STARFIGHTER! The Iconoclasts
Chapter 5: Fathers and Daughters
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.
September 2, 2201
Late Evening: Near Midnight, Local Time
Vaught
was very careful not to fly over any major populated areas until he could
figure out exactly where he was. He flew over the North Atlantic as he made out
Newfoundland and stayed clear of the coast. He continued heading south. His
destination was the South Atlantic; to be precise, a small island 25 miles off
the coast of Key
West where there was heavy thunderstorm activity according to Inferno’s computers.
He found this strange, for Key West no longer existed in his own universe,
thanks to events of the Xindi that happened in his
own universe.
Vaught
mused over the mystery of Key West, but then he had to turn his mind back to flying
when a nasty thermal hit Inferno and
shook the craft. Then, he remembered the desperation of his situation. Vaught
felt that he could use the thunderstorms to throw off the tracking stations
monitoring him. If he could do that he might have a chance of avoiding contact
with this culture while he figured out what to do next. He passed through the
thick heavy clouds, as the Inferno's
visual canopy filtered out the clouds so that he could see clearly. When he
punched through the clouds the display turned off and he could see the island
through the canopy.
It
was a small island. As Inferno
hovered, Vaught scanned it making sure that the ground was solid. Once he was
confident that it was indeed solid, he touched down in a small field surrounded
by palm trees. He could see straight through to the beach. The thunderstorm
hadn’t gotten there yet so Vaught quickly exited the cockpit with his tricorders
in one hand and his light saber in the other. Once he was confident that he was
alone, he quickly climbed back into Inferno
and shut all the systems down. Then, he climbed back out and walked off the
field and onto the beach. He undid his exosuit. The suit was a unique design
which had its own life support system. The suit was black in color and it could
sustain life for long periods of time in even the hard vacuum of space. Vaught
liked to use the exosuit; while it was frightening, it had a certain degree of
protection plus it had a menacing ebony breath mask
that was useful if he was working covertly and didn't wish to be recognized.
Although
the island was hot and humid, there was a stiff breeze from the west where the
salt air intoxicated his senses. In the distance, flashes of lightning from
huge thick black clouds lit up the sky. He quickly changed into a more
comfortable standard Starfleet uniform. Then, he performed his first priority;
namely, getting Inferno's cloaking
device working. Within a few minutes he figured out the system. Then, as the
rain began to fall around him, Vaught closed the canopy and activated the
cloaking device in what he found to be Stealth Mode. This mode consumed the
least amount of power and could it be re-charged by the sun, which was unheard
of for a cloaking device. He breathed a sigh of relief because now he wouldn’t
have to worry about being detected.
As
Vaught read through the computer manuals in his ship, he began to understand
why Starfleet was so fearful that the Tholians had the star craft. Vaught had
second thoughts about staying there. Part of him felt that maybe he should
return Inferno and just forget about the nagging feelings that he was
having thinking something was wrong. He realized that he must have
inadvertently passed through the Tholian Gateway
while he was being pursued. Of course, he knew how to find it. He could easily leave and go home there was
nothing to stop him…except his feelings.
My feelings,
thought Vaught. At times, they are a
curse. He was feeling that “tremor” again that at this point in time. Something was about to break, and he didn't
know what it was. It feels…like …what..?
Like the last calm before a hurricane breaks, he thought.
Besides,
Vaught was both curious and perplexed about this culture. The readings that he
was getting from Inferno’s sensor
data were mind boggling. So, obeying his instincts, he decided to remain.
However he couldn’t just walk around a major city In a Starfleet uniform. He needed to
understand the society and needed to be able to blend in with it. So, the first
thing that he did was to monitor the civilian broadcasts. While the
thunderstorm passed outside, Vaught, who was both dry and comfortable inside Inferno,
ate a small meal and watched the news.
He
realized from the news that the date was September 2, 2201. It was a Wednesday,
he noted to himself. A normal, humid, rainy summer Wednesday
almost 140 years back in the past of his own universe; if he had been in his
own universe, that is. This meant little to him, as he guessed he wasn't
really in his "own" past. The chronometers on Inferno were working normally. If he had really gone back in time
in regards to his own universe, the chronometers would have indicated it.
Following
the news, there was a baseball game on the video channel he was watching. It
was the New York Yankees versus the Boston Red Sox, and given the way they were
playing (including a bench-clearing brawl in the top of the fifth inning after
a New York player was beaned by Boston's pitcher), he guessed that a nasty
divisional race or pennant race was in progress between these two perennial
rivals.. Not having seen a game before in this universe, he watched with
interest for a while, following the names of the unfamiliar players. After a
while, he shut the monitor off and watched the night sky light up with
lightning. As a precaution, Vaught raised his deflector shields in the event of
a lightning strike or that in the event that a palm tree should fall on Inferno.
He
checked his power settings and found that there was a special generator which
ran off the warp core tritium crystals to keep the aircraft in a defensive
posture without running the engines. It also meant that he could leave the
craft for extended periods of time. It was another added bonus for Inferno.
Vaught
closed his eyes for a second and then put a moist towel on his arm. The one
thing Inferno was lacking was medical
supplies, and if did decide to stay he would have to have his phaser burn
looked at. However, that decision couldn’t come until morning and it was only
early in the evening… even though Vaught had a trying day (to say the least)
stealing the Federation's prize back from the Tholians.
However
he was here now, and here the Tholians did not
exist…nor did the Federation.
Or
did they?
Vaught
asked the computer to pull up information on the sensor readings as the canopy
again went opaque and the visual appeared.
Many sensor traces came up as the sensors traced their way back into the
past year in their spectrum of analysis. At one sensor signature, Vaught
widened his eyes in interest.
“Computer,
is this sensor reading that of the Genesis Wave as recorded by the Enterprise on or about star date 8130.4 ?”
"Negative, anomaly is a variant of the
Genesis Wave…it is 62 percent identical to the carrier pattern of that wave,
and has a similar effect."
“Can
these readings be identified?”
“Affirmative. Readings can be identified as the Cosmo
Wave from the Cosmo Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid
Device, a/k/a the Cosmo-DNA
unit."
Vaught looked out the window and gave the computer a confused look
“Give me all the information available on this
device.” Vaught said as he began reading.
"Affirmative…"
Thursday, September 3, 2201
The
next morning, the sun was finally out. Although it was hot and humid, it was a
nice day around Key West. Using Inferno’s computer systems while
munching on some stored survival food for his breakfast, Vaught was able to
hack into the planet's military computers. He observed that the name of the
military was the Earth Defense Forces, so he immediately hacked into the Earth
Defense Forces' personnel files. His intention was to make a Master Personnel
Jacket File on himself on a through a backdoor port on a secure proxy server so
that he could "legitimately" gain access to classified information
and learn more about this military and its surrounding culture. He had thought
of using Inferno’s computer to just hack into the records directly to do
this. However, there was a risk no matter how small,
that some techno-geek might discover his tampering if he kept at it too long
from Inferno's computer. Vaught knew
that even making the needed fake files and access codes for himself in the
Master Proxy Server of this culture's military computer network could lead to his
detection while he was creating the files. However, a certain amount of chance
had to be risked in order to create the necessary cloak under which he could
access that information. He knew that once his "account" was
established, he would then be able to legitimately access it like a soldier of
the EDF on remote assignment.
While
looking around in the Master Proxy Server, Vaught saw that they too had a
Marine Corps. So, with a certain irony, as he was a Starfleet Marine, that is where
he “enlisted himself” in creating his bogus identity.
In
his fake personnel file, he kept it very simple. Vaught used his actual name
and actual city of birth and other personal information. The only thing that he
made different was that he gave himself the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Now,
Vaught felt a little cheap giving himself a bogus rank that was higher than
what he actually was, however he needed the rank in order for it to be believed
that he actually had the code clearance that he was giving himself in the Proxy
Server. Through the Master Record Database, he also got the specifications on
the proper uniforms and had Inferno’s small replicator system fashion
them to his height and weight. He also had the replicator fashion identification and hard currency, greenish
money which this culture was still using, he observed with amusement. Before
leaving the Master Proxy Server, he hacked into the EDF Federal Credit Union
and established himself a bank account that held a reasonable amount of savings
that he gave himself with the push of a button. He could have made himself a
multi-millionaire with a few keystrokes, but he felt that would certainly set
off alarms. As a final touch, he made sure his direct deposit payroll account
was set up and smiled a little when he found out that it was evidently payday
when he had several hundred more credits appearing in his account. He then used
the replicator to make himself a bogus ATM card so he could draw on his funds
at any bank with a terminal. Then, he shut down the internal maintenance
backdoor uplink to the Master Proxy Server. And,
the horse just snuck out of the barn, thought Vaught. Now, let's see if all that worked and I'm a Marine Colonel in this
culture…
He
breathed hard as he re-established the uplink to the Net Address. Then, when
the log-in for EDF Net appeared, he put in the username and password he had
established for himself. Success read the screen a moment
later. Welcome to EDF Net, Lieutenant Colonel Corsair, EDF Space Marines,
said the primitive but reassuring message on the legitimate uplink. What
do you want to do?
"Great,"
muttered Vaught. "It all worked. Now, let me do some looking around…"
Vaught
then did some research.
What
he didn't know was that the research would take him the better part of this
day.
He
worked patiently while he sought the information he needed.
The
sun was beginning to set on a small cabin cruiser that plied the surface of the
water off Key West.
The
sea was tranquil, quite in opposition to the roiling storm it had been last
night.
A
young woman in a Black One Piece Bathing suit dived off the back cabin cruiser,
which was named the Lady N, a boat
owned by her parents, a boat they had named after her. She didn't particularly
like the name, especially since she knew it wasn't really her boat. She would
have preferred a different name for the boat. Unlike the ocean surface, her
mind was not particularly tranquil, as she came to the surface again. Swimming around the boat. As Eager sat on
the back of the boat looking at Nova.
“I
think we’re going to need a bigger boat.” Eager said jokingly.”
“Very
funny,” Nova said Climbing back into the boat as she snatched a towel that
Eager was handing to her.
“I
think you’re hanging out too much with Wildstar” Eager said
She
glared at him.
“Shhheech……What a Grouch!”
Eager said.
"I’m
not being a Grouch Eager, It’s just my parents!" said the young woman with
a note of exasperation.
“Did
you tell them about Wildstar?”
Nova
Sighed. "I wanted to tell them about Derek, but my mother began asking how
much money you made!"
"I'm
flattered by your ma's taste, Nova!" drawled the chubby young freckled
man, "However, I think the young lady laying on the bow of this fair
vessel might have something to say about that," he said in his thick Texas
accent, "W’d have to have Lisa and Wildstar knocked
off! And I don't want to lose Lisa, and from past experience well I know you
don't wanna lose Derek."
She
turned and looked at the water
“It’s
that apparent is it?” Nova asked.
“Maybe.” Eager said “I used to work right across
from you remember?”
“Ever
since I turned on that Machine I have been having these thoughts of feelings of
terror. I see myself doing things but then it’s almost as if I can see myself
and when I do it’s almost as if the person looks like me but isn’t me.”
“I
almost hate to ask this but what is it that you are doing in these
dreams?” Eager said.
“Killing.” Nova said “Fighting….against the craziest
of creatures…..the one I had last night starts out with this Woman strapped to
a table Then this other woman dressed in a Black tight suit walks over to her……
“We are the Borg..” She says “ We will add your biological and technological
distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance
is futile.”
Then there is this heavy mechanical breathing….and
it’s coming from me I’m encased in some sort of Exo suit. I’m speaking but the
words coming from my mouth aren’t in my voice it’s this deep Male sinister Bass
voice .
“Don’t be too Proud of you’re technological terrors they are insignificant next to the power of the
force.”
“Then
I start tearing into these Borg People and all hell breaks loose then I wake
up…..but it feels more like a memory….than a dream.”
“Have
you spoken with someone about this?” Eager said.
Nova
never broke her gaze from the water.
“Who Eager?” Nova snapped giving a slight growl that alarmed eager for a moment She turned
slightly and to eager her silhouette against the late afternoon sun seemed to
augment her appearance slightly.
“My
mother?.........All she wants me to do is
marry someone rich and get on my back and become a baby-making machine right
away and turn in my commission. And I don't want that! I want to be a doctor
someday, and I want to spend my life with Derek! But I could never get either
notion through my mother's mind! And my marshmallow father just sat there and
said, 'yes, honey' to every thing she said! I can't live my life with anyone
else but Derek! Only he knows what we went through on that year! And he needs
me. He doesn't know it yet, but he needs me. He needs a good woman. And I need
a good friend."
“I
wouldn’t know.” Eager said, “All he ever does is sneer at me.”
"You
don't know him like I do, Eager!" snapped Nova. "He's let me inside
that armor. There's a hurt, vulnerable person in there that none of you see. I
saw a man sitting in silence devastated in the Argo's AE-35 room last year
because he had no family to call back home on Earth when we were leaving the
solar system. Did you see that man? I
did.” And did you see how he dropped to his knees in the observation room when
Captain Avatar died?...I did.”
Nova
picked a small photo album up off the boat's console. Her hands were trembling
with rage. "Mom, here's what I'm doing with your damned face book of
eligible bachelors!" Nova then ripped the book in half and threw it into
the ocean with all of her slender strength.
"Maybe
you’re adopted?" Eager asked.
"What
do you mean?" Nova snapped.
"That
photo album was the size of a phone book and you just tore it in half then
whisked it in the ocean like a piece of paper." Eager said.
"I
wonder that myself," said Nova with the ghost of a grin.
"Well, if they won't meet Derek tomorrow,
I'll just have to do it myself. It's nearly dark. Eager, tell everybody to make
ready to get back ashore, okay? I have a plane to catch tonight."
Eager
went to leave thought of something for a moment then looked at Nova.
“Did
you see the man who carried your lifeless body through the corridors of the
Argo praying that you would wake up after that accident on the Cosmo-DNA? I?”
Nova
just looked at him.
“I
did.” Eager said “Maybe I don’t know Derek Wildstar like you…maybe we’re not
meant to.”
Eager
walked carefully along the deck to the bow when another voice came out of the
cabin as he stopped for a moment.
"What
kind of itinerary?" asked Nova's dark-haired old family friend Natalie
Fisher as she came up behind her in a blue swimsuit, tapping her bare foot
against the deck to some tune.
"Here
to Newark, and then from Newark to Tokyo," said Nova. "I changed the
flight to one that leaves at 9:30 so I don't have to see Mom again. If you see
her around the marina at ten around dinner like we planned, please lie to her
and tell her I got emergency orders to run back home now rather than on the
night owl flight. She should accept that. I don't want to see her face…or dad's…in my current mood….I still have the notion of slapping
her."
"That
might be a good idea," said Natalie. "You didn't hear it, but your
mom said that she might bring Aunt Yvona to dinner."
Nova
growled…her eyes seemed to glow for a moment as she turned around looking out
over the ocean.
Natalie
and Eager looked at each other.
"I’ve
been waiting for you, Yvona.” Nova said in a deep voice almost in a distorted
tone. “The Circle is now complete when I left you I was but the learner, Now I am the
master," and turned slightly towards them.
Natalie
took a step back then straightened.
They
were looking at her face wide eyed as she turned and looked back over the ocean, When Natalie walked over to her and turned her slowly
to her expecting to see something.
"What!?" Nova snapped.
"Nova
you’re going to think I'm crazy;" Natalie said "But I could swear for
a moment you had fangs showing."
"The
light is playing tricks on you; I'm going below to change," said Nova as
she brushed past her.
Natalie
Leaned against a rail and looked at Eager.
"Tell
me I was imagining that," Natalie said.
"Then
I was too." Eager said.
"I
wonder if we got the same Nova back when she woke up from the Radioactive sleeping gas." Natalie said.
In
the meantime, as the sun tickled the horizon, Vaught finished his research on
the island.
The
capital city was based in Tokyo, Japan, which Vaught had to eventually get to,
but right now he had to get information and the records of any main EDF Base
could do that. He found exactly what he was looking for as the computer gave
him information on where their star cruisers and battleships were constructed.
It was perfect…Port Newark was less than 2000 miles away. In a pinch, Inferno
could be there in seven minutes.
He
then used the backdoor computer uplink again to book himself reservations for
suitable transportation and then to cut proper orders for himself. Then, he
again terminated the link. He waited a while to ensure that no one had detected
him. Finally, he began to make himself look the part that he knew had to play.
Vaught had survived on planets harsher than the conditions on his small island.
This would be easy for him. After he set up his survival equipment for
producing fresh water, he showered and shaved, then dressed in his new dark
green uniform.
Using
his abilities Vaught was able to lower his body temperature as not to perspire.
He made sure that Inferno was locked down and fully cloaked and
set the computer to attack any one close enough to touch it. He than activated
the transporter and disappeared from sight.
He
materialized a short time later in an unoccupied hotel room in the town of Key
West, Florida. Oddly enough, he wasn't far from the marina where the Lady N was now making port.
He
had with him a data pad which was in the form of a wrist watch that was linked
directly to Inferno’s computers which gave him vessel status access to Inferno’s
computer core; he could even fly from the data pad if necessary. To anyone
looking at the instrument, it was just a fancy pilot’s watch. Vaught checked
the status of Inferno and walked
quietly towards the door. When he was certain that there was no one in the
hallway, he stepped out and walked to the elevator which went to the hotel
lobby. The lobby was filled with people and hotel employees who were all busy
about their work to them Vaught was just another tall military officer in the
crowd of military and civilian personnel. Vaught looked like a very tall person
in sunglasses (which hid his rather unusual eyes) but just a person,
nonetheless. He grabbed a taxi to the airport where he bought his ticket on his
reservation and waited for his flight.
He
wandered the concourse for a while after passing Security. He bought some food,
and he also bought several newspapers and magazines to read so that he could at
least be able to hold a conversation with someone. He noticed that there was a
news story in his paper about the blackout he had seen last night. He found it
interesting to note that the government offered no explanation for it. I wonder what they really know?
Vaught thought. If I could talk to
someone about this…I could learn something.
Vaught
left the wide concourse and went to the waiting area for his airline. He
wondered again if he would be talking to someone. Such an opportunity would
soon occur as the waiting area was small and somewhat crowded. Vaught noticed
that were other military personnel in the waiting area as well; some were in
green uniforms like his, some wore dark navy blue jackets with red collars, and
some wore blue uniforms, while some wore fatigues. A group of young men in
fatigues whistled at two young women, girls, almost, who were talking with a
chubby young man in a light blue uniform. The chubby man was waving goodbye to
someone that Vaught couldn't see, since he was engrossed in a Magazine called Air and Space. Vaught vaguely noticed
the chubby officer running off towards a hamburger stand, where he lost himself
in a Double Whopper with Cheese and paid no more attention to his surroundings.
Some of the enlisted Marines were making rude catcalls at a young dark-haired
woman casually dressed in a blue swimsuit with cut-off shorts over it. She
smiled and gave them the middle finger. They began to curse back at her as
Vaught realized that some gestures meant the same thing, regardless of what
universe one was in. Vaught just smiled as he returned to his article. He
thought about saying something to the enlisted men, but then he thought that
yelling orders at them right now might draw undue attention to himself. Attention he didn't quite want, or need, since he
wanted to play it cool and simply learn information. He had vaguely noticed
that his legs were sprawled out when he felt something crash into them. Then,
there was a quick blur; someone fell to the ground right in front of him.
This isn't the conversation I wanted,
thought Vaught as the Marines nearby guffawed.
“Oh
No!" he said. "I am very sorry,” Vaught said standing up. "Are you
all right?"
She
looked at him for a moment surprised by his strange accent.
"I'm.....
fine, I guess,"
replied his victim in a husky alto voice that sounded close to tears.
Vaught
had tripped up a young blonde girl who looked to be no older than twenty or
twenty-two, at the oldest.
"Believe
me, it was an accident. It's my fault," said Vaught. The
"Marine" extended his hand and began to help the Uniformed girl up
She was also rubbing her ankle, which she had also twisted slightly when she
had fallen. The young dark-eyed woman looked at him; she had a pretty but very
penetrating gaze under thick eyelashes. As she appraised him, Vaught
instinctively took a step back. Their eyes met as they stood in silence for a
few seconds. Maybe it was the Uniform that reminded Vaught of his own Daughter;
Vaught thought, No, it can't be…it can't
be Starsha…it can't be my daughter? Can it?
He
looked hard at the young woman; she had honey-blonde hair that just barely came
to her shoulders, with two small curls at her cheekbones. Starsha even wore her
hair like that, once. The young woman had a dancer's build, lithe and athletic.
In fact, she was extremely slender and pretty. A thousand thoughts flooded
Vaught's mind. In every way, he was almost painfully reminded of his daughter
Starsha, to whom this woman bore a striking resemblance.
“Are
you all right? That was my fault; oh…my boyfriend says I can be such a ditz at times,” she said in a soft, low
alto that he guessed was her normal speaking voice. She even sounds like her, thought Vaught. This is too strange.
She
didn't notice his bandaged arm; as she grabbed it while getting up, he let out
a yelp. She cried, “Oh dear, I’m so sorry!”
“Well,
now we’re even.” Vaught said shaking his arm.
The
young woman leaned into him.
“I
didn’t do it on purpose,” she whispered smiling.
They
were interrupted by several people who were already laughing and making
catcalls to the young woman.
“Hey,
baby!" yelled one of them, one of the enlisted Marines in fatigues.
"Need a date?"
Another
one yelled, "To hell with that! You wanna share my bungalow with me
tonight, babe?"
Vaught
felt a strange feeling come over him as his eyes met hers again.
"Would
you excuse me for a minute?" Nova asked.
Vaught,
not knowing why she said that, nodded and Nova turned, leaving her bags where
they had fallen and walked over to one of the young Space Marines.
"Hey
Sparkey, does the name Derek Wildstar ring any bells?" Nova asked.
Before
he could even answer Nova grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the
wall.
"Because he taught me that!"
Nova snarled.
Vaught
watched and although he did not feel like interfering for it seemed as if the
girl could sure tend her own garden (Vaught would not know how apt his metaphor
was until later, when he found out that one of the young lady's interests was
gardening). He walked over to them. She continued to give the enlisted man a
very black look not releasing her Grip.
"Excuse
me Private?" Vaught asked the young space marine.
The
space marine looked at Vaught and his eyes went wide even he was taken aback
more so by they way he was speaking then the grip that Nova had on his throat.
"Yes
Colonel?" He rasped choking.
"Why
does the Lieutenant have a death grip on you, son?" Vaught said.
"I
don't know sir." The marine said.
Vaught
leaned against the wall as he saw two security guards racing over to them. He
held up his hand and they immediately stopped.
"Sure
you do Son." Vaught said "Or do I need to contact your CO and tell
him you need to undergo more training?"
"I'm
sorry, Lady," The Marine said.
"That's
an inappropriate way to address an officer." Vaught said.
"I'm
Sorry......Lieutenant." The marine rasped.
Vaught
Nodded. "Very good," Vaught said turning to Nova "Lieutenant, both
you and the Private are in uniform and you're creating a scene....Stop it
now......That's an order."
Nova
released her grasp as the Marine as he used the wall to keep him up. For
whatever the reason Security turned and walked away. Obviously they did not
want to tangle with someone's Vaught's size Nova simply smoothed her uniform
skirt back into place and turned away with her nose in the air in a huff.
Vaught
looked at her attire briefly. He didn't agree with the catcalls of the enlisted
men around her, and couldn't understand why her attire was drawing the rude
remarks and calls for dates and worse. Her Uniform skirt did go above her knees
but it wasn't like she was dressed for a night out...It was simply her Dress
uniform!
They
announced the boarding of his flight for Newark. Vaught hurriedly packed up the
magazines and walked over to the gate agent to whom he showed his boarding
pass. Then, he walked out onto the tarmac towards the aircraft, which was silver, white and blue. The sun was hot as and the air
thick with humidity as Vaught walked across the tarmac. He looked at the plane,
which bore the name Delta on its
fuselage. This amused Vaught; it seemed even that even though they were in
their 23rd century, their economy was still based on twentieth century
values. Vaught had to duck low as he entered the sleek craft.
The
aircraft had two by two seating, and looked very comfortable in Vaught's eyes.
He had seen worse, much worse, than a tastefully decorated civilian airliner
that looked sort of like something from the 1960's on the inside. Vaught asked
a miniskirt-clad stewardess were his row was, and the pretty girl in orange and
white (who wore black go-go boots) guided him to his seat. As Vaught found his
aisle seat, he observed that sitting next to the window was the young woman
that he just collided with moments before in the terminal.
“Ah!
We meet again, Lieutenant,” Vaught said as he put his bag in a overhead compartment bin.
She
briefly looked at him again with a confused look not being able to place his
strange accent. However she did not want to appear rude so she simply smiled at
him.
“Hopefully,
this time neither of us will end up in the hospital, sir. I'm so sorry about
your arm,” she said looking at his arm as Vaught sat down next to her.
"I'm
sorry about your ankle," said Vaught. "Is it really bad? I see you've
got an elastic bandage on it already."
"No,
Not really," she said as she went into her bag and took out some
antiseptic spray and a bandage. I'm always running into things."
"What's
that for?" Vaught said.
"You......C'mon…let me see your arm,"
Vaught looked at her strangely as she gestured at him to let her see his arm.
“It’s
all right…really… I do this all the time!” she said cheerfully. "This will
sting at first but it should cool the burn."
“No
kidding?” Vaught said as she sprayed his arm, which stung at first but had a
cooling effect.
“No
kidding. This is a pretty bad wound. Give it some time to heal; you should be
OK soon, though.”
“Well,
I am in your debt, Doctor.” Vaught said with a smile. He noticed a silver ring
on one of her fingers as she worked; it had a white stone marked with a red
arrow emblem of some kind. He wondered what its significance was.
“I'm
an RN, actually,” she said as she put her equipment back in her bag. "I'm
Lieutenant Forrester. Sorry you caught me in such a bad light; I was on a brief
leave in Florida with some friends. Too bad my chubby friend Eager ran off to
that Burger King. He would have had something to say to those enlisted men."
Vaught
smiled, “I'm Lieutenant Colonel Corsair.…EDF Space Marines "You took good
care of them yourself, Lieutenant."
"Thanks
Colonel."
"Well
since were going to be stuck together in this sardine can for a little while
why don't you just call me Vaught?"
"Vaught
Corsair?" Nova asked.
"Yes."
Vaught said.
"I dont know
what is stranger his name or the way he talks."
Nova thought. "Only if you call me Nova."
"Nova…uh…You
said you were on leave?"
"Yes.
I'm an EDF Medical and Life Sciences, with a secondary MOS in Survey and
Analysis. Very pleased to meet you, sir.” She looked
briefly at the campaign ribbons in red, blue, and gold above one of his
pockets. "It looks like you've seen quite some a bit of action. Maybe you
and my boyfriend have something in common?"
"Derek
Wildstar?" Vaught asked.
"Yes;
he's in space right now on a one-year patrol; he'll be back tomorrow! She then
looked out the window and said, “ I’ve forgotten how
much I really have missed him!"
"What
does he do?" Vaught asked.
"He
commands a Space Battleship…..The Argo."
Vaught
had to think for a minute.
“Star
Force,” Vaught said.
Nova
looked at him again surprised that he seemed not too familiar with the Star
Force or the Argo.
"Well…
I apologize for gaping at you in the terminal. I almost mistook you for my
daughter; you’re both about the same age," said Vaught with a smile. I'm old enough to be your father; your
boyfriend coudn’t be your own age if he commanded a Starship., he
thought.
“Don't
worry, that happens quite a lot,” Nova said. “I was once mistaken for someone’s
sister not too long ago.”
In
Vaught’s mind appeared the image of the woman of whom Nova was thinking about.
She was a young woman in a purple gown, with hair very close to the same color,
although it was longer. It hit Vaught that if this Nova grew her hair down her back and put on the same gown, she would look
just like the image in his mind. Vaught shook his head. Then, he looked at her
again. Surprisingly, even through his heavily tinted glasses Nova could see
that his eyes went wide.
“Astra. You look just like Astra.” Vaught muttered quietly.
Nova
heard the remark. She thought, How would he know
that? He wasn't on the journey to Iscandar with us! This is starting to weird
me out!
Vaught
shook his head; he seemed to be in pain.
“Are
you really all right?” Nova asked. Vaught nodded, then
smiled.
“I'm
fine. Just your antiseptic. You’re right… it does
sting after a little while.”
"Yeah…like my ankle," she said with
a rueful grin "Good thing I didn't break my leg falling like that!
Recently I seem to always be stumbling into things. Even though my dad is like
a marshmallow, he says I remind him of a gawky colt at times. Maybe he's got a
point. Are you sure you're all right?"
"Just
thinking," said Vaught. Then, the plane started and began to taxi to the
end of the runway. Vaught closed his eyes and cleared his mind as an image
started to form in his mind.
Vaught
opened his eyes and found the aircraft had just taken off as he turned towards
Nova, who smiled gently as she looked up from a paperback.
“Bad
dream?” She asked.
"You're
still agitated." Vaught said. He lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes
with his eyes closed. Then, he placed the glasses back on quickly so as not to
reveal his eyes.
"How
would you know that?" Nova asked.
“A
tremor in the Force…” Vaught muttered.
Nova’s
jaw just dropped.
“The Force?” Nova had to force out the words.
"What
are you talking about?"
"Are
you sure you’re all right?" Vaught asked.
Nova
put the Book down on her knee and looked out the window.
"No,"
she said.
"Something
about those Marines back in the Terminal spooked you?" Vaught said.
"How
would you know?" Nova said.
"As
I said…I have a Daughter your age." Vaught said Reclining back into his
seat. "And she would do the exact same thing you did....they only thing
is; it's in her character it's not in yours.....you're fighting to be someone you're
not."
"Said
the man that knows me for 15 minutes," Nova said.
Vaught
smiled.
"15 minutes or 15 years." Vaught said
"You made a friend today.....and it doesn't cost you a thing." Vaught said as he looked past Nova and out
the window. as he did another image flooded his
mind...it had to be her thoughts. Almost as if it were
an out of body experience.
"A true man endures the
pain of today for the sake of tomorrow." Vaught whispered.
Nova turned slowly to him her Jaw dropped.
"What.....did......you.....just.......say?" Nova
said almost with fear.
Vaught shook his head again.
"I see Just a reflection....Nova." Vaught said
"Just a reflection."
End Chapter Five
Next
Chapter: "Secrets"
To
Return to the Introduction to Starfighter: The Iconoclasts, click here