Onward with Love
By Yuki Wildstar
A Star Blazers Fan Fiction work
All the thanks to Fred and Gail Kopetz for inspiring
me to write.
Thanks a lot Freddo, for
your input and detailing. You ROCK! My story was good, but with collaboration you
made it great! I grew up watching Star Blazers way back in the late 70’s and
fell in love with Derek and Nova. This story continues after Final Yamato
and after they marry. In this part of my tale Derek and Nova’s love will be
tested time and time again. With new characters and old they will have to once
again fight The Bolar Federation in the midst of working through their personal
lives. I hope that you enjoy this and the twists that come up….
PROLOGUE:
Nightmares
The
Derek
Wildstar and Nova Forrester-Wildstar’s Residence
December
1, 2205
0536
Hours
“TALK! Damn you! TALK!” screamed a
harsh voice in Nova’s ears.
Where
am I? Nova thought, very, very confused. This place is cold. So cold!
The harsh voice came again. The room was
dark, but Nova thought she could see a glimpse of pale, cold, ice-blue skin as
her tormentor slapped her across the face.
Nova fell to a cement floor, crying as
she hit the floor. She had on a blue EDF uniform, but it was shredded. The
knees and elbows were torn out, and her knees hit the hard cement and began to
bleed when her tormentor shoved her down. The floor was very cold; and she had
on no gloves or boots.
“WHERE IS CAPTAIN WILDSTAR?” yelled her
tormentor, right in her face.
“I’ll never tell you,” Nova said. “I’ll
die before I tell you….I’ve told you that before…”
“SHUT UP!” yelled her tormentor. In the
darkness of the room, Nova could not see his face cleaning, but he screamed
close enough to her cheek for her to tell he had a beard. I do not know many people with beards; well, people who are still
alive, anyway, unlike Pat Orion and Captain Avatar, Nova thought slowly;
her usually keen mind seemed disjointed…confused, and Nova’s stomach hurt. She
recognized the feeling at once…hunger pangs. The sort one gets when one has not
eaten for several days. Nova had never felt hunger like this since she had been
a little girl living in one of the transitional bomb shelters she had lived in
with her parents after the planet bombs had destroyed their house but before
the underground cities were finished.
Nova was jolted back to reality by the
harsh voice. “You think I bloody care whether you are comfortable or not,
Earther pig?”
“Sub-Lieutenant Alfon never treated me
like you did!” Nova gasped.
“I’m not him, little girl,” hissed the
voice. Nova was slapped across the face again, once, twice, hard. It left her
upper lip cut and bleeding.
“WHERE IS WILDSTAR?” yelled the voice.
Nova bowed her head and went silent.
Not that it was easy to talk anyway with a fat lip.
Then, the horrible voice said, “Men,
strip her down! Get me the Persuader!”
Nova’s legs were shaky, but she fought
a little as two strong guards grabbed her and pulled off her ragged EDF shirt
and opened and pulled down her ragged EDF pants. They cast them aside, leaving
Nova naked in the cold room. Nova had forgotten when she had last had
underclothes, socks, or boots.
The men dragged her by the wrists to a
part of the room where there were two manacles dangling from chains. They
lifted Nova up like a doll and put her wrists in the manacles. She hung there
shivering like a side of beef as tears of humiliation and pain ran down her
face.
“TALK!” yelled her tormentor. Nova knew
what was coming next; the old wounds on her back burned horribly. “Where is the
Endeavor and where is your
slime-ridden husband?”
“I won’t tell you,” Nova gasped. “You
can go on with that thing until you kill me; I won’t give him up!”
“Let’s see if this will CHANGE YOUR
MIND!” roared Nova’s enemy in the dark.
Nova tensed as the bullwhip whistled
through the air, and she screamed as it hit her bare back.
She shivered in pain as the whip came
again, slapping hard into a different part of her back.
The whip came again, its tip licking
hard into her side as Nova thought she felt a rib cracking beneath her dirty
skin. They had not let her bathe in days.
Nova breathed hard, gasping in pain
with each breath as the whip came again. It hit her buttocks this time, cutting
into them hard enough to leave a painful welt.
The tormentor went at her again, taking
cruel advantage of her nudity to hit her upper thighs, and then, as he cracked
the whip against the floor, the soles of her bare feet.
Then, there were two more strikes
against Nova’s back, opening fresh wounds that were painful and hot with her
fresh, warm blood.
Then, a whip strike hit the back of her
head, making her ears ring and her head spin.
Then, the enemy tormentor came again.
“What makes you so accursed almighty and great, you little dishrag of a dog?”
“Go to hell,” Nova muttered.
“What was that?” hissed her tormentor
in her ear.
Through her tears, through her pain,
Nova managed to turn her head and spit on her tormentor. “GO TO HELL! Or are
you deaf?”
“Whore!” yelled the alien, slapping her
across the face.
“GO TO HELL!” Nova screamed as loud as
she could manage…
“gotohell,gotohell,gotohell,goootohell,gotohell…”
Nova gasped as she thrashed in her bed, nude, but tangled up in the blankets as
an equally bare Derek held her and tried to calm her. She was punching at him,
not aware of where she was, as her mind broke out of her tormented nightmarish
sleep.
Derek’s old-fashioned Naval clock
chimed 0545 softly in the bedroom as Nova opened her eyes and realized where
she was. Derek stroked the back of her head but then stood back as she slapped
at him. He just let her cry it out as he turned up the lights in their room, to
help her realize where she was.
Then, he came back to her and held her.
“It’s all right,” he said as he stroked her hair and soothed her. “Nova, it’s me. It’s all right.”
“Derek…” she said softly.
“The same dream again?” he asked
tenderly.
“No, now it’s worse,” Nova said as she
threw back the covers and rubbed her own back. “Now that Bolar creep whose face
I can never see in the nightmares was using a whip on me. On my back. Before,
they were laughing at me when I tried to sleep in that cell. They’re getting
worse.”
“Nova, where you on
“No, some horrible cold Bolar prison on
some base. The whole planet was cold and icy, like Berth when we were there
maybe two years ago. I was never warm there. Once, they made me run in the snow
with just a shirt on, no pants, no boots. Nothing below the waist. They thought
it was funny. Another time, they made me chop wood with a heavy axe I could
barely lift, and…”
Nova went to the window and recoiled
when she saw it was snowing out. “Derek, are we there?”
“No, it’s our backyard,” he said
tenderly. “You can watch the snow from in here. It’s totally safe.”
“How many months have we been home
again?”
“September, October, November,
December, ” said Derek. “Maybe four months…I’m doing that TDY at the Academy,
you know. Have to get ready for work soon. So do you.”
“I wish we had the day off so we could
just put the Christmas tree up,” Nova said as she yawned. “Almost six. Might as
well get up now…”
Nova threw on a kimono and got up. “The
rugs are warm,” she said as she flexed her toes in the carpet.
“The baseboard heaters make it warm.
Nova, if those dreams are that bad, Doctor Sane won’t mind if you call in sick
for once,” Derek said. “Just stay in that robe and make some tea.”
Nova shook her head. “Work’ll help me today,
Derek. Really. Even if I won’t see you again until 2100 tonight…”
“Yeah,” Derek said. “They were talking
about a debriefing again today. For all of us.”
“Again?” Nova said. “Oh, God, when are they going to stop?”
“When they figure out why the Bolars
are back,” Derek said.
Nova shook her head. “Thought so…well,
let’s get our showers taken care of…who first?”
“I was thinking about sharing the water
with someone I love,” Derek said as he kissed his wife on the forehead.
“Not Julie Tolbert, I hope,” Nova said
with a wink.
“Nova, have you lost it?” he said as he
picked her up and she giggled. “She’s not getting past the door of this house!”
“Good,” Nova said as she let Derek
carry her away….
Chapter One: New Trials…
I.
TRIALS AND TESTS
EDF
Airbase Delta
February
2, 2205
0730
Hours
It was now five months since they had
returned from their mission to
Derek decided to start work early that
day, since he wanted to get some more flying time in his Superstar fighter. He
went through the training course and hit all the targets. Yeah…I still have
it! he thought to himself. Suddenly he heard his alarms going off. What
the f.......what is that? Derek thought.
He turned his head to check out who or what was targeting him. Then, he smiled
at whom he saw. It was Lieutenant Pesci buzzing him.
“Mister Pesci, what are you doing
here?” Wildstar said into his helmet mike.
“Sir, I thought you could use some real
action! Those targets are standing still! How are you gonna get any better, old
man, with targets that don’t move?” Pesci teased with his
“Who the hell are you calling old man?
Bring it on! Let’s see what you’ve got…little
boy,” Wildstar replied with a laugh. He liked mock dogfighting on
low-powered lasers for practice. He had been up with Nova the other day, and
even though he had beaten her at last, she had given him a pretty good little
mock battle.
“Okay sir, you asked for it!” At that,
Pesci took off in mach speed doing various turns and flips. He was trying to
get Wildstar in his scopes, and succeeding at times. “Come on, sir, you can do
better than that!” Pesci laughed.
Damn, this kid is good…almost too good,
Wildstar said to himself as he turned on his mini Ipod to
hear some Aerosmith. He flipped to the song Living
on the Edge because it helped him concentrate better. Damnit, I’ve gotta
get control here, can’t have this kid outdo me in the air, Derek thought in frustration at his own
skills. I mean, I let Nova get on my six twice the other day! But I’m not
letting this kid do crap to me! But he’s doing it!
Wildstar started behind Pesci at his
top speed, twisting and diving while trying to get a scope on him and tag him,
and then fire some low-powered lasers at him to make him wake up a bit. They
twisted and dodged each other in the sky while going through canyons and past
mountains at top speed. It was a race to see who the better pilot was. It was
the old school against the new school. Pesci took a turn into the base of the
canyon that Wildstar knew all too well and that’s when he finally got the upper
hand. Gotcha! Wildstar told himself. With one quick turn down the canyon
wall, Wildstar was on top of him. He pushed his button and tagged Pesci, firing
a few low-power lasers around his cockpit for effect. “You’re out, kiddo! You
are going down in flames, my friend! Now tell your friends how this old man
tagged you, huh?”
“Oh, bugger it,” said Pesci. Through
his canopy, he saluted the Captain and they both headed back to the air
station. Wildstar touched down on the runway first. Pesci touched down next.
They both met at the hangar, Pesci jumped out of his Cosmo Tiger II while
Wildstar waited for him next to his Super Star. “Hey! Good job, Pesci! For a
minute there I thought you almost had me,” Wildstar said while grinning that
the young kid didn’t beat him.
“Well sir I thought so too. But I’ll
make sure next time it won’t be that easy for you, sir,” Pesci replied,
embarrassed that the Captain beat him.
Wildstar and Pesci continued to talk
about dog fights they both had been in. They were still talking when a young
Corporal came over and approached Wildstar.
“Sir,” the corporal said with a salute.
“Your presence is needed at EDF headquarters in Commanding Admiral Singleton’s
office.”
Wildstar nodded and returned the
salute. “Tell the Admiral that I am on my way, thank you.”
“When did the Commander become an
Admiral?” said Pesci.
“The President recently changed around
the EDF command structure. Since most of our forces are naval forces,” Wildstar
explained, “it was decided to give Singleton back the old Naval rank he had
years ago. General Stone, as his chief of staff, technically has the command
over ground forces with General Perkins, another well-known jackass. Admiral Consodine is currently
the active commander of the Combined Fleet from his flagship, the Sagittarius.”
“Oh? Is that the ship that you have to
wipe your feet on the doormat every time you show up?” Pesci laughed.
“Yeah, the flying computer hotel,”
laughed Derek. “Listen, bud, I’ve gotta go. I’ll catch ya later.”
Pesci saluted Wildstar and the two men
bid each other a fond farewell.
II.
HOMECOMINGS
The
Wildstar Residence
February
2, 2205
1032
Hours
Derek got home around 1030 Hours.
“Nova?” he called.
The house was quiet. She told me she would have to pull an
all-night shift with Kojima calling in sick, he thought. They must still be working her like crazy at
that hospital.
Derek yawned a little and pulled off
his sweaty uniform shirt. He went into the kitchen and found a note on the
refrigerator under a little magnet that looked like the Yamato after he put on his house slippers at the door. He found
Nova’s wooden kitchen clogs kicked off under the table and abandoned. When
picking them up, he still felt a little of the warmth of Nova’s foot in one of
them on the smooth vinyl-covered insole of the Japanese exercise-sandal like
clog she liked to wear in the kitchen. The note was in a feminine hand and it
read:
Derek, Dearest!
I was home for a few
minutes only around 0940 and was getting ready to crash and longingly wait for you
to finish your flight practice, but the phone rang again. It is not bad enough
that Keiko called in sick and left me to do two operations with Doctor Sane and
Doctor Spada; now Vanessa has called in sick, too! I hope they get better soon
because this makes twelve hours on my poor tired feet. Oh, well, it’s like
being in battle again, I guess. And this too shall pass.
Anyway, I made a lunch
for you before I had to get dressed again and run out in the cold! Fresh
tempura shrimp and rice. All you have to do is warm it up in the microwave; exactly
120 seconds, NO MORE. PLEASE do not burn down the house, love! It will be
cold tonight and I don’t want to make love to you in a shelter, hotel room, or
even (uggh) Mom’s place! YOU KNOW HOW YOU AND MOMMA GET ALONG!
I think they might
spring me from this latest operation by 1600; then I can sit at my desk at the
nurse’s station and call you wherever the heck you end up today. I guarantee I
will be waiting for you tonight.
Love and kisses
NOVA
PS-please comb your
hair?
Derek smiled at that. She’s so cute. Okay, I am hungry again.
After carefully microwaving his lunch,
eating it, and cleaning up for Nova, He showered and changed into his official
Officer’s uniform. Then, Derek hopped into his air car and headed for EDF
Headquarters, arriving there at just before 1200. As Wildstar walked into the
building, he made chitchat with some of the officers that he went to school
with. He got into the elevator and got off the 30th floor where
Singleton’s office was. He approached his office and Singleton’s female Aide
stood up and told Wildstar to go straight in, the Admiral was waiting for him.
So, in he went.
“Sir, Captain Wildstar present as
ordered,” Wildstar said as he saluted.
“At ease Captain…have a seat.” Singleton
motioned to the seat in front of his desk. “How are you son, and how is
Lieutenant Commander Forrester?”
“She’s doing pretty good considering
what happened a few months ago near the end of our last cruise…, sir,” Wildstar
said, while thinking back on the horrible scene with Lieutenant Commander Lee.
“Good, good. Well, let’s get down to
business shall we? Captain Wildstar…we have been receiving word that one of our
colonies in Sector Eight has been under attack again. We are not sure who it
is, but my guess is that you might know already…”
“Yes sir, it could be the Bolar
Federation. Especially since Desslok has reasserted himself and he has been
gaining more of their space again. They’ve been moving towards our new space
colonies, hoping to gain control so that they may capture who they can to
enslave them and impress them into their forces like they want to impress all
of us, what with their crazy claim that we are allies of the Bolar Federation
and under their sphere of influence.”
“That claim went back to the crisis
with the Sun, right?” said Singleton as he steepled his hands.
“Yes, sir. They remind me of the old
Soviets and the ancient Warsaw Pact, followed by the 21st Century Russians.
They were the sort who said that once you were under Mother Russia’s influence,
you would never be free again. Part of what started the Wars of Unification, as
a matter of fact. That and the anger in the
“Well Captain, I know that you are
enjoying your time off, but your orders have come down. You are to report to
Space Dock Number 29 tomorrow morning at Yokosuka Station and take over the
command of the Endeavor one more
time. You are to make sure that she is fit for departure from
“Yes sir, I will. Oh. Sir?” Wildstar
said.
“Yes?”
“I requested a promotion for one of my
officers, sir. I asked to…well…have Lieutenant Commander Forrester serving as
my Deputy Captain. Were they able to do that?”
“No, sadly,” said Singleton. “It was
denied.”
“Denied?” said Singleton.
The Commander nodded. “Doctor Kitara of
the hospital spoke with General Perkins when we brought this up last week. With
a major personnel shortage at the hospital, they cannot spare Nova. We are very
sorry. She will be remaining behind on Earth for this cruise. What is more, a
new officer will probably be assigned to you as Deputy Captain. I am told by
Stone that she is a very good officer who had a few bumps along the road. Just
as you worked with Lee and had almost redeemed him before his breakdown, we
hope you can work with this bright young lady. She is having a little trouble
processing off her current command so we are not completely sure she can serve
with you or not. If she can serve with you, expect her to hand-carry her jacket
to you when she reports to you on board ship next week before you lift off. Any
more questions?”
“No, sir,” said Derek as his heart
dropped to his boots.
“Very well, good luck and Godspeed,”
Singleton said.
Wildstar stood up, saluted and turned
to leave. Oh boy, he thought. Now I’ve got to break all the bad news to
Nova, I hope this doesn’t turn into a waste of time. But knowing the Bolars I
wouldn’t put it past them. And what kind of crazy first officer are they
expecting me to work with? Another reject? I wanted Nova, she is one of the
best in the whole Fleet! What the heck is going on here?
Wildstar jumped into his air car and
headed home after attending appointments for a few more debriefings on their
last mission. The psychologists were asking him questions this time; they said
they wanted to know “The Bolar mindset!”
When they finally let Derek go, it was
close to 1630 Hours. His mind was racing on what he had to get together for the
mission. While stopped at a light, he opened the file with the list of names.
So far, he remembered some of the younger officers that were on the Endeavor with him on their last mission.
At least I don’t have to break in any new cadets, Derek thought. I see I’m lucky enough to
get the two Tonys again… they are excellent pilots. Like the Admiral said, I
don’t see any one here as Deputy Captain. I wonder why that is? I guess I’ll
meet him or her when we depart.
Derek
stopped at a store, knowing Nova needed a few things for the house. It took him
a while to find everything in the grocery store, but find it he did.
It was just past
1700 Hours when Derek got off the expressway and began making the turns that
would take him to his own neighborhood. He pulled up
to the house that he now shared with his wife, a house that was left for them
by Captain Avatar, and he walked in after observing Nova’s Mini Cooper aircar
back in the driveway again in front of his Mustang. Good, she’s home, he thought.
Even though it was 1700 and was now
dark, it was still early and he knew that Nova had been busy back at the
hospital. Several surgeries back to back; and when she got home she had she just stripped off her clothes and fell
asleep. Derek knew this because he was following a trail of Nova’s clothes into
the bedroom. Her fleece-lined winter white boots were by the door by their shoe
cabinet, and he put them neatly in place beside her other boots, sneakers,
clogs, pumps and sandals after he took off his own boots. Derek his peacoat and
found that Nova’s flight jacket was thrown on the floor near the couch, and
that the pink sweater she sometimes wore at the nurse’s station over her white
minidress was by the kitchen, and her white Medical minidress was thrown by the
bathroom door. There were no stockings; they were hard to get, and Nova usually
preferred to be bare-legged in a dress, and she seldom wore socks under her
shoes, except if it was very cold. Derek found Nova’s bra off by the bedroom
door, and her panties were abandoned nearby in a little sweaty ball of cloth.
Derek walked into their bedroom and saw her sleeping on her stomach with nothing
at all on; her only covering was a bed sheet that covered a portion of her nude
body. He sat on the chair that they had in a seating area and watch her sleep
for a few minutes. She is even beautiful asleep, he thought with a gentle smile.
He then got up and walked over to her
and started to caress her bare legs, giving her soft strokes. He moved his hand
to her face and passed his hand over her delicate features. Nova stirred with
half-sleepy eyes. Derek bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “Hey there,
sleepy face it’s time to get up. It’s six o’clock at night. ” Nova smiled at
him and turned to him. “Good morning or is it afternoon?”
“It's evening, my love. What time did
you get out of work? And you know you left your clothes in a little trail again?”
“Sorry, love. I don’t think very
clearly at times when I’m this tired. I think it was maybe 5PM when we
finished. I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow. I’m so bushed.” Nova looked at
Derek and knew something was up. “Okay, what’s up?”
“You read me all so well, it’s scary at
times.” Derek smiled at her.
“Well?”
“I got orders, I’m leaving in a week,”
Derek said with a fake grin.
“Oh, great! That soon? Well, I was
expecting this someday. What did we think that they would do? Pay us to sit
around? What’s the mission this time?” Nova asked.
“I have to go to Sector Eight and check
things out there. We’re thinking Bolars unfortunately.” Derek said.
“Did they pick me as Deputy Captain?”
Derek shook his head. “No. They want
you here at the hospital.”
“Oh Derek, I’m going to miss you!” Nova
said while hugging him hard. She knew was going to miss him, and she knew that
there were bound to be separations like this, but she knew it’s the life that
they chose together.
Derek held her close…he wanted to stay longer…like
months longer, but he knew that duty was calling. He finally realized that she
was still completely naked and started to kiss her.
“Oh you could be so bad, Captain. Are
we going to start saying our goodbyes right now?” Nova smiled at him.
“I think we should, who knows when we
will see each other after this week, right?” Derek said while playing with her
left breast.
“Well if you put it that way,
Captain….we need to squeeze in a lot of private time,” Nova giggled.
“Well we both don’t have to be back at
work until the morning, right?”
“I’m not due back at work until 0900
tomorrow morning, right,” Nova said.
“So, Nova, we have all day and all
night, so why don’t we start our goodbyes now?” Derek said while caressing her
naked body.
“I think that is a great idea,
Captain,” Nova smiled and started to kiss the man she had waited so long to
call her husband while opening his EDF uniform shirt…
II.
PREPARATIONS
Space
Battleship Endeavor
February
8, 2205
1600
Hours
Between preparations for departure,
Nova and Derek spent as much time together as they could. Of course she was
still at the hospital, and he continued to make sure all work was done on the Endeavor.
A day or so before departure, Derek sat
in the Captain’s quarters looking over things on his computer and making sure
that all papers were signed that needed to be signed. Tonight would be his last
night home, and he wanted to get home early enough for his date with Nova. They
were going to have their last night together for a while and she was planning
something special. Derek was finishing up his last computer check and then he
was getting ready to leave for home when there was a knock on his hatch. He
noticed that the sky outside looked very gloomy, dark and ominous in the fading
light, as if it was going to snow tonight. Wildstar called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s Lieutenant Commander Julie
Tolbert, sir! Permission to enter?”
Julie Tolbert?! Derek thought in anger and panic. Damnit, that can’t
be! I haven’t set eyes on her since months before we left for Iscandar! What
would she be here for? What does she want from me? Derek racked
his brain on the topic as he said, “Enter, Lieutenant Commander.”
“Sir
Lieutenant Commander Julie Tolbert…reporting for duty,” she said as she snapped
a brisk salute while holding a personnel jacket. Wildstar noticed that, just as
if the past, Tolbert had smeared on a heavy amount of lipstick, eye shadow,
mascara, and blush, even though her face did not need it. She had a few
freckles (which Derek had always thought were sort of cute) but Tolbert liked
to wear a lot of makeup to try and hide her freckles. Wildstar noticed that
today Tolbert had on a weird purple shade of lipstick that just looked…strange.
As usual, she was smirking.
“Excuse me?” Wildstar was confused even
more. “You’re not assigned to this ship!”
“I am. My orders, sir,” Tolbert handed
him her jacket and orders.
Wildstar took her jacket from her and
looked it over No! This can’t be. This is a nightmare! Derek thought. “Miss Tolbert?
You’re my new Deputy Captain?”
“Yes, Derek we’ll be working together
on this mission.” Tolbert announced.
“That’s Captain Wildstar and make sure
you don’t forget it, Miss Tolbert!" Wildstar ordered.
“Yes, sir.” Tolbert replied. “You don’t
look too happy to see me. I’ve heard stories about you. Don’t you like having a
woman as your Deputy Captain or something, sir?”
“It’s not that at all,” said Derek. “I
actually requested a specific woman as my Deputy Captain for this mission…”
“Who would the lucky girl have been?”
said Tolbert with a leering wink.
“None of your business,” said Wildstar
in an irritable fashion as he thought, I
wanted Nova, then I would have wanted Sandor, or Dash, or Eager, or Parker Lee,
or Mike Terrell, or Piper Caleford, or even Jun Asagara, one of about ten other
officers I know. But I got you. WHY? “Well, I wanted one lady, then id I
didn’t get her, I would have wanted maybe Miss Holly Parsons or Miss Jun
Asagara…”
Artwork: “Julie Tolbert” by Freddo.
“Asagara? You would have wanted that
skinny little dark-haired freak over me?” asked Tolbert.
“Not important now,” said Derek as the
faces of the red-headed Holly Parsons or the coal-black brunette Jun Asagara ran
through his mind, followed miserably by Nova’s smiling face. “Well, I wanted
certain people, but they sent me you, instead, so we just have to get along.”
“Should be lots of fun…we have a lot to
catch up on, Derek,” purred Julie as she sat down in a chair and kicked one of
her long legs. Derek tried to hide the look of revulsion on his face. When Nova
did that, with her more subtle body language, it was cute. Julie’s use of a
similar gesture almost made her look to Wildstar like some very disreputable woman.
“Lieutenant Commander, don’t you dare
think this is going to be some pleasure cruise, we have a mission! So
reminiscing about our past is not going to happen! Report here tomorrow at 0700
hrs and make sure that you are here on time. The Endeavor is scheduled to depart the docking bay at 0900 hrs. You’re
dismissed, Tolbert!”
“Yes, sir,” Tolbert responded.
I can’t believe this, not now... how
can they put her on this ship as my Deputy Captain? Why? Why the hell did I get
her out of all people in the Fleet? Why didn’t they give me Nova instead? I’d
trust Nova with my right arm in a battle, and it’s almost like she and he are
telepathic; just a glance, and she knows me well enough to know what I’m
thinking! And Nova knows exactly what my leadership style is and how I like a
ship run. Everyone respects her. Tolbert, I would not trust with my little
finger! And it’s too late for me to ask for someone else!. Derek
thought to himself. Oh. Nova I hope you’re going to be okay with this.
Please do not kill me…this is not my fault and it is not what I want!
Once Derek got home, he took a long
breath before he entered his house. Nova was just finishing up dinner for them.
The table was set for a night of romance. Derek walked over to where she was
standing. He noticed that she looked beautiful in a green lace dress with
straps that showed off her shoulders and with no shoes. She wore her hair down
the way Derek liked it. Her make-up just perfect, natural, not heavy and not
light. He could not help but compare Nova’s simple elegance to Tolbert’s
heavily-made up face. Nova was exquisite, and never looked like a tart like
Tolbert did, because she was a lady with grace and refinement. She smelled
wonderful with the scent of Imari. Bryan
Adams was playing in the back ground. The song was, (Everything I do) I do for you. “Hello my sweet, how was your day.”
Derek asked as he kissed her on her lips and then on her neck.
“Hold on Captain, that part comes after
dinner,” Nova smiled at him.
“Why have dinner…it’s just leads to the
bedroom, so let’s skip that part, hmm?” Derek said with a lopsided grin.
“Sir, you need your strength so let’s
sit down and eat!” Nova said pushing him out of the kitchen.
She finished putting dinner on the
table while Derek went to the room and changed into something more comfortable,
namely silk pajama bottoms and a black t-shirt that he knew Nova liked. When he
came out, she already had dinner set up. “Oh Derek, can you get the wine ? It’s
in the wine fridge down in the cellar. A dry red Chianti would be good. It’ll
go nicely with the prime ribs I made us. Thanks.”
Derek went and got the wine, while he
thought, Nova always picks out the best
wine, while if Julie were to pick out wine, well, she liked to drink a lot but
wouldn’t know a good wine if it hit her in the face. When he got back
upstairs, the lights were turned down low. It would be just the perfect night.
Derek thought, I need to tell her about Julie, but when? Will this ruin our
last night together? I know I never got into detail about her but I can’t go on
this mission without her knowing that she is there…and why?
“Let’s sit” Nova said.
Derek walked over to her and pulled her
chair out. While doing so, he kissed her on the neck and helped her push her
chair in. Then he went around to the other side to sit in his place. “So how
was your day Derek? Are you all set to go in the morning?” Derek’s heart
skipped a beat.
“Nova, there’s something I have to tell
you,” Derek said while feeling very uncomfortable.
Nova could sense something was wrong,
so she nodded, and just sat there and listened.
“Nova honey, remember when we talk
about some of our ex’s well…I ... I . I really don’t know how to tell you, so
I’ll just come out and say it. Julie Tolbert is my new Deputy Captain. The EDF
stuck me with her.” Derek blurted it out.
Nova thought back when they had a
conversation about her a long while back, right before their wedding day…
“I need to tell you something Nova,
before we get married. Before we left for Iscandar, before my brother Alex was
presumed killed, I was serious with someone. Almost serious enough to marry
her….
“What do you mean, Derek?” Nova asked
while stuffing some flowers into a vase in the apartment she would soon be
vacating after the wedding to move into their new house.
“Well Nova, we met at the Academy, we
were both very young and stupid. She and I became close and I thought I loved
her enough to almost ask her to marry me. I had suspected that she was with
someone else while she was with me. I couldn’t live like that and when I
confronted her, she called it off. She
just told me that things between us could not work out. Then I lost Alex to the
war. A week later I heard she was dating some officer who had already graduated
from the Academy. A real creep of a pilot. But then I found you, and you stood
by me even after I told you to leave me alone. You were the best thing that
ever happened to me. I guess Alex knew and he somehow sent you to me…”
“What was her name, Derek? So I can
thank her someday for sending you to me?”
“Does it matter?” Derek asked.
“No, it doesn’t matter but I would like
to know anyway. Remember, we promised…no secrets between us.”
“Her name was Julie Tolbert.”
Nova sat there in silence for a moment,
just staring at him. Then she finally spoke, Derek thought it took a long time
for her to say anything. “Derek, do you love me?”
“That’s silly! Of course, honey I love
you with all my heart and soul, I’d die for you!”
“Then don’t worry about it, Derek!” she
said with a nervous laugh. “As long as you love me you shouldn’t think of
anything else but the mission. Unless you still have feelings for J......”
“No Nova, I don’t! That was a long time
ago. Julie and I had a very bad breakup, and you remember how I reacted when
she called us that day, remember?” Derek assured his wife.
“Yes. You sounded like Typhoid Mary was
calling,” Nova teased. “With that being the case, there’s no other reason to discuss
this any further. So let’s not spoil this last evening together. The matter is
closed. Res judicata,” Nova said
Derek got up and walked over to his
wife. “I love you so much Nova Wildstar, and don’t you ever forget that!”
“I won’t Derek….I know you do love me,”
Nova hugged her husband and kissed him long and hard.
Gratefully dropping the subject of
Julie Tolbert, they talked about the mission that he was going on and the
expectation of the possible enemy forces that they would be looking at. Derek
ran some thoughts with Nova about some scenarios and she gave him some
reasonable answers. They finished dinner and cleaned up in the kitchen. Nova
washed, while Derek dried the dishes. “So what’s next?” Derek asked while
looking into Nova’s dark brown eyes.
“You finish up here and I’ll get
ready,” Nova purred.
“Get ready for what?”
“You’ll see,” Nova smiled. “I think you
might like this…”
Then, she vanished into the bedroom.
Ten minutes later, Nova called out to
Derek “You can come in now!”
Derek entered their room and looked
around. She had tossed rose petals all around the room. The lights were off but
there were candles lit up. Aerosmith was playing in the background; the song
was called I don’t want to miss a thing
Nova sat on the bed in the sexiest
see-through teddy that Derek had ever seen her in…with no underwear on beneath
it. Her body glistened in the candle lit room. Derek took all of it in. He
wanted to remember this moment for the whole time he was on board ship. He
walked over to her and took her hand that she extended in an almost shy
fashion; she was sending an invitation for him to come join her. He took her in
his arms and began kissing her up and down her neck. He slowly peeled her teddy off and undressed
himself. She leaned back and fell naked on the bed with Derek on top of her.
They laughed and continued to kiss as the music played on. She turned over to
him and he started to kiss her shoulders and her beautiful, smooth back. He
knew that it drove her crazy when he ran his tongue down her back. She turned
around slowly while he licked her body with his tongue and kissed every part of
it at the same time.
Nova caressed him and brought a moan
out of him. She began to kiss his chest all the while caressing him. “I love
you, Derek. My God, I love you!”
“I love you too, my baby!” Derek
whispered while caressing her most intimate parts. Finally, Derek entered her
just as Def Leppard began to sing out Have
You Ever Needed Somebody So Bad?
Derek moved with grace over Nova’s body, never did he love someone this
much in his life in this moment. Their bodies became as one while moving gently
yet urgently with the music. Nova screamed with pleasure and Derek wanted to
please her more and more. He didn’t want this night to end…ever. They continued
for what seemed like hours of making love. He then looked at Nova and she
looked at him, they both tense up and exploded with pleasure.
Derek was crying at the end as he said,
“Oh God, Nova I love you so much!”
“I love you too, my love.” Nova said
with a tear in her eye. She would miss him so much. She thought, Who knows what will happen out there. All I
can think of is that he will come back to me when his mission ends. Please,
God, bring him back to me safe…and whole….
I
don’t know what I’d do without him…
II.
GOODBYE
Space
Battleship Endeavor
February
9, 2205
0700
Hours
Captain Derek Wildstar sat in his
quarters checking all systems all over again on his laptop. He was starting to
like this ship in the sense of communications. It seemed that in her refit,
they had added a lot of other things that were useful to make life better for
him and his crew. One of the improvements was the wireless communication net
that each crew member could use throughout the ship. With this new Net, Derek
could call Nova and see her on his laptop privately without asking Lieutenant
Miamato to patch him through to Earth. It made life a little easier for him
with that, but the other extras in this overly luxurious ship were things that
he could do without. Like this huge state room. To Derek, there was no need in
having something this big and no one to share it with. As Wildstar looked
through all the new personnel jackets of some of his crew, he heard a knock on
the door. “Enter” Derek commanded.
“Sir, Lieutenant Commander Tolbert,
present as ordered.”
“Yes I see, well have you checked in
and looked over the systems?” Derek commanded.
“Yes sir, I’ve checked everything over
and all systems check out perfectly,” Tolbert replied. Derek noticed that this
time, Tolbert had no makeup on.
“Good, you can take your place.....”
“Hello?” Nova called out as she came
in.
Tolbert immediately did not think much
of Nova. She was in civilian clothes, namely a blue skirt that she liked, worn
with boots, a white turtleneck sweater, and her flight jacket. She also wore a
little fur beret that Derek thought was very cute. Tolbert, however, thought, That is the most stupid-looking hat I have
ever seen on a woman in my life. This is what you replaced me with, Derek? This
bubble-headed blond bimbo?
Derek’s eyes lit up. “Hello there, what
brings you here this early? Don’t you have to go to work in an hour?”
“I called ahead and I told them that I would
be running late. I want to make sure I see you off decently.” Nova smiled at
him. “Oh, am I catching you at a bad time, Derek?”
“Not at all, this is Lieutenant
Commander Julie Tolbert. Lieutenant Commander Tolbert, this is my wife,
Lieutenant Commander Nova Forrester-Wildstar.”
Nova shook her hand and said “hello” with a smile. Nova looked over
Tolbert, thinking, Ah! So this is the women that broke his heart
many years ago? She uses a little too much mascara. But she is cute. She
stood about Nova’s height…just an inch shorter. She had dark brown eyes and
mousey brown hair. Nova realized that she was pretty, no, more like a stunner,
with a slightly tomboyish look with a cute scattering of freckles on her
cheeks. Nova guessed that she was the sort that men took a second look at, and
maybe a third and a fourth. She stood there in front of Nova and Derek in her
officer’s uniform, looking appraisingly at Nova the same way Nova was looking
at her.
Despite Julie’s dislike of Nova’s white
beret, she looked her over, thinking, Now,
even I have to admit, you are a doll. Delicate nose and features, the tip of
your nose turns up a little, sort of cute….lips are smaller than mine and less
sensuous; you could use some lipstick, even that honey-blond hair in your eyes
is kind of cute. Gorgeous eyes; they look like lakes a man could jump into and
drown in for eternity. Nice figure; taller than I am…leggy as hell. Maybe too
leggy. Do you eat? If so, what? Diet salad mix?
“Hello Mrs. Wildstar.” Tolbert said.
“Hello,” Nova said back in a low,
melodious alto voice with a smile that could have launched a thousand space
battleships. Derek, You’re lucky!
Julie bitterly thought as she saw Nova walking up to Derek and almost shyly
putting a hand on his shoulder, Damn you!
So you’re the one that stole his heart and threw away the key, Nova? I envy
you it should have been me standing next to him, but I had my chance and blew
it.
“Well, Nova,
you’re rather..” began Julie, but Derek cut her off with a glance.
“Miss Tolbert! You will refer to her as
Lieutenant Commander Forrester! She’s been in her rank longer than you
have been!” Derek ordered.
“Yes, I’m sorry, Lieutenant Commander
Forrester. Ma’am, I am sorry that we got off to a bad start when I called Derek
on the phone, and…” Tolbert said feeling uncomfortable.
“That is water under the bridge…like
everything else,” Nova said formally, trying to be ladylike. “You and the
Captain have to work together, so let’s forget it ever happened, okay?” Nova
said as she extended a hand in a gentle yet elegant gesture that Derek could
have hugged her for right there. “Friends?”
“Friends,” Julie said in a stiff and
formal voice as she and Nova exchanged their first, and, as it would turn out,
their last friendly handshake.
“I’ll be on the bridge in a minute,
Miss Tolbert. You are dismissed,” Wildstar ordered.
Tolbert saluted Wildstar and walked out
to her post on the bridge. Derek and Nova watched as she left.
Nova looked worried as she said,
“Derek, are you going to be okay working with her? You seem really angry at
her.”
“Yes, but I just want her to understand
that we are on a mission and she has to prove herself as an officer and a
Deputy Captain. Just like everyone else that stood in that position. Now, we’re
going to be taking off soon. Let me walk you down to the gangway,” Derek said.
“I’m going to miss you so much Derek,
last night was just wonderful,” Nova said with a smile with tears in her eyes.
“Oh, Nova, please don’t cry… this
mission won’t take long. I promise. I’ll be home before you know it,” Derek
said while holding her in his arms.
Derek walked Nova back to the gangway
and kissed her long and hard. They waved good-bye to each other, then Derek
disappeared back into the Endeavor.
Nova watched as the gang way was
brought up and got into her new Mini Cooper Convertible air/ground car that
Derek bought for her. A long awaited present that she been waiting to get once
she had enough credits saved up. Even though her parents had more than enough money
she didn’t want to live on the inheritance that her parents gave to her on her
wedding day. Good bye my love come back to me she thought to herself as
she drove away.
“Attention, Captain on Bridge” Tolbert
announce
“At ease, let’s get this show rolling....
Attention all hands, attention all hands report to your stations and prepare
for departure. All crew members secure
quarters and those on departing ceremony report to the flight deck.” Derek
called into the ship microphone.
“Activate gyro stabilizer” Tolbert sang
out the orders. “Accelerate slowly to 3.4 knots”
Nova watched the Endeavor leaving port from the distance. She waved as the vessel
pull out of port and started her ascent to the sky. Goodbye, Endeavor come
back safe. Goodbye, Derek! I love you! Once the ship was out of sight she got back
into her car and headed to the hospital to pull another double shift. If Derek
was home, Nova probably wouldn’t have thought twice by telling Danielle no. But now, Nova knew there was no one there to go
home to. She knew that just keeping busy was the best thing for her.
Nova started her shift as soon as she
walked thru the door. After she changed into her nurse’s uniform, Nova met
Danielle. Danielle went over her charts with Nova and explained which patients
got which given medicine and when they got it last. It was a ritual that they
went through every time someone took over for the next shift. Nova bade
Danielle farewell and told her to have a nice day off with the kids.
Then, Nova started her rounds with heir
patients. While working and never looking up, she ran straight into Doctor
Spada. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there, Doctor.”
“That’s quite all right…I wasn’t
looking either. How are you Nova, how have you been? We haven’t seen each other
since the mission to
“He’s well, but he left this morning on
another mission. He will be gone for five months but who knows how long it will
take this time. And Command didn’t see fit to let me go,” Nova said with sadness
in her voice.
“I’m sorry to hear that. If there
anything I can do, please let me know.”
“Thank you Doctor, I’ll keep that in
mind,” Nova said politely. Nova did not want to dig old skeletons out of the
closet. She remembered all too well how Spada had acted when he had found out
that she and Derek were married. But after the incident with Lee, Spada was
very supportive. He never acted badly towards her again, once he saw how Derek
had looked when Lee had taken her, sick with worry and relief at the same time.
He knew then at last that they loved each other deeply…and that he had better
butt out even though he was a former boyfriend of Nova’s.
“Nova, I’ll see you around, I guess.
Are you taking over Danielle’s shift tonight, too?” Spada asked.
“Yes sir, she wanted time with her
kids…their dad left in the same fleet with the Endeavor.”
“So I guess we’ll be working together
again, I was supposed to work with her this shift,” Spada smiled.
“Oh, well, I guess we are working
together,” Nova smiled back. “After you, Doctor.”
On that note, they walked through all
the patients’ rooms and went over their treatments and meds.
Work, as usual, kept Nova busy.
It kept her from being depressed at her
empty house.
III.
SOUR NOTES IN SPACE
Deep
Space
Space
Battleship Endeavor
March
1, 2205
1120
Hours
Captain Derek Wildstar slammed his
fists against his panel as Tolbert made another mistake.
Again.
“Miss Tolbert, I thought you knew how to
navigate this ship! How did you pass your flight tests? You almost hit that
asteroid, you jerk!”
“I’m sorry, sir. I guess I wasn’t
thinking hard enough!” Tolbert replied.
“No excuse! Now, you had better get
your act together or I’ll have one of the cooks do your job! Read me loud and clear?” Derek yelled.
“Yessir!” cried Tolbert as she wiped
her lipstick off. Oh, no, what did
I do to deserve this? Oh yeah I dumped him! Tolbert said to herself. She
was near tears. Ever since they had left Earth Derek, had been riding her. He
was nitpicking everything she did and constantly telling her she did not
measure up to his demanding standards. I wish he’d just leave me alone and
let me do my job! He’s making me more nervous talking to me like that in front
of the crew.
For his
part, Derek thought, This woman has no decent reaction time. None. Nothing
like Venture had. She nearly miswarped us into the Fourth Dimension the other
day and lost us forever because she misread several figures because she was
playing around with her eye shadow. I had her on the bridge as Officer of the
Deck the other day in command from the radar, and I pulled a surprise drill and
I sent in some simulated computer bogies to see if she was on her toes? Oh, she
was, but not in the way that counted. She was polishing her toenails at her
post! At her post? She was just calling out the first vector and putting her
boot on when I got down here! Another officer I know, another lady, a lady named
Nova, would have had those bogies plotted in forty seconds and would have been
ordering her crew to take action and the whole bridge crew knew that!
Derek
watched her staring out the window and tapping her fingers at her post, doing
nothing! Nothing at all! Idiot! Wildstar thought.
“Tolbert,” he snapped. “Are you paying
attention? Get your head out of your ass and look where we are going!” Wildstar
continuing to yell. “Look at the astro-compass. Off course by three degrees!”
“I’m sorry sir, correcting coordinates…it
was only a tiny mistake!” Tolbert said while holding tears back.
“Like hell!” Derek snapped. “Small
mistakes of two degrees can multiply to large mistakes in a few minutes! Thank
God that this is only a training exercise before we head to Sector Eight, or
else we would have been done for if we were being attacked by enemy fire!”
“Lieutenant Miamato, tell the fighter
pilots to come back, the exercise is over. No thanks to our navigator, we were
just destroyed by enemy fire.” Wildstar commanded. “We’re all dead now.”
“Yes, sir,” Miamato replied.
“Lieutenant Commander Tolbert, you take
command of the ship. I’m going to my quarters, do you think you can handle at
least that much?” Wildstar snapped.
“Yes, sir,” Tolbert said with a low voice.
She was beaten and tired. How could she take command of the vessel when
everyone was looking at her with disrespect? She had to talk to the Captain
before this got out of control.
“Lieutenant Miamato take control of the
ship…”
“Ma’am, you heard the Skipper’s orders.
Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, damn you! I’ll be back!”
Tolbert ordered.
“Yes, ma’am”, Miamato replied. Poor
thing, she’s probably going to cry her
eyes out… the Captain has been riding her hard. Why? Because she is a screw-up!
Tolbert went into the ladies’ head and
cried.
A few minutes later, she finally
collected herself and headed to the Captain’s quarters.
Wildstar was at his desk looking over
some strategies for the trip to Sector Eight when he heard the knock on the
door. “Enter!”
“Sir, it’s Lieutenant Commander
Tolbert, I need to speak to you…now!”
Tolbert said as she entered.
“Damn! I left you in command! What the
hell are you doing here? What is it?” Wildstar questioned with anger.
“Requesting sick call again because you have a hangnail?”
“No, sir. Not this time. I want to talk
to you about the way you have been talking to me on the bridge! Permission to
speak off the record, sir!” Tolbert
said angrily.
“Permission granted….what do you want, Julie?”
Derek asked with disdain.
“Derek, what the hell is with you? Why
are you beating me up over little things? Derek, if I didn’t have you breathing
down my neck I might be able to do my job. Are you still upset that I left you
all those years back? Is that it, you jerk?”
Tolbert yelled at him.
Derek looked at her and laughed. “What
a drama scene! Are you kidding me?”
“No, SIR,” said Tolbert.
“You are serious? You think that I’m
hard on you for leaving me? Hell no! Don’t flatter yourself, lady, those days
are long gone! I’m happily married to someone who cares about me and loves me,
and, most importantly, respects me!
I’m no harder on you then I would be on anyone else in your shoes. Anyone.
You’re just incompetent, Miss Tolbert! That is the whole problem! You are an
officer with a disappointing record and a bad attitude! I’ll be blunt, Tolbert.
You are not what this ship or crew needs. You are emotional, childish,
inefficient, nasty to your subordinates, vain, dumb, and very bad for morale!”
“AM NOT!” yelled Tolbert.
“Ask any crew member on that bridge what they think of you! You are a lead
anchor around my neck and we’re barely a month away from Earth! I wish I had
gotten the Deputy Captain I had first asked for!”
“Who?” demanded Tolbert.
“None of your business. At least that
officer is a real leader and a good pilot. All you do is ride my men and
lollygag around with your thumb up your ass!”
“You’re making me nervous each time you
question my ability to lead, SIR!”
“Then maybe you’re not fit to be Deputy
Captain! You should be able to overcome my ranting and raving. Learn to take
control, if you’re as good as they say on your jacket then you should be able
to handle anything I throw at you. So grow up and get back to your post. NOW!”
Wildstar yelled.
Tolbert left his cabin, without even a
proper salute. She just slammed the hatch like a cadet. She thought, Derek! How dare he bitch me out like
that? God damn him! I’ll fix him if
takes this whole time on ship to prove him wrong. I can do this job. And I’ll
fix his wagon. Oh I’ll fix it good!
Derek watched the door close. Gee
what drama, what next? Did she forget how to salute? Oh Nova. I miss you so
much! Derek thought while looking at a picture of his wife. I wish I had gotten you on this ship like I
had wanted as my Deputy Captain…instead of…her. Who the hell threw my request for you in the circular file, anyway?
Anyone should have been able to see I wanted you as an officer after they
looked at that Navy Cross you won back in that battle on Dunbar when you saved
some of those scientists! Who screwed this up? I ask for a decorated combat
veteran and instead they give me a whiny kid who broke up with me years ago and
who has a persecution complex!
Derek wished he could talk to Nova now,
just to unwind…she would listen to him and know how to counsel him through this
in her common-sense manner, but Derek knew that she was working late and that
the new communication monitor was on the fritz like a lot of the things on the
ship. The further they went out, the more they had to rely on the old systems.
At least he was able to send e-mail messages to her through the Intergalactic
Web network.
Oh well Nova… once again I must sleep
alone. Thank you for leaving me that handkerchief with your scent on it. At
least I can smell you at night while I sleep. Derek looked
out into space and watched the stars before he went to bed. I love you Nova…
I hope you’re not to sad about me being out here.
Or, that you blame me. I tried to get
us together. I really tried!
EARTH
THAT
NIGHT….
Nova heard a knock on her door as she
sat in a kimono drying her hair. Now who the heck is this at this time? It’s
past nine o’clock already!
Nova opened the door of the house in
time to see Lieutenant Michael Spada MD standing on her front porch in the
cold. Nova shivered in her thin kimono, which was all she had on after climbing
out of the bath a few minutes beforehand.
“Hello Doc, what are you doing here? Is
something wrong back at the hospital?”
“No, Nova, everything is just fine. I
was in the neighborhood and figure I’d stop by and see how you were doing. Have
you had dinner yet?”
“I, I, no Lieutenant…I haven’t…I was
just about to settle in with a TV dinner and watch a movie…I just finished
taking a bath.” Nova said with caution, she didn’t want to lead him on.
“Well, a few of us were going over to
O’Malley’s for a bite to eat and we figured you were home by yourself, so you
know. Wanna tag along?”
“Oh I don’t know, it’s late and....I’m
cold,” Nova said as she shivered again and dug her bare toes into her cold
welcome mat.
“Oh come on Nova! You see it’s just not
me, there are others in the car, silly goose!” Spada pointed to two others in
his car.
“Oh, okay give me a minute to change
and throw on some shoes. I can’t go to O’Malley’s half-dressed! They’d throw me
out!” Nova laughed.
“Great…we’ll be in the car!” Spada
waved to the car.
Nova closed the door and changed as
fast as she could, she got out of her robe, put on some plain underwear, and
then she threw some jeans and a plain white T-shirt, and then she stepped into
a pair of plain brown closed pumps (the open-toe ones were saved for dance
night out with Derek or a hot summer night) and she grabbed her bag and flight
jacket. She locked her door and ran to the car.
“Hello?” Nova said as she got into the car.
“Ah, the Princess herself graces us
with her presence,” teased Spada.
“I sort of recognize these people,
Michael…from the floor. Who are they?” Nova asked as Spada drove away.
“Well, This lady here is Ensign Felicia
Jones, and that’s Commander Marcus Fritz. Felicia is a nurse in ICU and Marcus
is the big cheese doctor in pediatrics. Felicia, Marc, this is the famous Nova
Forrester. She might be an MD someday,” Spada said as he introduced them.
“I know Felicia, how have you been,
Felicia?” Nova asked.
“Fine. Miss Derek?” said Felicia.
“Yes. Like a fire misses oxygen,” Nova
said sadly. Then, she brightened a little and said, “But Doctor Fritz, I’m
sorry I haven’t met you, sir. Pediatrics are not my specialty, but it’s
something I would consider in taking as a round.”
“I can arrange for you to work with
pediatrics for a month. See if you like working with kids, Nova. I mostly deal
with basic medicine but you can expand from there if you like the work,” Doctor
Fritz said.
“Oh, no you don’t!” said Spada. “Nova
here is the best nurse we have in Internal Medicine and Doctor Sane would kill
me if I let you steal her away,” Spada said with a grin. “Everybody ready? Off
we go, then, to O’Malley’s!”
Spada drove there. Nova noticed he
drove fast. Just like he always did,
she thought.
At O’Malley’s, they all sat at a table
having drinks. The men had beer, Felicia had wine and Nova decided that she
would just have a plain seltzer, since she had to get up in the morning and
work with Dr. Sane. Felicia and Dr. Spada went to shoot pool and Nova and Dr.
Fritz sat alone at the table. “So does that offer still stand on taking rounds
at pediatrics?” Nova asked.
“Are you interested? I can arrange it
if you like. But will Dr. Sane mind?”
“Oh, he’ll be okay with it. If
anything, he’ll encourage me to try it. He’ll probably want me to start a
family once I work there.”
“Very well then I’ll talk to Admin and see
when we can get you in there. It would be nice to have someone there that can
pick up things quickly. And from what we have heard about you, you are the best
to work with. Quick on your feet.”
“Thank you, Doctor Fritz,” Nova said.
“No it’s Marcus tonight. I feel like my
father when they call me that.”
“Was your father a doctor too?” Nova
asked with a smile.
“Yes. A renowned neurosurgeon, so he
wasn’t happy when I decided to work with kids. His logic is that it is better
for the patient to be asleep when dealing with them.”
“So your father is still alive?” Nova
questioned.
“Yes, he’s in
“I’m from
“Derek? Someone special?” Fritz asked.
“He’s my husband, he left about three
weeks ago to patrol Sector Eight on the Endeavor.
I guess that’s why I decided to come out with you guys, tonight. I was just
lonely sitting home. I haven’t heard from him in almost a week, I guess the
farther away they are the harder it is to get video. At least we have the
Intergalactic Web, and we are able to e-mail each other,” Nova explained
“Just looking at you I can tell you
love him very much,” Fritz said with kindness
“Yes I do…and you, Marcus are you
married?” Nova asked.
“Very much to my job. I lost my wife
several years ago to space radiation sickness. She was 4 months pregnant when
she died. We were hoping that she would have stayed strong enough to give
birth, but she died and the baby was too small and didn’t survive.”
“Oh my, I’m so sorry Marcus,” Nova held
his hand with sympathy.
“That’s okay, it’s been years now and
my wounds are healed. That’s why I love working with kids. Mine didn’t survive
so I want all the kids to have healthy lives with their parents.”
“That’s very noble of you, and thank you
again for the offer. It would be nice to deal with kids instead of big Marine
babies,” Nova laughed.
“What’s going on here, have you stolen
my best nurse away?” Spada questioned with a laugh.
“Only temporarily, if it will be okay
with Dr. Sane, that is…,” Fritz said.
“It’s getting late so I’m going to need
that ride back I have an early call at the hospital with Dr. Sane. Can you
drive me or do I have to call a cab?” Nova asked Spada.
“I guess she is right Michael we all
should be getting back it’s getting late and we all have duties in the
morning,” Fritz announced to Spada.
“Only if you promise me that we do this
a lot more until Captain Wildstar returns,” Spada smiled at her.
“Wait. You’re married to Captain Derek
Wildstar?” Fritz asked
“Yes sir, that’s me,” Nova said with a
blush. She did not like to have her fame pointed out much.
“Well then, you’re THE Nova Wildstar.
Oh sorry…Forrester - Wildstar. Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Wildstar,
Derek is a lucky man having such a beautiful and lovely young wife,” Fritz
winked at her.
“And it’s a pleasure to meet you Dr.
Frit.... oh sorry Marcus,” Nova said.
“Okay let’s take these two lovely
ladies back home and maybe we can have a game of Texas Hold’em,” Spada looking
at Fritz
“I don’t think so, I almost lost my
shirt last time with you. Maybe a rain check,” Fritz laughed.
“Let’s go,” Nova said.
TO BE CONTINUED….