THE TALE OF A
POWDER-BLUE DRESS….
An Alternate Reality
"what-if" Story taking place one and a half years after Final
Yamato
Story, Concept and Idea by Neil
Burns
Story written by Neil
Burns with assistance from Frederick P. "Freddo" Kopetz
SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO
(STAR BLAZERS) is
owned and copyrighted by Leiji Matsumoto, Voyager Entertainment and et al.
...and is (c) 2002 by those companies. No infringement upon their copyrights is
intended.
The original character
of Bryan Hartcliffe was created by Freddo Kopetz for his own Star Blazers
fan fiction and is (c) 2002 by him. He is used here by permission.
Please note: This is an alt-reality "what
if" story which takes place about one and a half years
after FINAL YAMATO,
which is set in March of 2206 in this alternate reality.
It was the Year 2207…
The Month was
August...
Lieutenant Commander Nova
Wildstar was kneeling in her garden tending her flowers. It was rather late in
the day on this sunny, hot summer day at their shared home on
Derek advised me I
should take either this job or go to Medical School, she thought with an amused grin as
she picked at some weeds around the base of a tomato plant with a small hand
hoe. Some dirt flew onto her leg, but it didn't matter much to her. She had
gotten out of her green summer uniform upon arriving home and was doing her
gardening in an old t-shirt and even older gym shorts. She went barefoot in the
warm dirt of her garden, with a pair of very elderly rubber soccer sandals
thrown off to one side in the grass. Since part of me is still hoping we can
beat this…congenital illness and have a family…I opted for the latter
assignment, she said to herself. Can't be pregnant and in medical school
with Baby on the way…if the pregnant part ever happens. But, I'm bored. Derek's
bored. I wish Sandor would get the wreck of the Yamato refitted and
rebuilt again after Aquarius. Girl, I believe you're beginning to go rammy
stuck here on earth. And so is Derek, stuck with that fighter squadron of
screw-ups he has to command. Poor dear. I hope he's not getting into another
fight again. He's been reprimanded twice already by Priceman for fighting. I
know he's trying to defend my honor against those mean cracks the other pilots
make, but this is starting to get ridiculous!
Nova's head tilted up as
she heard Derek's aircar pulling in. "Right on time," she murmured to
herself. "There he is...and let me get changed and get our dinner ready...and..."
Nova stopped in her tracks
as soon as she saw her husband. He was dabbing at the bottom of his mouth.
Blood ran down his chin, and his forehead was bandaged.
Nova's fists clenched. As
she walked up to her husband, she asked, "Okay...did you get into yet another
fight? Tell me the truth!"
"I did. Defending your
honor, Goddamnit!" he snapped.
"I wanted to have a
nice dinner with you. I had a new recipe for Beef Stroganoff prepared. And what
do you have to do? You have to spoil it by fighting again! Who was it
this time?" said Nova. "If it was Hartcliffe or Sakamoto...well,
those jerks almost deserve it."
"Hardy," said
Derek.
"One of our best
friends?" cried Nova. "Derek, what's wrong with you?"
"Okay...maybe it was
an innocent comment; but it still rankled, " said Derek as Nova,
nonetheless, began dabbing at his wounds with a clean hanky she had pulled out
of his pocket. "It was in the locker room. Talk was going on...guy
talk...about birth control methods. Most of it was really crude."
"I'm a nurse, I've
heard worse, Derek," said Nova in a very irritated tone of voice.
"What did Hardy say?"
"Well...okay...we were
talking about condoms. From the machine. Hardy looked at me, nudged me, and
said, 'Pity about Miss Nova havin' an oven that's burned out. Youah neveah
gonna need to use these now, Wildstah!' Everybody laughed, and I lost it. I
punched one of my best friends right in the mouth. He was half-conscious when
they pulled me off him. And I'm on report again. It might be extra duty...might
even be brig time. I don't know what they're gonna do to me, now, Nova!
Why?"
Surprisingly, Nova held her
husband, even though she was as mad as hell at him. "Hardy should've kept
his lip buttoned. But you shouldn't have slugged him."
"What was I supposed
to do, damnit...take the squadron laughing at me? At us? That's what it
feels like."
"Oh, I know,"
said Nova. "But, still...it's not right what you did. I want an apology
from Hardy, but I also want you to apologize to him. Promise me
that."
"What? Me apologize to
the man who dishonored you?" snapped Derek. "Get some reality through
your damn blond head. I'd never do that!"
"Get some reality
through my damn blond head?" retorted Nova. "You know, buddy, you're
coming close to insulting my intelligence."
"Sure...they can call
you sterile, but they can't call you a bimbo. Isn't that what you mean?"
"I never heard that
word out of your mouth in terms of me in our life together, Derek
Wildstar," yelled Nova. "Go wash your mouth out with soap!"
"I get beat up
defending you, and this is the thanks I get?" barked Derek. "Nova, go
shove your beef stroganoff up your ass! I'm going down to McLaren's!"
"You're rejecting my
cooking to go to a bar and eat greasy hamburgers and get drunk again?"
snarled Nova. "Derek, what's gotten into you for the past month? You're
not the man I married any more!"
"That's what I am,
Nova," yelled Derek. "Part of me is still a very angry man! If you
don't like it, then go trade me in on a new model! See ya later! Bye!"
He stalked off, and jumped
in their car. "Derek, please wait!" called Nova. "Derek!"
With fire in his eyes, he
shot his wife the bird and zoomed off.
A moment later, with a
loud, banshee-like scream, Nova threw her hoe into the grass point-down, fell
on her stomach in the grass, and began to cry her eyes out.
They said I could've
died that day on the Cosmo-DNA, she thought miserably. Maybe I should've! Maybe I
should've just died rather than survived the gas and the machine going off
under me and making me unable to have children! thought Nova in rage. He
doesn't appreciate me anymore! What's wrong with my love with Derek? Maybe I
should...just get out of his life...the quickest way possible. With six guys
carrying me out of his life in a box, that is.
With her mind made up, a
miserable Nova Wildstar decided she was going to go into her house, find every
pill she could, and take the whole lot of them.
If he finds me
unconscious or dead, that'll serve him right, she thought in rage.
Nova found that, once she
had her mind made up, planning one's own demise wasn't that much unlike baking
a cake. "Wrote the note," she murmured out loud. "Sealed it with
a kiss, and now, ten Demerols, ten Novocaines, ten Dilyaudids, ten codeine
tablets. Grind them up, put them in a quart of applesauce, and have a nice
lethal dinner. Maybe I should have a cherry with this, too?"
Nova began to grind up her
concoction with a mortar and pestle. Surprisingly, she was humming to herself.
At that moment, her phone
rang.
"Hello?" she
said. She was halfway expecting it to be Derek. Instead, it was her mother,
Terri Forrester. "Nova? You look like a mess."
"Working in the
garden, Momma. I'm not too happy, either. We had another fight."
"Oh. What was it this
time?"
"He beat up a friend
of ours at work. He might be seeing brig time over this."
"Oh, that's terrible.
I told you...I..."
"You what?"
"Had my doubts about
him," said Terri while twirling a strand of her hair that had come loose
from its bun.
"Yeah...I've got them,
too. I'm taking care of this one way. It'll be quick, but..."
"Thank God, you're
leaving him!"
"No, Mom, it's not
that...I..."
"An old friend of
yours is in town. Remember Biff?'
"Biff? From
school?" Nova blushed a little, remembering her first boyfriend. "How
can I forget? But I grew up and out of him."
"Well...considering
what's going on, maybe you want to meet him for dinner tonight?"
"Uh...Mom...I can't.
Derek will be home from the bar in a while...and I'd better be here to..."
"Why not? It'll be
fun, and it'll get you out of the house. It's completely innocent. It's not
like you're cheating on him or anything..."
"Oh...all right...just
to make you happy," sighed Nova.
"Great! I'd put on a
dress or pantsuit if I were you. And shoes. You can't forget about shoes,
Nova."
"Oh..." said Nova
weakly. She had had her legs up in the chair and her mother had evidently seen
that she was both barefoot and dirty. "Okay. Tell him I'll meet him for
dinner at your place at eight."
"Wonderful. Take
care..."
At that, Nova dumped the
concoction down the sink. "If I want to end it all, I can do it tomorrow
night," she said out loud. "Now, I'd better find myself something to
wear, and leave Derek a note."
"My wife...she don't
understan' me," said Derek Wildstar with a slurred voice as he leaned over
the bar. "Look at this, Maria. Look at this, Liz. I got meself me own fan
club."
"You're upset and
sick," said Liz, looking at him with true concern. "If you like, I'll
drive you home, explain things to Nova, and make sure we get you into
bed."
"I don't want
that...don't wanta to go home t' her tonight..."
"Well, why don't I
take you?" said Maria. "I'll take you to my place." She winked
at Liz, who gave her a very disapproving look.
"C'mon," said
Maria DeSantos. "It'll be fun."
"Okay..." said
Derek. "C'mon...let's go."
Liz did not like that. When
Derek and Maria left, she ran over to a phone to telephone Nova at the Wildstar
house.
Now, why isn't she
answering? she
thought to herself. Wonder where she went?
Nova Wildstar was driving
along with angry classic rock by Nirvana playing on her aircar's audio player.
She had put on a white sailor top, orange skirt, and orange strap-on flats that
looked like a schoolgirl's shoes. She thought it would be interesting to meet
with Biff, but she didn't want anything to come of it.
After a bit of a drive, she
pulled up at her parents' apartment building at the edge of the Megalopolis.
Her parents maintained two residences; one here in the Megalopolis in this
apartment, and the other at their ranch house in Boulder, Colorado. She
wondered what sort of mood her mother and Biff were going to be in when she got
there.
Nova went up the lift, and
was tapping at the door of her parents' apartment a few minutes later.
"Come in!" cried
her mother Terri.
Nova came in, noticing her
father and her old high school boyfriend sitting around a coffee table in the
large living room having brandy.
Her father Karl Forrester
wore a dark green suit with a turtleneck sweater; what he usually wore to work.
Her ex-boyfriend, Brad
"Biff" Maxwell sat there in a white sweatshirt and dark blue jeans
with boots. He smiled when Nova came in, and was unable to restrain himself as
he got up and gave her a hug. "God, you look gorgeous. Where's the famous
Captain?"
"Uhmm...he wasn't
feeling well and didn't want to come along tonight," said Nova.
"Too bad. Would've
liked to have met him," said Biff as Nova's mother momentarily gave her
daughter a slightly dirty look. She had on a lime-green pantsuit and pumps.
Nova waved at her mother as if to say, "that's enough". Terri nodded,
and said. "Would you two like something to munch on?"
"I always liked your
h'or'doureves, Mrs. Forrester," said Biff.
"Pigs in blankets
sound good, Mama," agreed Nova.
"Good. I have them
made up already," said Terri. "Now I'll let you guys catch up on
things and leave you...uhh...alone."
"Okay," said
Nova, without much enthusiasm. Her father looked at her with compassion,
guessing that she was miserable without the love of her life at her side.
"Let me let you know
what I'm doing now," said Biff. "I'm working for an engineering
company, doing CAD design work for our latest spacecraft."
"Which classes?"
asked Nova.
"The heavy
battleships, mostly," said Biff.
"Borodinos or Andromedas?" asked Nova.
"Boy you know a lot
about this!" laughed Biff.
"I sort of work with
what you design," said Nova. "You could say that Derek and I are
end-users of your spaceship designs..."
A while later, after more
drinking at the bar, Derek Wildstar found himself at Maria DeSanchez's
apartment. They were both drunk. She played him music, and they danced around
and around the living room. Finally, without a thought for Nova, he let her
undress him, and they fell nude into bed and in a giddy, drunken state, performed
the obvious coupling. Then, they drank a bit more and fell asleep.
At 0500 in the morning,
Derek realized where he was. He got up, showered, and quickly kissed Maria
goodbye. After they had a shouting argument, Derek left to go and see Priceman
at the fighter base.
Nova awoke the next morning
at her own house. After dinner at her parents', Biff had been a perfect
gentleman and had taken her home. She had expected to find Derek passed out in
their bedroom when she got back, but when she didn't find him, she began to get
worried. She called the police, and then called the fighter base. The duty
officer said they would have Derek call her when and if he showed up. Worried
sick, and having dark thoughts about where Derek might be, Nova paced the
kitchen at 0500, waiting for a call from Derek, the police, or the base.
"Like the Yamato?"
Brad asked while he and Nova sat together again later that day at her parents'
place looking at a model of her husband's last command, . Now, she wore a
favorite outfit of Derek's...a pink romper with nearly knee-high boots. Brad
thought she looked damn cute in her outfit.
"Yes."
"That was my baby. My
pride and joy. A little 'did you know'. My ancestor was the one who shot down
the original commander Yamamoto over the Pacific in 1943."
"You don't say."
Nova's eyebrows arched in interest. Brad never mentioned this.
"I'll get it,"
Karl announced as the telephone rang from the kitchen.
"We have another half
an hour until dinner," Terri smiled. "Do tell us more about your
brave ancestor."
Maria DeSantos smiled at
the sleeping figure in her bed. The Puerto Rican-born nurse had spent several
hours with Captain Derek Wildstar engaged in the most passionate, dirtiest sex
she ever experienced. So what if he was married to Nova. Maria was the
proverbial poor girl from the streets while "Ms. Thing" was the rich
spoiled princess who had everything. So what if the marriage was on the
rocks. Ms. Thing was damaged goods. Firing blanks. Running on empty. Sorry,
Nova dear. He's mine. thought DeSanchez with a lustful expression on her
face.
Later that evening, Nova
drove home and entered the driveway, seeing Derek's car. Smiling, she entered
the house and proceeded upstairs, dropping clothes along the way until she
entered the bedroom, her nude athletic frame shimmering in the moonlight. Nova
got into bed and leaned over her sleeping husband when a sweet vanilla-orangey
smell caught her nostrils. Perfume, but it was not hers.
"Oh, Derek," Nova
sighed. "Please tell me you didn't."
Yet, the evidence was clear
as crystal as was the lipstick and hicky on his neck. Nova decided to pretend
it did not happen. She was just seeing things. When he awoke later on, they
discussed Captain Priceman's punishment...extra duty for the next week with his
squadron of screwups, the "Wildcards." Then, refusing to discuss the
clear evidence, Nova lay nude waiting for him as he showered.
A ton of guilt washed over
Derek as he slipped back into his wife's arms. He almost wanted to just confess
everything, but, even after they made love, the silence was just as pregnant as
Nova could never get. They held each other and fell asleep.
Over the next week, he and
Nova grew closer again when he was able to see her accounting to his extra
duty. They agreed to a nice dinner that night at the Officer's Club.
To dinner, Derek wore his
uniform with his dress peacoat and cap. Nova wore a powder-blue shirtdress that
Derek had just got her and navy blue slide sandals. Despite their fight, Hardy
smiled as he watched the young lovers talking over dinner. Looks like they
made up, he thought. Good. They're too damn cute to split up....
That night, Nova lay in
Derek's arms, with the bedroom filled with the subtle scent of the violet
perfume she liked. They had just shared an hours' worth of passionate love.
"Nova...I've got some
things to tell you..." said Derek in a serious tone of voice.
"And...uh...I have to apologize."
"Confession
time?" she asked softly.
Derek nodded.
"You know...I have
some things to tell you, too. But...not now."
"Why not?"
"Dearest...I don't
want to ruin the moment. Oh...Derek..?"
"Yes?"
"Am I damaged
goods?" she asked in a plaintive voice. "Would you ever throw me
away?"
"No...you're
not," said Derek. "Nova, I love you..."
"Derek."
As they fell asleep
together, an impulse caused Derek to look up at the calendar that hung on the
wall. It was a pretty calendar with a picture of a jungle cat on it. The date
was September 5, 2207, a Saturday night.
Tomorrow, they would gather
at Heroes' Hill to honor Yamato's dead. Derek didn't yet know it, but
this night would be the beginning of the end for their relationship...he later
asked himself what would have gone differently if they had just confessed their
peccadilloes and sins to each other that night.
At Heroes' Hill the next
day, the sun was bright. It was hot as they gathered to commemorate the day
that Yamato had come home from Iscandar seven years ago. Derek wore a
short navy-blue Captain's dress coat over his blue uniform, while Nova wore red
shorts, a multicolored tube top, and dark gold platform sandals.
Bryan Hartcliffe came up to
them with a leer on his face. "Hey, Wildstar," he said. "How's
it hangin'?"
"Fine," said
Wildstar. He didn't like Hartcliffe much and was glad that he wasn't in his
Flight Group. The long-haired British pilot served with the Jolly Rogers and he
had already been divorced once. He and his ex, another pilot, didn't speak to
each other.
"How's the damaged
goods on yer lap? Too bad she's sterile."
"Hartcliffe,"
snapped Nova. "You're drunk already at noon and you disgust me. Get
out of here!"
"Nova, you know he's
been boffin' Maria DeSanchez? I 'eard they found them in a car together one
night and the MP's hushed it up."
"You're lying!"
said Nova hotly as a cold chill went through her heart. It was only once,
that one night we fought, wasn't it, Derek? she said to herself. If it
was more...I'd forgive you...if you were just honest with me.
"I ain't lyin''"
said Hartcliffe. "And I hear she's been rollin' in the hay with some dude
named Brad. Still with him, Nova? Too bad. How's about a roll with me? You got
a cute arse, luv."
Nova leapt up and slapped
Hartcliffe. Then, Derek waded in and knocked him to the ground with a vicious
punch. He knocked his glasses off, and took a blow to his cheek from Hartcliffe
as he bent over the miserable pilot. Then, Hartcliffe got up and kneed him in
the crotch.
Derek grunted as he
staggered. Nova tried to separate the combatants, but Hartcliffe yelled,
"Fuck OFF, bitch!" and threw Nova roughly onto her behind by her tube
top.
The proceedings stopped for
a moment as Derek watched his wife in shock. Her tube top had slipped down,
exposing her bosom to the crowd for a moment. She pulled it back up with a
snarl. Then, wasting no time, she flung a kick into Hartcliffe's crotch.
The thick cork sole of her shoe made sure that the blow hurt real good.
"The next time you put
your hands on me, I'll really make it hurt, Hartcliffe!"
"Nova, let me kill
him! said Derek in rage. "He can't do that to you! Are you okay?"
said Derek as he laid a hand on her bare shoulder.
Nova pushed Derek's hand
away. "No, Derek. Don't touch me until we get this straightened out! And
don't hurt him!"
"Nova, I hear you've
been sleeping around too," said Derek. "Don't tell me what the hell
to do, you fine moral example! And there you were praying in church this
morning, you...hypocrite! You're as bad as your crazy aunt!"
"I am not!"
screamed Nova. She struck Derek across the face in sheer rage. Derek just
glared at her and stood aside. We have our problems, he thought. But
never, never will I lay a hand on you, Nova. Although right now, I am fucking
tempted! I'll take it out on the Goddamn Brit instead!
At that, Wildstar bent down
and began to shake Hartcliffe like a rag doll. Nova screamed as the two of them
rolled on the flagstones, kicking over Sergeant Knox's memorial plaque. It took
Dash, Hardy, Conroy, Homer, Eager, and Yamazaki to pull the two enraged men
apart. Dr. Sane and IQ-9, in the meantime, were occupied with trying to keep
Nova from getting in there to assault her husband to stop him from killing the
pilot. They had never seen her so angry in her life.
That night, Hartcliffe,
Wildstar, and, to her intense shame, Nova spent a night in the brig at the
fighter base awaiting their court-martial. It just so happened that Nova was in
the cell next to Derek's.
Captain Wildstar banged on
the bars. "Hey, Nova. How do you like my usual cell?"
"Bug off," she
said in a broken voice as she sat on the single bunk in her cute outfit with
tears running down her cheeks. "It's all your fault! You and that stinking
temper of yours!"
"The brig isn't so
bad."
"Derek, I'm a
professional officer, even if you're not acting like one any more. When I was
strip-searched, I was never so embarrassed in my life!"
"Hear the matron
thought you were cute."
"I said, BUG OFF,
Derek Wildstar!" cried Nova. "Leave me alone!"
"What about our
problems?'
"Derek, I refuse to
discuss them here in front of those guards! Good night!"
All three of them were up
before Priceman and his special court-martial board the next day in a simulated
walnut-paneled military courtroom that looked very grim. Hartcliffe was busted
down to Ensign and fined a thousand credits and sentenced to three months in
the brig. Derek Wildstar shook his head as Nova was reduced in rank from
Lieutenant Commander back to Lieutenant, Senior Grade. She was also fined, but
only five hundred credits. She was given a one-month suspended brig sentence
and ordered to serve extra punishment duty for a week.
Captain Wildstar was fined
two thousand credits. Priceman, now promoted to Commodore, said, "I'm not
reducing you in rank, Captain, because, unfortunately, I need you here to
continue training, and the EDF needs you in command of Yamato again when
they finish rebuilding her wreck, which, as you know, they have just returned
to Earth. But, if this ever happens again, I'll take your rank so Goddamn fast
you won't know what hit you. I also give you a direct order."
"Yessir?"
"You're setting a bad
example. Go make up with your wife and keep your lovers' spats off of Heroes'
Hill. And, remember, both of you, adultery can be considered conduct unbecoming
an officer if we find real evidence. I've heard rumors about you two lovebirds.
Put a sock on those rumors, Captain! Got it?"
"Yessir," said
Derek and Nova together. They then shared a kiss, but there was little passion
left in it and they didn't hold their hug for very long. They left the
courtroom without holding hands.
There was now plainly a
public rift in their relationship. It wouldn't be long before the tabloids
found out about it.
Two weeks later, their
mutual affairs were still going on and, along with Brad's overhearing Wildstar
bragging about it at the diner, it was now clear that Wildstar had grown
disenchanted with his sterile wife and was looking for someone else. Nova found
comfort in Brad's arms and the ex-quarterback/military architect proved to be a
rock of support and a friendly ear to bend. Nova also found that her old
feelings for Brad was starting to resurface somewhat, but she would not bring
herself to "do the deed" yet as she still had hope.
SOME WEEKS LATER...IN
OCTOBER 2207
"Captain
Wildstar," Commodore Priceman glowered at the man before him. "This
is the third time that you are before this tribunal."
"Yes, sir,"
Wildstar replied.
"Drunken behavior.
Conduct unbecoming an officer. Now this set of charges for negligence leading
to the death of military personnel. All over again!"
"I offer no excuses,
sir. The responsibility was all mine."
Wildstar had led the
cadets, not so affectionately called 'Wildstar's Wildcards', on a training run
in simulated combat conditions. He had a shoving match with Dash beforehand
about his cheating on Nova and his mind was not focused entirely on the
business at hand. Two of the cadets, Michelle Priceman and Kazuo Yamamani,
offspring of two of the EDF commanders, collided during the run and were killed
when their planes crashed.
"Explain why we don't
charge you with criminal negligence," Captain Yamamani growled.
"I can't, sir. Your
children were excellent cadets with promising futures. I would've gladly
recommended them for the Yamato had the ship not been in refit then. My
mind was on other matters. I am truly sorry for their deaths and for not paying
more attention."
Nova and Brad watched
silently from the gallery as witness after witness gave damning testimony about
all of Wildstar's faults, from drunkenness to insubordination, combined with
his many physical attacks upon fellow officers. Her heart sank as her husband stood
stoically, not offering one bit of defense for his actions. Despite their
distance, she still maintained a hope that they could somehow put things
right...if they could just bring themselves to sit down and confess everything,
that is.
"Captain Derek
Wildstar," Priceman intoned, a small iota of pleasure in his voice.
"You have been found guilty of all charges. Do you have anything to say in
your defense?"
"I do not. Only that I
was irresponsible and that, because of it, two of the most promising recruits
that I ever had, died because of my stupidity. The only thing I can ask is
forgiveness."
"I can't speak for the
Captain but I find that rather unlikely. As head of this tribunal, I sentence
you to be stripped of your rank and knocked down to Lieutenant Commander and to
be confined to the brig not less than nine months."
"I understand and
thank you for your leniency."
"Take him down."
Wildstar followed the
Military Police out of the courtroom, ignoring Nova and Brad's sympathetic
expressions. Later, that night Nova stayed with Brad who consoled his sobbing
ex-girlfriend. Suddenly, the two found themselves with their faces almost
touching. Nova resisted at first, not wanting to risk her marriage, but after
seeing that Derek had no qualms and that he would be incarcerated for almost a
year, she found her feelings for Brad returning in a flood and the two found
themselves in the throes of mad passionate love. Forgive me, Derek; she
thought afterwards as she and Brad lay in bed sharing a cigarette. But
what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
THREE MONTHS
LATER....NEAR CHRISTMAS OF 2207
In the brig's visiting
room, Maria DeSanchez had a guard pass back to Wildstar the lovers' ring of
sapphire (her birthstone) that he had given her.
"Goodbye, Derek,"
Maria intoned solemnly. "It's over between us."
"Maria?" Wildstar
gasped. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"I met someone else. A
pilot on the Gideon."
"But what about
us?"
"It was just a fling,
flyboy. Besides, I have a problem with being with someone who kills their
cadets without any pangs of conscience."
"That was an
accident!"
"Maybe. But my mind is
made up. So long."
Wildstar could only watch
as Maria walked stone-faced out the door as Elizabeth walked into the visitors'
room
Their first meeting in the
brig did not go well. He was at first cold to her because she was friends with
Nova since seventh grade. However, a bond slowly formed over the next few weeks
as Elizabeth could feel something developing between her and Wildstar. There
was something appealing about that boyish figure in the brig. Something
vulnerable. Given this fact, Elizabeth could see why Nova loved him.
"I can't believe
it," said Derek to Elizabeth one day.
"What's wrong?"
Derek wiped his nose on the
sleeve of his drab striped prisoners' jumpsuit. "Nova never comes by to
visit any longer."
"Why not?"
"We had two meetings
while I was here in the brig. Neither of them went well. She writes to me, but
hasn't come by to see me in three weeks. I wonder what's going on?"
"I can't say..."
lied Elizabeth. She had just spoken to Nova last night at a cafe. She knew how
close she was getting to Brad, and she knew that her friend's feelings for the
man she had been passionately in love with over the years were fading. However,
she didn't want to tell Derek this. He didn't need the bad news, particularly
because she knew that Maria had broken up with him. Also...her feelings for
Derek were growing, as well. Elizabeth felt as guilty as hell for stealing a
dear friend's husband (if it was that), but, she reasoned, How can you steal
what is being freely given?
ONE AND A HALF MONTHS
LATER
FEBRUARY 3, 2208--NOVA
WILDSTAR'S BIRTHDAY
"He isn't worth it,
Nova," Terri Forrester intoned solemnly while Nova dolefully ate some of
her birthday cake while wiping away tears. Nova remembered sadly that every
year since 2200, Derek had given her a nice birthday present, even when he had
been away in space. Now, nothing came from him...not even a card, which she
knew he could have bought from the commissary in the brig.
"Now, Terri,"
Karl put in.
"No, Karl. He is a
drunk. He gets into fights and mouths off to his superior officers. He got two
cadets killed. Nova doesn't need him. They're getting near their second
anniversary in April, and she's had enough of him."
"So what are you
suggesting?" Nova asked, though she could see the answer coming ten
megameters away.
"Divorce him. You
don't need that kind of hassle."
"You can't be
serious," Karl interjected. "Just because of a lapse in judgement."
"Uh, dad," Nova
interrupted. "Mouthing off is a lapse. Getting cadets killed is
irresponsible. Derek is lucky that Priceman and Yamamani didn't charge him with
murder."
Nova thought a moment.
Almost two years that she and Wildstar were married and it was rocky at best
because of her sterility and Wildstar getting into fights because of the jokes.
Now, her husband had decided that he no longer wanted "damaged goods"
so he started to sow his wild oats with a fellow nurse. Of course, she had done
the same with Brad, and it felt startlingly good. Derek was special and Nova
did not want to lose it although it was becoming more and more likely that the
marriage was heading for collapse.
"Very well," she
sighed. "I shall file."
"Good girl,"
Terri smiled. "You won't regret this."
"Are you sure,
kiddo?" Karl queried. "After all you two went through?"
"Perhaps it is best.
Derek is not behaving like the man I married."
"Couldn't you at least
give him an out?"
Nova smiled at that. She
decided to do just that-send Wildstar the divorce papers along with a letter
proclaiming her love and that if he wanted to fight the divorce, she would back
off, calling it a mistake. That way they could still work out their marriage.
ALMOST TWO MONTHS LATER,
LATE MARCH 2208.
Commander Derek Wildstar
looked at the papers blankly in the brig as Elizabeth watched. She hated being
the bearer of bad news almost as much as she hated to be the cause of the
divorce, but she lately had been seeing the prisoner and had fallen in love with
him. Wildstar took the note and ripped it up and, with a cruel smile, wrote one
of his own in his native Japanese.
"Are you going through
with the divorce?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well," Wildstar
replied. "It does seem to be what she wants."
"But, you're the
perfect couple."
"Please. She can't
bear kids and can't appreciate me. Her mother can't stand me. The only one I
really like is the old man. It didn't even last two years. Being married to her
was an utter failure."
"It is up to you, but
I would really think about this. Is this what you really want?"
Yet, Wildstar had made up
his mind. Elizabeth had been visiting him everyday and their friendship was
starting to develop into something more. He thought, What do I need that
skinny useless bimbo for anymore? Nova had her ex-high school sweetheart
now and was obviously happy. He took the divorce papers, looked them over
before signing and gave them and the note to Elizabeth who was feeling more and
more like the bad guy in all this mess.
APRIL 3, 2208
FOUR DAYS BEFORE DEREK
AND NOVA'S SECOND ANNIVERSARY.
A few days later, Nova
stared at the letter with tears welling in her eyes as her parents and Brad
watched.
"Nova?" Karl
queried. "What's wrong?"
"It's Derek,"
Nova whispered. "He wants the divorce."
"Let me see,"
Terri took the note. "It's in Japanese. What the hell does it say?"
"Let me," Brad
put in. "I studied in Japan my sophomore and junior year in college like
Nova did."
"Well? What does it
say?"
"I'll spare you the
full letter, but in short, 'I divorce you and I don't ever want to see your
face ever again, you dishonorable woman'."
"Damn you,
Derek!" Nova sobbed. "I don't want this!"
"Well, he does...
unfortunately."
There was a knock on the
door. Terri answered it and immediately recognized the man as being a deputy
bearing Court papers granting the divorce Nova had filed for on grounds of
inhuman treatment. Nova read them blankly, almost robotic as if not believing
it. She noticed Brad rather awkwardly kneeling down while pulling a ring out of
his pocket.
"She accepts,"
Terri put in. "Nova doesn't need a drunken troublemaker."
"Terri--" Karl
started.
"No, Karl. She needs
stability. She needs a man who will take care of her. Biff is that man. Accept
him, Nova."
"Very well," Nova
smiled, her eyes moist. "I will marry you."
Then, she shocked Brad and
her parents by turning tail and running off into her old room, slamming the
door as she went.
In seclusion, Nova went
through her collection of old 20th to 22nd century music and found the tape she
wanted in a moment. She put on track #27 of her album and lay on her bed and
wept to the strains of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds". It
was quite a while before anyone could talk her out of her seclusion to meet
with her new fiancée, who wondered briefly if his fiancé was mentally
disturbed, and said so to Karl.
"No, she's not,"
said Karl. "Can't you see that she's just been through the biggest shock
of her life? Give her time, Brad."
"Yes. She will go
through with it," said Terri. "I will make sure of it."
"How?"
"If she doesn't,"
said Terri. "She is no longer our daughter, no longer welcome in this
house, and disinherited. Make that clear to her!"
"Right," said
Brad, who shook his head in disbelief.
THREE AND A HALF MONTHS
LATER
JULY 16, 2208
Freedom. How glorious that
word sounded to him. The fresh air blowing through his unruly mane. The sun
shining down on him. Nine months in that hole plus he had recently gotten
divorced from his "love" Nova Forrester, which was fine with him. He
also heard that she and Brad had gotten engaged. Fine. He thought with
bitterness. Let him deal with damaged goods. Wildstar had Elizabeth.
She is a very lovely and FUNCTIONING woman, he thought. She was waiting for
him outside. The two had decided while Wildstar was imprisoned that they would
elope, Elizabeth suggesting the Grand Star Hotel. Derek decided on a simple
gray suit and his betrothed a wore simple yet elegant white dress and evening
shoes, a lily adorning her hair.
"Outside for pictures,
please," the photographer smiled.
The couple followed outside
to where a gazebo stood waiting. It was a relatively small reception, only the
couple and maybe several of their friends. The group noticed that a couple was
already there taking photographs. The groom wore an expensive gray-on-black
tuxedo and the bride a cream-colored skirtsuit and pumps, with a corsage on her
lapel and her dirty-blonde hair adorned with white flowers.
"Derek?"
It was Nova. "Well, this is a nice surprise! Let me wish you luck on your
new life and give you my new e-mail address so we can keep in touch. We can be
friends, right? We've been through so much together on Yamato."
"Well," Wildstar
smiled acidly, venom drenching each word. "Got over me fast enough."
he turned to Brad. "Hope you don't mind marrying damaged goods."
"That was uncalled
for, Derek!" Elizabeth hissed. She turned to Brad and Nova.
"Congratulations, you two. I hope you have a happy life."
"Thank you," Brad
replied.
"We can take our
pictures later," Wildstar told the photographer with them. "It is
obviously occupied right now. Don't forget to fumigate it though."
"Derek!" cried
Nova, who was very insulted. "Act like a human being, please? You
know I'm a very clean person!"
"Nova, drop
dead." he hissed. He turned his back on Nova and walked back to the hall
in icy silence, ignoring her tearful face as she regarded him with a mix of
sorrow and anger.
"Elizabeth," said
Nova. "I just want to be his friend. What we had is in the past now. Why
can't he respect that?"
"Nova, I'm not sure
what so say. I'm so sorry," said Elizabeth. She gave Nova some quick
consolation with a wordless hug before going back inside, leaving the
now-not-so-happy-Mr. and Mrs. Bradford Maxwell.
"You were married to
him?" Brad asked in disbelief.
"Unfortunately,"
Nova replied, her voice hollow.
"Well, that is past.
You're my wife and I shall treat you with a whole lot more respect that our
good Commander."
"Hmm."
"Come on, Nova. It's
our wedding for Christ's sake. Don't let anyone be a wet blanket. It's our day.
Let's enjoy it. Then it's three weeks in Monte Carlo to forget it all."
"You're right." A
smile fixed itself on Nova's face. A sad funereal smile. "Let's not keep
the guests waiting."
She looked back one last
time at Derek and Elizabeth partying in the other hall before she let Brad walk
her back to her wedding reception.
TEN YEARS LATER
JULY 20, 2218
Derek Wildstar sat on the
porch smiling at his eight-year-old daughter Denise. It had been ten years
since he married Elizabeth and it was the happiest ten years of his life.
Despite the occasional bump, it was smooth sailing and he would not have it any
other way. On the other hand, as he was reading in the newspaper and enjoying a
laugh, his ex-wife Nova was having problems with her own matrimonial affairs.
She had just finished settling a healthy alimony from her fourth husband
(counting himself) who was an arms merchant. Hubby Number two, AKA Brad or Biff,
had died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage two years after his marriage to Nova
and Number Three, an oil tycoon had cheated on her with his secretary. Karma
is a bitch, isn't it, Nova, he thought with a mean grin as he drew a
mustache, beard stubble, devil's horns, and missing teeth on her picture in the
paper.
At her parents' new house
in the Megalopolis that he replaced the apartment that they had sold, Nova was
sitting in the living room with Karl in her peacoat. She had just completed the
three-year Fleet Officer's program and was now a full Captain, living on her
own. The two were sharing a cup of tea while Terri was doing some gardening in
the backyard.
"I saw Elizabeth
earlier today," Karl started.
"How is she?"
Nova replied.
"She is doing fine.
Denise is a cutie."
"Takes after her
parents." A sad smile appeared on Nova's face
"I know how you feel,
kiddo. I like Derek also."
"No e-mail. No calls.
No letters. I didn't want Derek shut out of my life altogether. That was his
choice."
"Nova?" Terri
entered. "What time was your meeting with General Singleton?"
"3:00. Why?"
"It's almost ten of
now."
"OH SHIT!"
Karl and Terri gasped as
they looked at each other. In all her thirty-seven years since her birth in
2181, Nova had rarely, if ever, sworn. Nova bolted out of the door and flew
down the steps into her waiting hovercar. GODDAMMIT! Fine example I set!
she said to herself as she almost fell on her high-heeled service boots while
getting into her new lime-green aircar. The shiny hovercar roared down the
highway, its driver cursing every four-letter word in the English language
mentally and ignoring or violating every traffic edict on the books.
Nova came off the
expressway at an off-ramp and roared through a red light. Some truck driver
yelled "Crazy bitch!" out the window and gave her the finger. She
took a sharp left at an angle that almost knocked the aircar off its suspensor
field and roared down a wide street near Earth Defense Headquarters.
Suddenly, three figures
crossed in front of Nova at the intersection of Memorial Way and Knox Street.
It was man about her age with his wife and nine-year-old daughter. It was
DEREK! And she was careening right into them. Nova almost rammed her foot
through the floorboard trying to slow the car down but it caught the woman and
the girl with a sickening thud at the intersection a few meters ahead of the
white stop line, sending them flying. The girl landed with her spine and neck
broken; dead before she hit the ground. The woman lay in agony in a pool of
blood as Nova got out, scalding tears of guilt burning her cheeks.
"Oh my GOD!" she
gasped. "Elizabeth! Denise, they're hurt! Somebody get an ambulance!
NOW!"
"YOU FUCKING
BITCH!" Wildstar was in hysterics as he held his daughter's broken corpse.
"YOU MURDERER!"
"I AM SO SORRY! IT WAS
AN ACCIDENT!"
"BULLSHIT! YOU DID IT
ON PURPOSE!"
"I DID NOT! I SWEAR TO
GOD I DIDN'T SEE YOU, DEREK!"
"LIAR! I HOPE YOU BURN
IN HELL, NOVA!"
Nova tried to help
Elizabeth, but Derek slapped her away. It was the first time he had ever struck
Nova in his life.
The bitter, hateful
argument continued with both participants sobbing, Wildstar in rage and Nova in
guilt. Wildstar had to be restrained as so not to fly at Nova and murder her on
the spot. Nova tearfully gave what medical assistance she could to the dying
Elizabeth while the ambulance made its way to the scene.
She rode with her friend in
the ambulance; Derek followed in a police car behind. The police, wisely,
wouldn't let the former couple ride together in the ambulance. So it was that
Elizabeth Wildstar died with Captain Nova Forrester holding her hand.
Later, Wildstar stormed to
the police station, pressing charges against his ex, but it never went to
trial. The funeral was the following day and matters were awkward when Nova
showed to express her condolences and barely anyone from Yamato spoke to
her. Derek thanked her, but he was like a robot, refusing to look at her as
they shook hands near his daughter's closed casket. Nova also laid a flower on
Elizabeth's folded hands in her casket. As she looked down at her friend's
body, and noticed that Derek had his back turned to her, whatever hope Nova had
of reconciliation went out the window.
THE END