Star Blazers: A Time
of Serenity
By: Jamie A. Tucker
(with
editing/critique assistance by Fredrick P. Kopetz)
(Disclaimer Statement: Please
note that Space Battleship Yamato and Star Blazers are registered trademarks of
Voyager Entertainment. Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato is copyright© 2008 by Voyager Entertainment, Lejji Matsumoto
and Yoshinobu Nishizaki. Star Blazers: A Time of Serenity is copyright © 2008
by Jamie A. Tucker and is a fan-fiction as a personal hobby and is not intended
to infringe upon the copyright holders of Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato.)
Chapter Seven: The Boxer Shorts Strategy.
Place: Space Battleship Argo (Pegasus)
Date: March 2200
________________________________________________________________________
Silence filled the
crew quarters of the Argo as Deputy
Captain Derek Wildstar arose from his bunk. The watch on his wrist displayed
the time as 0500. He stretched out and looked around the area to see that the
others were still asleep. He took several steps from his bunk to retrieve his
personal hygiene kit, washcloth and a towel from his storage locker. As Derek
walked toward the shower room, he heard the unmistakable sound of loud snoring
blaring through Eager’s nostrils.
“Damn, those nostrils
are louder than the klaxons. Sleep well for the next half hour. It’s going to
be one hell of a day,” thought Derek as he walked past Eager’s bunk.
Derek walked into the
shower room and entered the shower stall. He stripped himself of his garments
and set the water temperature at 82 degrees Fahrenheit as he began to take his
morning shower. A few minutes after Derek had begun taking his morning shower,
Sandor, Jake and Dash woke up to the sound of Eager’s loud rumbling snoring.
“Oh man, you’re just
as bad as Jake when he was at Training school!” said Dash as he awoke.
“Eager, you’ll need to
see Dr. Sane about that snoring. I don’t have any device that can help you in
that area,” said Sandor as he arose from his bed.
Eager sat up in his
bunk and looked around at everyone. He scratched his head and wondered if he
should take up the suggestion of seeing Dr. Sane about his apparent snoring.
“Guys…I just might go
and see Dr. Sane about it. I guess I may have some congestion and nothing
more,” replied Eager as he finally arose from his bed and stretched.
“Ok, Everybody up!
Time to wake up!” said IQ-9 as the red robot wheeled into the crew quarters.
“Looking for Nova,
aren’t you IQ?” asked Dash as the others laughed.
“I am a genius robot. Nova
is on the bridge,” said IQ-9.
“I’m sure Nova was
wearing a skirt up on the bridge today. We know you really like Nova when she’s
wearing a skirt,” said Homer with a chuckle.
Derek walked out of
the shower area clad in a pair of light blue boxers and a white t-shirt. He
noticed IQ-9 talking to Homer about Nova.
“IQ, aren’t you
supposed to be in Sickbay? Dr. Sane needed you to report to him at 0400 hours
this morning,” said Derek.
“Sorry sir, Dr. Sane
wanted me to make sure that everyone was up for duty this morning,” said the
red robot as he walked up to Derek and saluted.
“Well…ok, everybody’s
up. You need to return to Dr. Sane and continue to assist him until you’re
called to the bridge. It’s going to be one hell of a busy day,” said Derek with
a slight sigh.
“Permission to return
to Dr. Sane, sir?” inquired IQ-9.
“Permission definitely
granted for sure!” exclaimed Homer.
“Homer, you’re not in
charge yet. Someday you’ll be able to
bark orders but not yet,” said Derek with a laugh.
“That’s one lap around
the ship in your underwear!” said IQ-9.
“Hmmm…what a
suggestion IQ-9, It’s a great way to start the day,” replied Derek as he looked
at IQ-9.
“Derek, I wouldn’t
suggest such a thing since many of us will have a morning shower. I have a
suggestion,” said Sandor with a laugh.
Sandor whispered very
quietly into Derek’s ear about IQ’s suggestion. He explained that since IQ
needed to be in Sickbay, it was IQ-9’s turn to run the decks in a pair of underwear. Sandor motioned for Dash
to retrieve a set of Eager’s large boxers.
“IQ, here you go.
We’re going to give you a taste of your own suggestion. Put on this pair of
Eager’s boxers and report to the A-01 level at 0700 hours,” said Sandor as the
others laughed.
IQ took the boxers and
put them on in front of the group as everyone laughed. Jake took out a blue
wind suit out of his locker. Everyone gave him a weird look of concern.
“Going somewhere
Jake?” asked Rosstowski as he donned his uniform.
“Well, basically, I
think it might be good for me to get some PT before breakfast. Wildstar, I
request permission to report with IQ-9,” said Jake.
“Jake, it’s only one
lap. Besides, I leave it up to you. But if you run, you better get out of that
wind suit and into a t-shirt and boxers. Is that clear?” said Wildstar.
Everyone started
snickering as Jake began to have second thoughts.
“Hmmm…Wildstar, I’ll
take back my offer to run with IQ-9. I’ll just head to the gym room and run the
treadmill. Um…let me save myself some potential embarrassment.”
“I understand Jake.
It’s your option to run. Permission is neither granted nor denied. Going to the
gym is a great idea. I’ll try to get to that later. Why has Sakamoto not
awakened yet?” asked Derek as he pulled the covers off the Black Tiger pilot.
“Ear plugs, Sir!” said
Jake as he pointed to the plugs in Sakamoto’s ears.
“Well damn, at least
somebody had the right idea to get Eager’s snoring silenced,” said Petty
Officer 2nd Class Von Schmidt who manned the 20 millimeter pulse
laser #7.
“Sakamoto, it’s time
to rise. Since you’re the last one up, you’re the rotten egg to run one lap
with IQ-9 in your underwear this morning,” said Derek as everyone laughed.
“Huh? I can’t hear
you,” said Sakamoto as he removed the earplugs.
“You’re the last person
in the entire crew up this morning, dude. You’re running a lap with IQ-9 this
morning in your underwear!” said Conroy as he laughed at Sakamoto.
“Alright, alright…I
didn’t set my alarm and plus I couldn’t fall asleep last night without drowning
out the loud snoring coming from the loudest nostrils on this ship,” Sakamoto
said with a sigh.
Derek walked over to
Sakamoto as he rose up from his bunk. Derek stood in front of Sakamoto and
placed his right hand on his left shoulder.
“Your explanation is very
well accepted. But since you’re the last one up, you’re to report at the A-01
level with IQ-9 at 0700 hours.”
“Yes sir, I’ll be
there,” said Sakamoto as he saluted Derek.
Down in the mess hall,
Lt. Melvin “Slops” Mulligan commanded the busiest mess hall in all of naval
history. The day’s morning called for more than 200 crew members to dine on a
fancy breakfast of grits, eggs, pancakes and various fruits. Before joining the
Star Force as Chief Chef, the stocky built officer owned several surviving underground
city restaurants that offered Japanese, Chinese, American and Italian cuisines.
His knowledge of food preparation won him the prestigious International Golden
Fork Award.
“Hey Ridge, where in
the hell are those eggs you were supposed to bring me?” barked the Lieutenant
as he prepared the skillet for another around of scrambled egg preparation.
“They’re right behind
you, sir!” replied Ridge as he applied flour to the dough he was rolling.
“Hey Chief, the
beverage machine is broken again! There’s no carbonation for the soft drinks,”
exclaimed Midshipman Kinsey as he attempted to fix the beverage machine before
crew members began arriving for breakfast.
The stocky built Chief
Chef slammed the skillet on the stove and walked over to the beverage machine.
“Shit, why can’t you
do anything right? Isn’t this the fifth time you’ve hooked the wrong hose up to
the wrong connector?” asked the irritated and otherwise pissed chef.
“Sir, I didn’t mix
them up. Masterson was last seen working with the machine at 0500 this morning,
sir!” replied Kinsey.
“So Masterson was up
to his old jokey tricks again, I guess. I’m going to haul his sorry self up to
Wildstar. I’m getting tired of his pranks,” said Chef Mulligan.
“Yeah, just like the
one he did last week where he replaced the regular green peppers with the fiery
hot green habanera peppers which resulted in several people gulping down ice
cold water quickly to cool their tongues and three people ending up in Sickbay
for choking,” said Ensign Fields who was Masterson’s number three in command of
the mess.
“Fields, how did you
know about that and why wasn’t I told?” asked Mulligan rather sharply.
“I just discovered it
on a surveillance tape that was set up by Sandor after the rotten deviled eggs
and baked beans incident which resulted in ship wide flatulence and
gastrointestinal problems,” replied the Ensign.
“Damn, at first I
didn’t know we had a lot of fart-asses in the mess hall. Since I know the cause
of that incident now, I can easily see Masterson’s ass is headed straight for
the brig. I’ll bring up the charges,” said Mulligan.
“You don’t need to
worry about that sir. Sandor informed me that if I caught anything on that
recorder, all I had to do was call
“Did you have another incident
with Masterson?” asked Sandor with a wink at Derek.
“Sure did, sir! He’s
the brig being interrogated, sir,” replied Fields.
“Why is he being held
in the brig and interrogated for?” asked Wildstar.
“Sir, maybe you should
have a look at this video. It’s the primary reason why the perpetrator is in
the brig,” said Fields as he handed Wildstar a copy of the security video disk.
As Wildstar looked at
the disk, he couldn’t help but wonder why Masterson was acting like this. He
looked at Sandor with a serious look of concern.
“Sandor, I think our
mission to Iscandar is probably starting to take a toll on some people. But in
Masterson’s case, I can see charges being taken out after I consult with
Captain Avatar and the guards in the brig,” said Wildstar.
“So then, we’re
looking at dereliction of duty, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and
possibly unbecoming conduct of an Officer,” said Dash.
“Your knowledge of the
Uniform Military Justice Code is getting better,” said Mulligan.
“Well, thank you. I
don’t see myself becoming a lawyer but it will definitely become handy when I
get my own command one of these days,” said Dash.
“Well, it seems very
much that Masterson fits all of the elements of his offenses. But according to
his record, his history of pranks go all the way back to the Academy,” said
Wildstar with a sigh.
“What happened there?”
inquired Mulligan.
“He once pulled a
prank on Midshipman Cherrie Karnak by placing a mouse on her shoulder causing
her to scream and pass out during her final exams one semester at the Academy,”
said Wildstar.
“DAMN!” exclaimed
Mulligan and Fields in unison with a surprise look on their face.
“That’s stupid,” said
Fields.
Dash and Wildstar shook
their heads in disbelief. They knew this was worse than the time when Homer had
tried to swim home.
“Thanks, Fields, for
informing me of these developments. I think I’ll have to pay Masterson a visit.
But due to other pressing matters, Captain Avatar may just simply order him
held until the completion of this mission,” said Wildstar as he looked at Dash.
Dash and Wildstar
ended the conversation with Fields and Mulligan with an exchange of salutes.
Wildstar returned to the table where Nova was waiting for him.
“Some prank again,
Derek?” inquired Nova with a slight smile.
“Yes...I pretty much
believe so, Nova. Sometimes these pranks of Masterson’s goes way too far.”
“What now?” said Nova
as she rolled her eyes.
Derek explained the
latest parnk to Nova and then, he added, “They’ve got him in the brig for a
good while though. Mulligan wants to bring up charges against him. I’ll have a
talk with Captain Avatar this morning and give him the security recording disk.
That evidence alone will land Masterson in the brig for the rest of the
mission,” said Derek as he took his first bite of a rather lukewarm breakfast.
“Well, at least the
prankster will be the least of our worries, Derek. I was thinking that since
we’ve gotten to know each other quite well through the last few weeks, I’m
finding myself becoming interested in you,” said Nova.
“You know Nova… ever
since the plane crash near the Argo
and you fixing up my injuries back on Earth, You have constantly been there for
me, especially in the most stressful of times over the past couple of months.
If we weren’t fighting this war against the Gamilons, I would’ve already asked
you out by now,” said Derek with a smile.
Nova smiled at Derek
as she gazed into his brown eyes. She had always felt that she and Derek had a
special bond since Nova had talked with him about Alex being MIA back at the
clinic on Earth. Nova knew that she had watched Derek mature through out the
mission. During the course of the awful, dark times of the mission, their bond
of close friendship was growing deeper everyday.
At table number
twenty, Jake and Rosstowski sat down at the table and said grace over their
food. The two turret captains had gotten plenty of rest the night before save
for Eager’s loud snoring.
“Jake, I’m glad things
are going well with your team. I hope maybe one day we’ll both move up to
combat chief sometime,” said Rosstowski as he took a bite of scrambled eggs and
bacon.
“Sure, It would be
cool to be combat chief. However you know after Patterson was put out of action
at the Rainbow Galaxy, Conroy and Wildstar made me a back up pilot with the
Black Tigers,” said Jake as he sipped on orange juice.
“Looking to be another
Wildstar…aren’t you?” asked Rosstowski with a slight smile.
“No, I’m not anywhere
near being ready to step in Wildstar’s shoes. However, being a back up pilot
will definitely put my flight training skills to use. Maybe I’ll get my first
mission soon provided that they don’t need me looking over the Guy’s heads in
Turret number 2,” replied Jake with a laugh.
“How’s the love life
going, Jake?” inquired Boomer who manned the number two gun on turret two as he
sat down.
“Huh? What love life?
I’ve not dated anyone through the course of this entire mission. My last was Wildstar’s
old ex’s sister. She wasn’t up to no good. She really didn’t want to see me
much anyway,” replied Jake.
“Oh, you’re talking
about Diane Henson’s sister Kelsey? It’s a good thing you got out of that one.
Diane definitely wasn’t the one for Wildstar at the Academy,” said Boomer as he
opened up a fresh, cold bottled water.
“Ick…you dated Diane
Henson’s sister? Listen, Jake how many more times have I told you to get rid of
the bad ones and wait on that awesome one that will love you for who you are
and not for your money, social status, etcetera. You deserve the best,” said
Rosstowski.
“We shall see what
will happen in the future. Right now it’s not really time to find anybody right
now,” said Jake.
“I definitely agree,
Jake! In that case, it won’t be long before IQ-9 and Sakamoto will be running
one lap around the deck. Lately, I’ve been wondering how the hell Iscandarian
ships wound up on this planet,” replied Rosstowski with a smile.
The two men arose from
the table and headed out of the galley. Black Tiger pilots Dean Carlston and
Roger Woodstern walked past Rosstoski and Jake.
“Good morning, sirs!”
said Carlston as walked past Jake while Rosstowski took the lift to the number
1 turret.
“Good morning…It’s a
great day to fly without getting into a dog fight you know. I need to get some
flight time in myself,” said Jake with a nod at Hardy as he walked towards the
galley.
“Sure, Jake. You
haven’t flown since the battle at the Rainbow Galaxy when Captain Avatar put
you on an Alert Five after you had to evacuate the number two turret. It would
be great to see you back in the cockpit for a little bit,” said Woodstern with
a pat on Jake’s right shoulder.
“Well, I’ve got news
for the Gamilons. There will be hell to pay since they damaged my turret and
injured my crew. Desslok doesn’t know who the hell he’s messing with,” said
Jake a little sternly as Wildstar and Nova walked by.
Derek and Nova stopped
and looked at Jake after hearing him make the statement. Derek’s mind
immediately went to the fact that the Gamilons had destroyed not only his
family’s home but also believed Alex was killed by the Gamilons at the battle
of Pluto.
“Jake, I heard what
you said,” said Wildstar as he stood in front of Jake.
Jake and the pilots
immediately snapped into attention. Wildstar wasn’t angry at the statement but
what he just heard was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Since the Star Force had defeated the Gamilons at every turn, Derek knew that
Desslok hasn’t realized who he was facing. All Derek could think of was letting
Gamilon feel the full wrath of Earth for Gamilon’s horrible and abominable war
against the Star Force and Earth.
“Sir, I know a lot of
people feel the same way,” said Jake as he looked straight ahead.
“At ease though…Desslok
knows fully well that we are a very determined enemy and we can handle anything
that he can throw at us,” said Derek.
“And yes…there will be
hell to pay if we ever do find Gamilon on the way to Iscandar,” said Jake as he
slapped his fist into his hand.
At the end of the
sentence, Derek and Nova walked away from the three. Nova looked at Derek as he
returned a smile. They stepped on the elevator to the bridge as Derek pushed
the 1st bridge button.
“Derek, it was
wonderful having breakfast with you and the others this morning. I know it’s
weird but I’m starting to like you more deeply than I have recently,” said Nova
with a smile.
“I enjoyed it very
much as well, Nova. We’re not back on Earth or is there anyway we could figure
this thing out. However, I must admit that you and I have grown so much closer
over the past few weeks. Just about everywhere I turn, you’re there for me,”
said Derek with a smile as he looked at Nova.
“That’s what friends
are for right, Derek?” said Nova with a light chuckle as her brown eyes
glistened with admiration for Derek.
“Definitely, but right
now, it’s possible that what we have could develop into something more,” Derek
said as the elevator reached it’s destination.
“We shall see…” Nova
said with a wink as they walked onto the bridge.
Captain Avatar rode
the chair lift down to the bridge. Wildstar, Nova and Eager saluted the Captain
as Venture, Sandor and Dash arrived on the bridge shortly after Nova and
Wildstar.
“At ease…today is
going to be a busy day for the Star Force. Although, a lot of the previous
battle damage is repaired. Sandor, how are repairs to the Wave Motion Gun?”
asked the Captain as he folded his hands over his station.
“Captain, the repair
work on the wave motion gun is ninety-eight percent complete. It will take at
least another day or so to get all the repairs completed in the firing chamber
and particle accelerator conduit. Once completed, I recommend a test firing to
make sure everything works. The sooner we test it, the quicker we can fix
problems,” said Sandor.
“Very well, Sandor. I
know without a doubt we will need the Wave Motion Gun again. The Gamilons are
very determined to keep us from reaching Iscandar. Queen Starsha was gracious
enough to give us the plans for wave technology. Eager have you put together a
simple weather report for today?” asked Captain Avatar as he looked at Eager.
“Captain, I’ve not
completed the total predictions yet. However, current computer models suggest
that there will be no rain or storms the next several days. We should have
temperatures around seventy-five degrees with a light westerly wind,” said
Eager as he saluted.
“I thought I heard
some one snoring last night!” exclaimed the Captain as laughter filled the
bridge for the first time in many months.
“Captain, I offer my
apologies if you heard my loud snoring. Doctor Sane said that I’d be a good
Rhinoplasty candidate,” replied Eager.
“But remember, you
have to wait until we get back on Earth for that to take place,” said Nova.
“Wildstar, I want you,
Jake, Nova, Sandor, Conroy, Dash and IQ-9 prepare to investigate those
Iscandarian ships. Beware of the Gamilons. Let me know when you plan to head
out that way today,” said the Captain.
“Yes sir, we plan to
begin our investigation of the ships at ten hundred hours and return by
fourteen hundred hours. Sandor and I will bring back any evidence we can find
for analysis,” said Wildstar.
“Very well, Wildstar.
One more thing…who are our deck runners this morning?” asked the Captain as he
folded his arms across his chest.
“IQ-9 and Sakamoto,
sir,” replied Derek.
“I see. At nine
hundred hours call all hands to their stations for standby duty. We shall go
from there as the day progresses. For
now, everyone is dismissed!” exclaimed the Captain as he rode the chair lift
back up to his quarters.
The Crew saluted
Captain Avatar as he made his way up the tracks. Wildstar and the others sat at
their stations on the bridge. They started writing notes on their notepads as
Nova saw IQ-9 arrive on the bridge with the coffee cart. Nova offered the
coffee to all bridge hands who were in need of a fresh awakening.
Back on Earth, the
planet continued to sizzle and fry in radioactive contamination. Earth was no
longer the recognizable planet of vast blue oceans and beautiful mountainous,
green landscape. The surviving population continued living underground in the
cities below the Earth’s surface.
In General Singleton’s
office in the primary undergound city, the General read through stacks of
reports that he had received from various commanders in the field. General
Stone knocked on the door as the bald, mustachioed general laid a report on his
desk.
“Come in!” said
Singleton as he heard the knock.
“Sir, the reports
about the radiation seeping deeper underground are getting quite worse. The
good news is that communications has received word that
“Stone, I think this
is great news to hear. That’s the best news I’ve received since the Star Force
eliminated the Gamilon base on Pluto. We’ve not had a single planet bomb hit in
over three months now,” said Singleton as he took a puff from his pipe.
“However, our energy
levels are still quite low though. The three cities I mentioned to you have
only a quarter of their power supply back online but there are still people
dying of radiation poisioning,” replied Stone as he sat in a white upholstered
chair in front of Singleton’s desk.
“Stone, let me again
remind you of something. You know that there has been only one city and one
country that the Gamilons haven’t touched.”
“Sir, I’ve never
understood the phenomena.
“I’m shocked, Stone!
The General’s eyes
turned wide as he looked at the picture. He glances moved between the picture
and General Stone several times. After what seemed to be several moments of
total silence, the picture was placed on his desk.
“General Stone, that
looks like it might be Lot’s wife whom, in the Old Testament, God turned into a
pillar of Salt when she looked back at the burning cities of
“Yes, I highly
understand that people have tried with great effort to disprove Biblical
History and the fact of God’s existence. Yet, this stuff is so powerful and no
one is denying it,” replied Stone.
“I just wonder…really
wonder if God is giving Earth a second chance after all the harm we’ve caused
each other for the last two thousand five hundred years! Those wars of
Unification really did more harm than good. The Gamilon war surely enough got
nations to put their differences aside and fight for our survival,” said
General Stone as he retrieved a file folder from the desk drawer.
“I agree, General. The
next time we might not be so lucky…”
To be Continued….
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