t I do something else; like being a target drone for an Astro Fighter?”

Vaught gave him a very serious look as Royster sighed quietly.

“You’re frightened,” Vaught said. “That’s it!”

“Frightened?” Royster said as he chuckled “I don’t know the meaning of the word, However terrified works pretty good.”

“And if I told you not to worry about it?” Vaught said.

“It would not help at all,” Royster replied as Vaught handed him a data pad which had Inferno’s schematics.

“Christ.” Royster said. “This is that so–called Alien F-104 that everyone is talking about.”

“So called?” Corsair said, “Then you understand.”

“Yeah…a little bit,” Royster said. “But I get now what you want me for…..You need someone to work on this bird who the crew pretty much ignores and is neither Marine or Star Force. So they don’t have their loyalties in question and tear the frappin’ thing apart….But I get the golden sombrero because if I foul out then you’ll kill me and since I’m the black sheep of the ship who gives a darn?”

Vaught stared at him with shock and Royster could tell he struck a nerve with Vaught.

“What kind of monster is it that everyone thinks I am?” Vaught said.

“Simple. You’re the closer.”

“What is it with humans and their pre-occupation with that sport?” Vaught said.

“Lemme guess…they don’t have baseball where you come from,” Royster replied.

“It was a fad which ended in the late 21^st century.” Vaught said. “I personally think it was ridiculous.”

“Hey man,” Royster said. “You moved that crane just by thinking about it. You fight with a laser sword instead of a gun, you took on a bunch of guys without breaking a sweat. And Forrester?” She’s getting the hang of your strange act, and I’m being told sit in the middle of this psychic side show where at any time my throat could close just by you thinking about it!”

“Your point?” Vaught asked.

“I could choke and hang a breaking ball with the bases loaded.” Royster said.

“You will do fine,” Vaught said.

“I’m not a solider,” Royster snapped.

“I’m not asking you to be,” Vaught replied with an intense look.

Royster let out a heavy sigh and looked lost in thought for a moment as he nodded yes.

“Good.” Vaught said “For starters I want you to familiarize yourself with Inferno; she needs a ground support crew.”

“I’ll get with Sandor.” Royster said.

“No.” Vaught said. “This is your baby, you will find that the computer will recognize your voice and give you the access that you need.”

Royster looked up at him. After a long moment, he said, “OK. You’ll know where to find me.” Then, Royster took the data pad and slowly walked away from the table and out of the mess.

Vaught looked over at Kingsail who simply nodded and smiled, however the moment was cut short with the shouting of rowdy Marines at the other end of the room.

Wildstar wanted Vaught to focus his attention on finding the source of the mysterious transmissions and not be distracted by anything else. So Vaught quickly quieted his temper and resumed his dinner as he continued reading navigation charts. He did not look up as he felt Nova’s presence when she entered the room.

Nova stopped cold in her tracks as she also felt Vaught’s presence in the galley as the two turned and simultaneously looked at each other. There was no doubt in Vaught’s mind that the Force was with her and going strong. Still he went slowly and cautiously with her training. He had never trained anyone in the Jedi arts before. Even his own daughter was trained by Nokkar. Then also there was Wildstar, who had no objections with Vaught teaching Nova, and never played the role of a jealous boyfriend as he received regular updates on her progress, his outward interest appeared to be only the natural interest of her Commanding Officer. However Vaught knew it was more than that which made him all the more cautious.

“Hey,” Nova said as she sat down next to him, grabbed a fork and started picking at his salad.

Vaught looked up at her and tried to suppress a smile

“I was eating that.” Vaught said.

“No you weren’t. It was just going to waste, Vaught,” Nova said as she took another forkful of the seafood salad. A moment later, she got up and started examining his shoulder

“Would you stop that!?” Vaught protested.

“You haven’t been in to see Dr Sane,” Nova said. “Hence, I need to check that dressing.”

“Royster didn’t take to his assignment with much enthusiasm.” Vaught said.

“He’s scared,” Nova replied. “Of course, he could really have fun…if he could be me for a day.”

Vaught looked at her with concern “The Marines?”

“I’ll admit they make me uneasy,” Nova said “But it’s something else…..my dreams are confused….more vivid….almost real…some of them are of such terror that…I….I can’t describe them,” she said as she lowered her eyes.

“I see,” Vaught said. “Maybe you should talk to Dr Sane.”

“No,” Nova said as she finished checking the bandage. “I think I should be talking to you.”

“I don’t know if that’s appropriate.” Vaught said while rotating his left arm.

“Oh, come on,” Nova said quietly. “I can see it in your eyes…you know what it is, but you won’t tell me because you think it’s going to affect my relationship with Derek.”

“It will affect your life if you keep walking down the path you’re going on,” Vaught said.

Nova looked at him and nodded “So that’s what it is,” Nova said “I’m one of you, aren’t I?”

Vaught nodded. “The Force is with you, Nova. But it’s nothing new, it always has been with you…….Think back to your last battle with the Gamilons….Did you think that you were just lucky when Desslok began to fill the ship with poison gas when you came home in late 2200?”

“If Derek finds out about this---“

“So little faith you have of him, Nova,” Vaught said “If you think that he’s going to leave you on account of your gift…Besides, he already knows.”

“You told him!?” Nova said. “You didn’t dare tell him?”

“He already knew!” Vaught said “He is brighter than you think. He just put two and two together by our working together….Why do you think he assigned you to me?”

“So that I wouldn’t be a pain to him, and for you to keep me out of trouble,” Nova said.

“He wants you to keep yourself out of trouble without the need of a protector.” Vaught said “You can most certainly do it. You have already proven that many times…you just lack the confidence!”

“It would have been nice to hear that from him,” Nova said while tapping her fingers against the table.

“He can’t….he’s the Captain,” Vaught said.

“Oh he’s always the Captain!” Nova said. “I wouldn’t mind if he looked at another girl once in a while, but all he is obsessed with is this damned ship!”

“He’s the Captain.” Vaught said. “He has to be obsessed with this damned ship,” he repeated sarcastically.

Nova took another bite of Vaught’s seafood salad. “You’re not going to see this my way, are you?”

“No,” Vaught said taking the bowl of salad away from her which resulted in an amusing look from Nova as Vaught rolled his eyes and pushed the bowl back in front of her. She in turn grabbed another forkful of salad.

“When we were on the bridge during the battle, we were ahead of everyone else, and it wasn’t that we were quicker with the equipment….We knew where those ships were and we told the equipment where to look.” Nova said.

“Yes.” Vaught said “Through the benefit of the Force.”

“And my dreams?” Nova said.

“They could be visions of what could be but you must be careful how you interpret those visions, because future events can be perceived differently.” Vaught said.

“How would you perceive the strange woman I’ve been dreaming about?” Nova asked.

Vaught shuddered for a moment as the image of Nova’s dream shot through his head.

“You know her, don’t you?” Nova said. “She’s the one sending the messages isn’t she? She’s trying to contact you.”

Vaught shook his head, “Not likely.”

“But you do know her.” Nova said “You’re dreaming her also.”

“It’s not possible that she’s still alive…If she was she would be past 60. She wouldn’t look that young.”

“She’s your older sister?” Nova said.

“Yes. Trelania,” Vaught said. “She was killed when our home planet of Telezart was destroyed during an interstellar war when I was seven; I doubt highly that it is she sending the message.”

“What if it is her?” Nova said. “Derek thought that his brother Alex was killed when-“

“I said it was highly unlikely.” Vaught said.

“I understand,” Nova said, as she paused for a moment. She bit her lip and then said, “You were close weren’t you?”

Vaught let out a deep sigh. “Yes. When I was four, when my parents were taken hostage by the Cardassians, she took care of me. For a while she was the only family that I knew.”

“What happened?” asked Nova in a quiet voice.

“During an attack, our home city was hit with a Sona Subspace weapon. It caused the planet to shred itself to pieces. She was killed getting me to safety, but it was a long, long time ago.”

“And I assume that we’re leaving it at that,” Nova said.

“Right. I can’t afford your rates for therapy,” Vaught said while getting up to leave. “Enjoy the salad, Nova.” Vaught said as he walked away.

Nova turned as she watched Vaught walk away. Then, the doors to the mess opened as Derek Wildstar walked in. He started talking to Vaught as she turned back and finished the salad. She then walked over to the galley and placed her dirty dishes in the dishwashing unit. Sitting on the ready window there was a fresh roast. Nova, always being helpful, walked over the fresh roast to the rowdy Space Marines. She asked if there was anything else she could get them. Of course, they immediately replied in the affirmative (in a sleazy fashion) and she nervously chuckled.

When she saw Captain Wildstar walk over, she thought that she was going to be saved from the Marines’ advances. However Wildstar didn’t even look at her; he just looked at the Marine who had his feet up on the table. Wildstar was enraged. However, he kept his temper as Vaught watched carefully from where he was standing.

“Where is your Sergeant?” Wildstar snapped.

“Probably out taking a piss, bub!” the Marine replied.

Nova looked at the Marine with annoyance, “This is Captain Wildstar!”

The Marine looked up at the young man and scoffed, “I said, he’s out takin’ a piss, Sir.”

Wildstar simply ignored the comment as he walked away and out of the galley. Nova called after him, yelling, “Wildstar!” However, he ignored her, too.

Vaught continued to observe from the corner of the galley. IQ-9 reminded the Marines that they were guests on board.

They replied by throwing food at the robot who simply yelled, “Hey what did I do?”

The Marines continued to harass Nova, however she did not look once at Vaught. He could tell that she was about to lose her temper when Conroy intervened.

“Bloody hell, don’t any of you have any manners!?” Conroy yelled in his English accent. “Look at this bloody mess, it’s like a bloomin’ pig sty in here!!!”

“So let the damn skinny broad clean it up,” one of the Marines said. “Or one of you prissy-ass pilots can do it! That’s all you’re good for anyway! You don’t know the first thing about combat. You’re safe in up there in your little Astro Fighters drinking coffee. What do you know about man’s work anyway?”

Vaught could have ended the debate then and there. However he continued to observe the situation as it got more and more tense. The Marines were getting more and more lewd and rude with Nova which made Conroy more angry…angry enough to want to start a fight with the Marine.

Then Nova did the unexpected as she kicked the chair out from underneath the Marine Private as he landed on his bottom. The Black Tigers laughed as the Marine, who was much larger than Nova stood up and charged her. “That’s it, you damned bitch!” he yelled. “You’re about to have your ass kicked!”

Vaught watched intently as Nova simply narrowed her eyes and the charging Marine suddenly stopped and grasped his throat while choking and gasping for air. He dropped to his knees still grasping his throat as Nova stood above him with her eyes still narrowed and her teeth gritted. She was breathing slowly and deeply and some of the Marines swore that they saw her eyes going yellow for a split second.

“Nova,” a voice boomed gently in her head.

She felt rage pass through her. She felt herself trembling with sheer rage, and then she felt herself falling out of control then like a rubber band snapping she came out of it, while feeling a reassuring hand on her shoulder as her vision cleared and the entire messhall was silent as the Marine was breathing easier now. She turned to see Vaught staring at her thoughtfully.

She turned back to the Marine and looked at him angrily.

“We’re all going to clean this mess up, Private!” Nova said.

“Bullshit.” Another Marine said.

Vaught took a step closer as Nova watched him narrowing his eyes. However the result was altogether different. The Marine seemed to have a blank look on his face.

“The Lieutenant said we’re all going to clean this mess up,” Vaught said in a slow voice while waving his finger in front of him.

“The lieutenant said we were all going to clean this mess up.” The Marine said weakly with a blank look on his face.

“Let’s get to it,” Vaught said calmly.

“Let’s get to it.” The Marine said again in a robotic voice.

Soon all of the Marines grumbled and started to pick up the mess that they made, when the Black Tigers started to begin giving a hand just to be fair about it. However, Vaught quietly cleared his throat. When the Black Tigers saw him quickly shake his head “no,” they slowly went back to their own business. Vaught motioned Nova to come outside into the corridor. Vaught waited for the hatch to close behind him before he started talking.

“Nova, did you know you were going to kill that boy?” Vaught said calmly.

“Didn’t you hear what he was saying to me?” Nova said. “He called me a bitch, among other things!”

“And, yes, he should have been punished. However you dealt far more punishment than the cost of the infraction. The role of a Starfighter is to make sure everything is balanced. We only take a life if circumstances either warrant it or if it is in our mission objective….Temper your anger and balance yourself, Nova.”

Nova looked up at him.

“Causing pain only makes a bad person worse….and can break a good person’s spirit. Do you think that Private Simmons is a bad man?”

Nova thought deeply for a moment and was embarrassed that she didn’t even know his name.

“He was acting like an utter pig,” Nova said.

“Yes. But 24 hours earlier, he was being flogged within an inch of his life with an alien laser whip,” Vaught said. “You must be careful about giving in to your rage. To us, giving in to rage can have terrible consequences.”

“I…I…didn’t realize what was even happening. It happened so fast…I’m sorry” Nova said. “But what about you? You were controlling his mind!”

Vaught nodded. “Yes. The Force can have an influence on the weak-minded,” Vaught said “You will find that not all are susceptible.”

“Do the Marines in your Federation act the same way?” Nova asked.

Vaught was about to answer when Wildstar turned the corner muttering under his breath. He stopped to glare at both of them.

“Captain?” Vaught said

“Who Mind-Choked that Marine?” Wildstar said. “He’s scared shitless of us now!”

Vaught and Nova looked at each other and said, “I did,” at the same time

Wildstar looked at the ceiling and groaned. “Oh, damn! You two are giving me Abbott and Costello now?”

They looked at each other again as Wildstar huffed “Forget it. Just don’t let it happen again, you two. Come on Vaught, Nova, let’s go mind the store.”

They walked a while along the corridor.

“I take it that your meeting with Sergeant Knox was not productive,” Vaught said

“It sure wasn’t. I think I was wrong in not giving you a pass at them first,” Wildstar said.

“I wasn’t inferring that you couldn’t handle them, sir,” Vaught replied.

“So is that why you wouldn’t help me out down there, Derek?” Nova asked. “You were frustrated in talking to Knox and didn’t want any part of it?”

“I was. Nova, how’d you know that?”

“Let’s say a little bird told me, Derek,” she said with an enigmatic smile. They walked onto the bridge as Vaught took his station.

“How are the Marines behaving?” Venture asked.

“Like Marines,” Wildstar said drawing a look from Vaught.

Their attention was drawn to the time radar which started chirping.

“Now what?” Wildstar said “Nova, give me an image!”

“Yessir,” Nova said as she sat at her station and began working controls. “This was in our space just under an hour ago.”

Vaught’s eyes widened when he saw the Time Radar’s return image showing a ship appearing right before their eyes.

“Orion?” Wildstar asked. “What is it?”

“I don’t know.” Orion replied.

“Whatever it is it doesn’t look friendly,” Eager said.

“Agreed,” said Nova laconically as she brought the ship into clearer focus.

“Sandor?” Wildstar asked

“Maybe it’s some sort of Space Submarine.” Sandor replied

Vaught tapped some keys as the Video Panel engaged.

Wildstar was startled by the diagram as he looked at Vaught.

“It’s a Romulan Bird of Prey,” Vaught said.

The entire crew looked at him as Venture rolled his eyes at the overhead.

“Romulan Bird of Prey?” asked Nova. “What in God’s Universe is that?”

“Of course we could just ask him, Nova. After all, he knows everything,” Venture said.

Wildstar sat down next to him. “All right, Vaught. What is this thing?”

“This is an outdated model say about a hundred years old.” Vaught said

“How did it get here?” Wildstar said.

“I don’t know,” Vaught said. “However “I find it unlikely that any Romulans are operating it.”

“What are Romulans?” said Nova.

“An avaricious, devious, imperialistic race from where I come from,” said Vaught. “And that’s just the start of it.”

“Call General Quarters, Number One,” Wildstar said. “We need to be on our guard…NOW.”

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Next Chapter: “BAD DREAMS ARE MADE OF THESE…”

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