THE MIDNIGHT HOUR

A Star Blazers short tale

By Frederick P. "Freddo" Kopetz

Thanks to Gail Kopetz, Jamie Tucker, "Yuki Wildstar", and “Anonymous Reader” for support and ear-bending

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ACT THREE: FOUR MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

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I. A BATTERED VESSEL

The Vicinity of Sirius

Earth Space Battleship Arizona

May 27, 2214

0512 Hours: Earthtime

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“How’s the damage, Commander?” Commodore Mark Venture said as he slumped in his bridge chair aboard the battered space battleship Arizona.

The Arizona had been attacked first, almost two days ago, near Sirius, with the rest of Task Force 16, which had been the first major Earth presence out here to meet the Bolars and R’Khells after Sirius Base had sent an SOS stating it was almost destroyed.

After two days’ worth of relentless attacks, Task Force 16 was now down to three ships; the Arizona herself, the Earth Destroyer VanRiper, and the Earth Patrol Cruiser Rupal. These three battered ships were the sole survivors of what had once been a Task Force of twenty-five Earth ships.

Commodore Venture felt like the biggest failure in the universe as he sat on his burning ship and thought, I lost us the space battleships Pleiades, Arkansas, Provence, and Kashima, along with most of the cruisers, when they jumped our firing line right after a heavy gun fight with a Bolar force, and right after we took out fifty R’Khell space battleships with that same firing line of wave-motion guns. We lost our ability to transmit in that attack and still didn’t get it back. I’m useless…utterly useless….they’ll probably court-martial me after I get back….

“As to damage…could you be more a bit more specific, sir?” said Commander Satoki Nomura, his vessel’s current Mechanical Group Leader and First Officer.

“When are we gonna be able to communicate with the rest of the task force again?” Venture snapped. “Admiral Wildstar probably doesn’t know if we’re still alive or not after those R’Khells and Bolars jumped us…if he’s even reached the battle area yet…”

“The Rupal is sending us a signal with lights, sir,” said a young woman at the tactical radar named Ensign Falen Ligur, who was a blonde half-Terran/half Pellian from New Pellias who had joined the EDF about two years ago after some years with the Pellian forces. She got up and used her macrobinoculars to read the coded blinking message from the Rupal’s yardarm. “CONTACT MADE TWENTY MINS AGO W SBB ARGO. SHE IS AT THE ARCTURUS REGION DAMAGED-SIGNAL RELAYED CARRIER SHANGRI-LA. ORDERED TO HOLD LINE AT SIRIUS UNTIL REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE FROM TERRA IN ELEVN HOURS. MSG ENDS. ADM WILDSTAR. PS-HM THE HIGH QUEEN PELLIAS SENDS LOVE & REGARDS BEST WISHES. STOP.”

“So…Derek and…Her Majesty are looking out for us?” sighed Venture.

“One could say that, sir,” said Ligur. “How would Her Majesty know about this? Very few have even seen her, they say. She’s a recluse and very mysterious. Yet Queen Astrena speaks of her with great admiration.”

“Oh, she’s just like Queen Starsha…she seems to know everything and has her eyes and agents everywhere, they say,” said Mark, who thought, Yeah, like eyes right inside Derek’s head thanks to that bond…like the one I seem to have with Trelaina…who always seems to know everything about us…So…never thought I’d do this before…if you can somehow pick this thought up, Nova, could you get Earth to send some people out here, like…pronto? Mark thought almost sarcastically.

To Venture’s shock, he seemed to hear Nova’s voice in his head, replying, Mark, stop being sarcastic. I can’t be everywhere at once, and I’m sort of stuck in the mud, right now….

“How did you do that, or am I hearing things?” Mark whispered in a low voice.

“Sir?” said Ligur.

“Nothing, Ensign. Carry on,” said Venture.

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“You’re not hearing things,” Nova Wildstar muttered to herself as he tried to move in the mud on Guam in the early morning light at the same time that she had picked up Venture’s thoughts. “Darn mud,” she muttered, trying to pull her sandaled foot out of the mud again, then just letting the mud have her plastic sandal and just proceeding barefoot in the mud towards her destination, a pair of bodies moaning on tatami mats not far from the wreck of the forward part of the North Carolina, which smelled horrible as the smoke-eaters in armor sprayed the guts of the ruined space battleship with foam while medics and Marines dug through the wreck for survivors, who were rescued, and corpses, which were recovered.

Nova was just one of a large number of doctors and medics working around the warship to provide emergency care in what was quickly becoming an improvised MASH unit forming on and around the tropical beach near the wreck. Nova bent over her patient, who was a woman in a tattered EDF uniform who promptly slapped her in the face as she screamed while a medic looked at what remained of Lieutenant Commander Michelle Watling’s left leg.

“Why do you have such a tight tourniquet around that leg?” Nova demanded.

“Ma’am, because it’s obviously going to be coming off. Half of the ankle is too mangled to fix and we have open bone showing there…”

 “There’s ways to fix that if you keep it sterile, Sergeant,” Nova snapped back as her dog tags slipped out of her sweaty, slightly blood-stained green scrub dress (the third she had changed into this morning), over which she wore latex exam gloves and her Astro-Automatic.

“Why don’t you just bloody take it off, Bones?” snapped Watling sarcastically. “Oh, yes. I know who you are, Nova bloody Wildstar. Pardon me if I don’t ask for your bloody autograph right now since you’ve never known pain like this in your life, ma’am.”

“I’ve had kids. Try me on the pain department,” Nova rejoined. “And I’ve collected more Purple Hearts than you have freckles, luv. Buck up.”

“Why? Are you outta your mind? And why are you wearing that sidearm? For show?”

“No, dear. The sidearm saw some use today because a R’Khell sub landed near here and I had to kill a few of them while working on patients. A little chaotic, wouldn’t you say? Also, I’m betting you a week’s salary you’re going to be up and around on that leg again in twenty-four hours on a new ship on your way back out there to pay those Bolars back,” Nova said with a grim smile on her dirty face. “Not that it’s going to be pleasant. Setting those bones and grafting that mess is going to be painful, but I know ways of putting those muscles back together that’d make your head spin.”

“Let’s make that two weeks’ salary. Ma’am. You pay me if I get a bionic leg or an amputation, and I pay you if I have a usable leg,” said Watling.

“That’s a deal,” Nova said. She yawned and said, “Get her to Medic Tent Three, Sergeant, you and your laughing boys there. We’ll talk before I put you under,” Nova said lightly.

“I can’t believe it! I’m gonna be operated on by a blonde!” yelled Watling.

“A honey blonde with brown streaks,” Nova rejoined. “And people who earn Nobel Prizes for cell-regeneration methods are not exactly airheads, dear.”

“Are you gonna give me some of that fake “spring water” first?” said Watling.

“No, not unless you’re tough enough to take two hundred proof,” said Nova as she tapped Watling’s nose. “See you soon.”

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Twenty minutes later, Nova had Watling under, and after she stripped off her dirty scrub dress and panties, she found a fresh set that she pulled on after a quick shower. She stepped into a new set of flip-flops, put the requisite paper booties on over her bare feet, and pulled on gloves, a paper mask, and put her hair up in an OR cap as a nurse put her glasses on her.

Nova then got to work, carefully setting the bones, and partially using her bone welder to repair the damage, and partly using her abilities, working very fast, almost in a blur.

Then, while she had her nurse get an allograft of some of Watling’s muscle tissue she had put on to grow a culture, Nova then began to rebuild the muscular and vascular structure of Watling’s leg, partly using instruments, partly her abilities. Nova was soon tired, and her scrub dress was soaked with sweat, since using psychic energy to rebuild a leg was akin to tapping her own psychic batteries of a little of her own life-force to give it to someone else.

After the most crucial of the work had been done with her abilities, Nova used some allografts of Watling’s skin to culture and rebuild the skin of her ankle and calf. Two hours after starting the procedure, she and a nurse were bandaging the result of Watling’s repaired leg when Doctor Knapp came over, looked at her work, and nodded approvingly.

“Nurse Tinley, Doctor Wildstar, good work,” he said. “Nurse, finish up with this patient. I need to talk to Doctor Wildstar alone.”

“Yessir,” said Tinley while Knapp grabbed Nova’s shoulder and shunted her aside.

He smiled, when they got into a corner and asked her, “Did you use regular surgery or…”cheat” on this patient, Doctor?”

“About seventy-thirty, sir,” said Nova as she coughed. “I had to rebuild the underlying structure quickly, since I have a feeling she’s gonna have to be up and around again in twenty four hours. We’re seeing combat; I’ve seen combat.”

“How many of those raiders did you get?” asked Knapp.

“Three,” said Nova. “I had to…cheat…as you put it..on a fourth. He was R’jkharraz and attacking me. Broke his neck nice and quick and neat. He didn’t suffer much,” Nova said quietly.

“And you’ve done how many surgeries today?”

“This was the third, sir.”

“Not bad. But be careful on the “cheating”…because you could hurt yourself if you depend upon that too much and cause people to…ask questions. But, as far as I’m concerned, the Boards you just sat were a formality. I’m recommending you for immediate graduation from Residency and Board Certification…Ship’s Surgeon Wildstar. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, sir,” Nova said with a yawn, as she suddenly realized that her formal medical training as a Ship’s Surgeon had finally ended as of now. “Where’s my next case?”

“Not here. You have orders to fly Medical Boat 21107 back to Central Hospital with the latest load of patients we are evacuating, and then to see Commanding General Singleton at 1300 Hours later on today for reassignment. I’m sure you have a nice lab coat and shoes back at the hospital?”

“Yessir, in my office,” Nova said.

“Wear them. Scuttlebutt says you’re getting a plum assignment of some kind. I have no idea what it is…”

“I’ll find out,” Nova said tiredly.

“That’s the spirit,” said Knapp. “Goodbye, Doctor. You made a great Resident, and you’ll make an even greater Ship’s Surgeon.”

“I’m sure,” said Nova. She saluted Knapp and left.

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Nova sat in the pilot’s seat of Boat 21107 as Watling and some other patients were secured in the back. It was now 0800 Hours. She still had on only her scrub dress and sandals with a helmet, but the flight back to Great Island in Japan would be a fairly quick hop.

A pilot named Ensign Parker Halliworth sat next to her and said, “Ma’am, I’m your co-pilot.”

“That’s good,” Nova said with a yawn. “It’s been a long morning. Did you see action when those R’Khells showed up?”

“I did; got two of ‘em. You, ma’am?”

“I got a few of them myself,” Nova said as she patted her Astro-Automatic. “Utter chaos around here.” She then went quiet, looking back towards the patient bay in the boat, in which, almost seven years ago now, she had given birth to her first two children, who were pushing seven now. Nova thought, I gave birth to Alex and Ariel here, to Anya and Steve in Boulder, Colorado, and to Teresa on New Pellias when I was just an intern there for a time, with rotations on Earth, Mars, Iscandar, Gamilon, and New Pellias, and a rotation on Ralkhandar when I was a Resident. All those planets and their different mores, cultures, and ways of treating people….I’ve doctored Gamilons, Terrans, Pellians, Bolars, Rikashans, Iscandarians, Ralkhens, Spectrans, even a few surviving Beemirans the new Hive forming after we found a new embryonic Queen buried on Beemira and cultured her to preserve the Race, and stray Technomugar whose psychic bonds to Ekogaru were broken. And…I’ve had and raised five kids in seven years…maybe I can leave off for a while…maybe Derek and I can have another when we’re a bit older and more settled on Earth….if these wars ever stop, she sighed to herself.

The Boat took off with Nova’s hands on the controls.

About an hour later, the boat was beginning to approach Great Island when Halliworth spotted something on the radar. “Large object, just behind us,” he said.

“Patch the input over here,” Nova said. She studied her readout and said, “It’s big, whatever it is…”

“It’s a Lexington-class carrier,” said Halliworth.

“I’m getting a signal from it,” Nova said. “Hello? This is Medical Boat 21107…Commander Nova Wildstar in command, bringing wounded to Central Hospital…over…”

“Medical Boat. This is the carrier Shangri-La,” said a familiar voice. “Commander Deke Wakefield, Acting Captain, speaking.”

“Deke, this is a surprise…” Nova said.

“Thanks, Nova, but this is not a social call. We took heavy damage from several Bolar battleships after we warped away from a battle the Argo was involved in. The Argo’s damaged but holding on…we lost Captain Luther and most of the bridge crew, and I had to take command as the senior officer for the time being. I just managed to warp us back to Earth. We need a dockyard, crew, pilots, men, women, and the ability to go out there and kick their butts to next week! We also need you to have some Medevac boats meet us. Our comm unit is damaged and I can just barely make enough gain to pick you up”

“I’ll take care of the Medevac Boats and get your message relayed to the Commander. How much of your task force is left?”

“Precious little. What about what’s left of the North Carolina?”

“Crashed near Guam; I’m bringing in survivors now,” said Nova. “Not that many are left. Only the forward part of the ship from the bridge tower forward landed on Earth. What happened to the back half?”

“Sucked into a temporary black hole,” said Deke.

“My God,” said Nova.

“You should have been there to see it. It was a damn bloodbath,” said Wakefield.

“I can guess. Is Derek all right?” Nova asked.

“He was the last time I talked to him two hours ago,” said Deke. “Sasha’s okay, too.”

“Thank God for small favors,” Nova said. “I’ll undoubtedly see you later…somewhere,” she said.

“Thanks,” said Deke.

Nova put down the mike and began to change frequencies while flying, and then she said, “Defense Headquarters, this is Medevac Boat 21107; Commander Wildstar speaking; you no doubt have the carrier Shangri-La on your scopes; she’s badly damaged, I’m declaring a Class One Landing Emergency Event; I need a vector and dock cleared for this ship and firefighters and rescue personnel on standby; she has barely any communications and is coming in on something of a controlled crash along RXP-22 at nineteen space knots; over!”

“This is the duty officer; this had better not be a joke, Commander,” said a rough voice on the other end.

“It’s no joke, Mister Peale!” Nova snapped back. “Get off your tail and start making calls; OVER!”

“I’m vectoring her in, ma’am, over!” snapped Peale. “And what are you doing?”

“Bringing wounded into Central Hospital.”

“The Commander wants to see you at 1300,” said Peale. “But I’m busy with all your requests now, over.”

“Nice job. I’ll buy you a beer, over,” said Nova.

“Make that a big mug of ale, over,” said Peale.

“You got it,” Nova said with a smile.

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II. ARRIVALS, REUNIONS, AND REASSIGNMENTS

Planet Earth

Central Hospital

May 27, 2214

0930 Hours: Earthtime

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It was 0930 Hours when Nova was back in the Megalopolis, assisting herself as people were pushed off the Medical Boat on gurneys into Central Hospital.

Nova, free for the moment, left the group behind and took a lift down to her office.

In her office, she stripped off her dirty clothes and stepped into a small shower stall.

She began to wash up, sighing as the hot water worked out tension and pain from her slender form from head to toe.

I hope you’re okay, Derek, Nova thought as she concentrated on her bond with her beloved, sensing his presence out from afar on the Argo out near Arcturus.

I am, Nova, he sent back tiredly.

Don’t tell me you’re in the shower, too, Nova sent.

You too? Derek sent back.

I was on Guam. I’m muddy, filthy, dirty, and grumpy, Nova sent.

Sounds like four of the Seven Dwarves, Derek sent.

Very funny, Nova sent back. She let the water wash some suds off her toes as a devilish idea hit her. Do you want company?

Well, I have two hours off unless we get attacked again, Derek responded. Wait…company? How? And when?

With my powers, silly, Nova said as she smiled to herself and turned off her shower. And…when…?

Nova shut her eyes and concentrated hard on Derek’s presence.

A moment later, she appeared in the shower with her startled husband.

“When? How about now?” Nova said with a wink.

“It’s really you?” Derek said, shocked.

“You know I can do this, Derek,” Nova said. “Like me to wash your back?”

Derek took his wife in his arms and began to kiss her, quite hard.

Nova responded with a hug of her own as she began to play footsie with her husband in the shower.

They sighed, and laughed.

Soon, the idea of a shower was quickly forgotten…

….forgotten, that is, because the young couple got the idea to do something they hadn’t done for about two weeks…

…and it was wonderful.

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ABOUT FORTY MINUTES LATER….

“Catch this! You look cold!”

“Thanks,” Nova said as she caught one of Derek’s spare shirts upon emerging from his shower on the Argo and wrapping it around herself.

“Has the battle gotten to Earth yet?” Derek said as he pulled on his pants.

“It certainly has,” Nova said. “A R’Khell sub showed up near Guam and landed some raiders who attacked us while we were cleaning up damage and pulling survivors off the wreck of the North Carolina which did a warp and crashed on Guam. Well, half of her, anyway.”

“They were attacking doctors, medics, and nurses?” Derek said in shock. He thought, I thought you’d be safe back home.

“No place is safe these days during a war,” Nova said sadly as she closed her shirt, and dug in her empty lockers until she found a pair of flip-flops she kicked on as slippers. “They were attacking wounded, too. I was working with an Astro-Automatic on, and I had to kill four of them myself. They found the enemy dimension sub, by the way. It crashed near Guam. Complete suicide mission. I have no idea what possessed them like that, and neither does the Matrix.”

“Did Captain Allen survive the crash?” Derek asked.

Nova shook her head. “I went up on the bridge of what was left of the North Carolina and pronounced him dead. He was pretty messed up.”

“I sense something of HIM about this,” Derek said. “Does it seem like that to you, too?”

Nova nodded. “Yes, sadly. And he’s got some new tricks up his sleeve. He’ll hit Earth next unless we can stop him out here,” she said.

“Have you let Queen Astrena or Starsha know?”

Nova nodded. “Yes. But they’re under attack, too. This is really a mess,” Nova sighed.

Nova stood and kissed Derek. “I have to go now. Sorry…I can’t take these clothes with me; people might wonder where I got them,” she said. “I have fresh things to put on back in my office in Central Hospital.”

“When are we going to meet again?” Derek said as he hugged Nova.

“Maybe much sooner than you think. I have a funny feeling about this,” Nova said as she kissed Derek….

…then, she vanished with a flash, leaving Derek holding an empty shirt with her warmth and scent on it, and leaving her empty sandals on the deck.

“You take care,” Derek said to the air.

I will, Nova thought back to him through their bond. You take care, too.

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TO BE CONTINUED…