ALTERNATE
TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---A STRANGE INTERLUDE…
Being the fifth part of THE
NEW COMET--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
This Act is being completed with the
Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---Freddo
ACT ONE: THE PACE OF THE
WAR…
I. THE SHIPPING WAR…
Space Battleship
The Vicinity of Alpha
Centauri
Tuesday August 12, 2206
1232 Hours: Earth Time
Ten
days had passed for the crew of the space battleship
Conroy,
Deke, Brew, and the other Sun Tigers were just taking off as a number of enemy
Scorpion ships launched from the Cometine carrier and began to shoot at the
part of the convoy that was coming in; namely, the heavy bulk freighter Evangeline and the EDF space frigates
that were escorting her.
One of the
frigates, the space frigate Perkins,
had taken several hits and was burning, along with the patrol cruiser Huron, the flagship of the Escort
Squadron that was bringing in the Evangeline
and the other freighters like her to bring supplies for the EDF base on Alpha
Centauri.
“This
is the Huron!” said the ship’s
communication officer as the battered cruiser took a few more hits from the
circling Cometine gunboats. “These guys are coming at us like maniacs! A few
more hits and they’ve got us!”
Hang on guys, thought Cory
Conroy from the cockpit of his plane as he overheard. We’re coming…
“
“Roger
that!” said
“ROGER!”
they said.
“Think
we can dodge him, sir?” asked
“Easy
as cake,” said
But,
one of the laser shots pinged hard against the Tiger’s fuselage and hit some
electrical systems.
The
damage to the plane was minor; Deke lost a few secondary instruments on the
port side of his cockpit as an overload made them blow up. The Tiger could fly
without them.
But,
the explosion filled the cockpit with sparks and a tongue of open flame, and
smoke, deadly smoke.
“CRPIES!”
yelled
“Sir?”
asked the RSO, who was named Ensign Tim Geary. “Sir?”
“How
bad?” snapped Conroy.
“Life
support avionics indicators and the avionics indicators for the engine are all
FUBAR’d, along with my arm. I still have throttle control and can fight.”
“Get
out of there and return to base,” said Conroy.
“Sir?”
“I
said, give command to Ensign Simon and return to base…do you copy?”
demanded Conroy. “You’re no damn good out there wounded with a damaged ship,
Mister! I can see that you’re smoking from here,
Sticks!”
“Over,”
said a reluctant
The
next few minutes were a blur of pain for
Deke
stumbled out and tried to secure the lousy combat dressing he had put on his
wounded (and very bloody) arm, but he had his hand grabbed a minute later by a
medic. “What?” he barled.
“Sir!
Get your ass on this litter! You’re going right to Sickbay!”
“I
can walk,” argued
“It
is not logical to assume you can walk!” barked IQ-9 as he pulled
Deke
was about to retort with a smart comment when he heard a familiar voice in his
ear. “Deke, just…sit down on that litter!”
He
looked around and saw Nova Wildstar looking at him. She was leaning on the
litter and tapping a white boot on the deck in something like impatience or
disgust.
“Oh,
great, now Den Mother has to show up!”
“Is
that what they’re calling me in the Sun Tiger barracks now, Dekesticks?” said Nova, who looked
amused. “It sounds funny. But your arm isn’t. Your bleeding all over your
cockpit was NO laughing matter, Deke!”
“So?”
“So,
SHUT UP and let us treat you! NOW!” snapped Nova.
“Do
I have a choice?” said
“I
wonder if Commodore Wildstar gets that at home?” said some other wag from one
of the flight crews.
“Oh,
he sure does, especially when he acts
stupid!” said Nova. Nova nodded to the robot, who pushed
“Pulse,
blood pressure, and tempature all within normal parameters,” said IQ-9 as they
worked on
Nova
shook her head sadly as she saw them pulling a sheet over the man’s face.
“Who
was that?” muttered Deke.
“
“He
was a good guy on the upper port…flight deck crew…”
“He
was until that missile got him,” said Nova sadly. “We cleared the battle just
eight minutes before we got you in. We did
get that carrier.”
“Good,”
said a woozy Deke. “Nova, when can I fly again?”
“Not
for me to determine,” she said as she got a clamp ready. “That’s the doctor’s
job. Grit your teeth…this one will HURT.”
Deke
did so, and he grunted as Nova dug in…it did
hurt…even with the shot.
“Where
was that?” said Deke as he felt something like a burning sensation and smelled
smoke. “What’s that odor?”
“You,”
said Nova with what Deke guessed may have been a smile under her surgical mask.
“IQ and I had to use the old laser cautery probe on you. We got some bleeders.”
Doctor
Bradford came over a minute later. “How’s your prize patient, Mrs. Wildstar?”
“Printout’s
right there, ma’am.” said Nova. “The lacerations are a bit worse than we
thought, and some tendons have been nicked. I had to give him more local; if I
have to go any deeper, he’s going to have to be put out.”
“Not
bad given that you had just been relieved by that alien Rosstowski girl a few
minutes beforehand. I still haven’t figured out what you two did to stop
Ekogaru’s Fortress years ago when things were worse than this.”
Nova
nodded and asked (while
“Carry
on with him,” said Doctor Bradford with a nod as she adjusted her glasses and
scribbled an order onto
“Yes,
ma’am,” said Nova with all of the enthusiasm that Deke had given Conroy before
when he had been ordered back to base.
“What’s
up?” he asked as
“It’s
nothing, Deke,” said Nova with lowered eyes as she got some more tools. “We can
discuss this when you’re done…you’ll be here overnight.”
“What?”
said
“The
doctor just admitted you to Sickbay for twenty-four hours. Observation. We need
to know if infection or sepsis sets in from that wound before you’re released.
Don’t worry…you’ll get lots of chicken soup and we’ll have a lot of chances to
talk.”
“That’s
just what I was afraid of,” said
About
six hours later (with the surgery done and a heavy dressing on the wound) Deke
sat in one part of Sickbay with his shirt, undershirt, and uniform slacks and
boots off on an examining table behind a curtained barrier as, not far away, he
heard a zipper opening on the other side of the barrier.
He
was startled a moment later when he heard Nova’s voice. “Doctor, do we have to
do this today?”
On
the other side of the barrier, an underwear-clad Nova Wildstar faced a stern
Doctor Bradford as she readied a syringe after
“Ma’am,
I followed Regulation 2965…I made sure I had my…”
“The
shot doesn’t always work, Nova. You’re about to enter Med School once this war
ends, and I thought you had enough grey matter to know that, dear. Stop
shifting your bra strap…if we get a positive in three days, you get to come
back and show me everything…especially if you still have that birthmark on your
hip under your dainties.”
“Your
memory’s too good, ma’am,” huffed Nova as IQ-9 came in. “Hi, Nova!” he piped.
“I see you still have an innie!”
“Yes,
I do!” she snapped as an aching
“What?”
he said. “Ma’am, you have a patient in…”
“Well,
she’ll move down and she has something on,” snapped
“Ma’am,
I tied everything off in the wound when I was working on him…,” Nova protested.
A
very bemused Deke looked at Nova in her undies only long enough to keep from
squashing her as he sat down. In the meantime,
“Oh,
dear,” she said. “I thought they were tight enough in there! I’m so sorry,
Deke!”
“It’s
all right,” said Deke as he looked at Nova, trying to keep only eye contact for
the sake of courtesy…even though the sight of her in just her bra and panties
actually didn’t show that much more than she was showing in the swimsuit she
had been wearing when they had met in Boulder some years back when they had
both saved that drowning girl. Deke looked down at the deck, hearing a gasp as
Thirty
seconds later, after a cotton ball went against the inside of her elbow, Nova
jumped off the table, only to have
“Ma’am…what
was that…?”
“Get
your clothes on and help me with your patient! Unless you want to work on him
like that, that is!”
“Ohhhh,” said Nova as she grabbed her
boots, stepped into them, and pulled back on her Medical minidress. Just as she
zipped it up and unmussed her hair, IQ-9 sped up behind her and extended a long
arm to tap her on the bottom himself.
“Hey!
What’s going on here?” barked Nova.
“Just
want to see if you were all right,” said IQ.
“I
am,” she said. “Stop that right now! And get me a laser welder, portable.”
“Coming
up,” IQ said.
In
the meantime,
“Nice
to know, ma’am,” said Nova neutrally over the sound of the faucet. She gloved
up again as IQ handed her the portable laser welder.
“We’ll
close with this,” snapped
Deke
nodded, yelling a moment later as both Nova and
Finally,
Deke felt some relief when his arm was bandaged and he was given some pills by
“Ma’am?”
said Nova. Deke also looked at
“It
appears my young apprentice here has just told me what they usually call you,”
said
“Under?”
said Deke.
“Look
at the clock,” said Nova. “We had you asleep for over an hour.”
Deke
looked at a chrono in the room…it had been 1931 when he had finally gone under.
It was now 2048 Hours.
“Nova,”
said
“Yes,
ma’am,” said Nova sleepily. Deke was about to turn his head. “Don’t look down,”
she snapped, adding (in a lie) “Tinwit just got my skirt up a bit again…I’m not
quite decent.”
“Okay,
keeping eyes on the overhead, ma’am,” said Deke as Nova ran off to another part
of the examining area for a moment. In reality, Nova didn’t want Deke to see
that the lower part of her dress, her bare legs, and her boots were stained
liberally with his blood from the second ad
hoc operation they had been forced to perform. Nova quickly went to her
locker, got a new dress and underwear and her sandals, and then she stripped in
the shower room and took the boots in with her as she washed herself and her
shoes. She came back in the main part of the room a moment later just as
“Yeah,
he got me, too. Good thought, keeping his mind from looking at the mess. I
might make a doctor out of you yet, Lieutenant Commander Wildstar. Get him to
room 20-B.”
“Aye,
aye, ma’am. How long are you on tonight?”
“I
won’t get to your blood work tonight, Nova,” said
“Should
I write Derek and tell him? And what about the Captain?”
“One
step at a time. It may be psuedocyesis, for all you know…that’s why I’m testing
you like crazy. I do believe you when
you said you took your contraceptive shot as scheduled with Doctor Sane. You’re
too honest and too smart, even if you are ditzy at times. ”
“A
false pregnancy? I….that was one old sign of what they called hysteria, and…”
“We
still don’t know how the body, mind and the hormones tie together yet,
Wildstar. For that reason, don’t tell hubby, and don’t talk to the skipper
yet.”
“Ma’am,
they are beginning to talk…”
“You
know the Scuttlebutt Express by now, Wildstar. Let it chug on,” she said with a
grin.
“Yes,
ma’am.”
II. DIGGING INTO MORE
WOUNDS THAN ONE…
Space Battleship
Sickbay, Room 20-B
On the way to the Alpha
Sirius System
Tuesday August 12, 2206
2206 Hours: Earth Time
The
Earth
had an outer-rim base world in the Sirius system on the fifth planet that
orbited the main star of Alpha Sirius that it had taken over from the Cometines
in April of 2202 near the end of the Rikasha Incident. Located 8.6 lightyears
away from Earth, Alpha Sirius V was a forward base and listening post for the
EDF that the Cometines had hated to lose, just as they had hated losing Procyon
VI to the Gamilons.
Inelligence
picked up by the patrol cruiser Huron
(which survived the battle) indicated that the Cometines might be setting up to
attack that base next. So, the
While
Deke slept, Nova sat talking in his room with Captain Mark Venture, Doctor
Bradford, Brew, and IQ-9. Deke was the subject of the conversation as Nova
said, “So that’s why he calls his
weapon DJ, you think?”
Brew
nodded. “He still has quite an attachment for her, ma’am. Trouble is, she won’t recognize that he’s
alive.”
“But…someone
else does?” said
Nova
nodded. “He has a girlfriend….of sorts..from the Academy. A girl named Sasha
Petroksky.” Nova, of course, did not tell the others present her true name or
anything else about Sasha. “Trouble is, she’s about to start her third year.”
“Scuttlebutt
says they might graduate the third-years in May or June. We don’t know,” said
Venture. “And if something happens…like it did with
“It
is sad to hear that one human could treat another one the way that this Dawn
Westland person has apparently treated Junior Lieutenant Wakefield after she
grew up with him,” said IQ-9. “It makes my circuits want to short out. It is a
good thing that my Asimov circuits work well in regards to humans. Otherwise, I
may wish to harm Dawn. The same emotional subset that forces me to protect Nova
is beginning to force me to wish to protect Mister Wakefield, albeit in a
different sense, of course.”
“Funny,
hearin’ a tin can talkin’ about emotions,” said Brew.
“I
have them,” said IQ-9. “They are more
real than yours.”
Brew
looked surprised when he saw Nova looking very seriously at him. “He’s right,”
she said.
“Right?”
said Brew.
“He
is,” said
“What?”
said Brew.
“And
I feel guilty and tormented because I know she is married to Commodore
Wildstar. He knows how I feel, too. It is lucky I am not a human. He might break
my nose. But, I do have emotions. And my emotions tell me that Mister Wakefield
has been treated very badly. I feel for him. I am sorry…”
Brew
wanted to laugh again until he saw that everyone else in Deke’s hospital room
was indeed treating IQ-9 as if he was a fellow human officer. Then, Brew kept
his mouth shut. Finally, IQ’s lights blinked and he said, “Say nothing else.
Mister Wakefield is waking up…”
Deke
groaned and muttered as he came to. The pain hit him again in his arm, but he
gritted his teeth as he focused through blurry eyes upon Captain Venture, IQ-9,
Nova, Doctor Bradford, and Brew. A moment later, the hatch whizzed upon and
Conroy came in.
To
Deke’s surprise, Conroy looked at Venture and said, “Paperwork’s in, skipper.”
“Thanks,”
said Venture. Then, Mark said, “Mister Wakefield, I understand you’ve had a
very rough day….”
“Sure
have, sir,” said Deke.
“I
have something to give you for that,” said Venture with a smile. He handed Deke
a small purple box with the EDF anchor emblem on the lid in gold. Deke weakly
struggled with the box, and then he opened it, noticing now he had an IV going
into one arm. He then saw a Purple Heart medal in the box on a red velvet
background.
“You
were lucky, Deke,” said Conroy. “We lost three more guys today. But EDF is
talking about assigning us maybe six guys and planes from Sirius to help fill
the ranks up a little.”
“Dumb
questiion, sir…did we win?”
“We
beat those guys right out of the Alpha Centauri system, hopefully for good, and
we have others on ASW patrol there now. We’re going to Sirius,” said Conroy.
“We’re fixin’ your plane now, Dekesticks. I understand you’ll take a little
longer,” he said.
“How
much longer,” said Deke as he looked at
“Ten
days. You are on profile for ten days. Luckily, with our modern methods, you
should heal up by then. It’s nothing like it was, oh, two hundred years ago,
when this kind of wound might take weeks to heal up. I think we’ll have you
here as a guest for about a week.”
“A
week?” said
“I’ve
been in the hospital myself…I know it stinks,” said Venture. “We’ll make sure
you get briefed on your flight and the squadron. Your command will be waiting
for you when you get back to your plane in ten days.”
“I
hate knowing my luck’s run out,” said Deke.
“It
hasn’t,” snapped Brew.
“Why
not?” said Deke.
“Sheeit,
Dekesticks, you’re still alive,” said Brew with a grin. “I even put DJ under
the bed for you in your bag. Just don’t shoot the doc over Nova’s head with
it.”
“Don’t
worry…I made sure the ammo was cleared out, “ Nova said with a smile. “He won’t
be shooting a thing down here.”
“Yeah,”
sighed Deke. “And that’s the part I hate…”
An
hour later, after everyone else had left,
In
between bites, Nova looked at DJ, balancing the weapon on her crossed legs as
she said, “Aliscea said she had a vision about you in a dream.”
“What
sort of vision?”
“She
saw you as lost…between two worlds…both pulling at you at once,” said Nova as
she decided carefully she would not tell him (at least not yet) that in
Aliscea’s dream, the young alien had foreseen him being pulled between Earth
and Iscandar…with the pull of Iscandar, as it were, becoming closer. However,
Nova touched upon another part of what Aliscea had told her as she said, “I
think we’ve discussed this before…but she said that you had, and have, a great
antipathy towards Iscandar. Why is that?”
“She
had no ship to send it herself…and she wanted to test us…to make certain that
could we win through on her own. She told me that herself.”
“Well,
no disrespect to you, ma’am, but you can go and tell her to shove that where
the sun doesn’t shine and Right Guard fears to tread!”
Nova
looked at Deke in some surprise. “Maybe we don’t need to keep you here a week
if you can get that mad…”
Deke
realized tears were running down his cheeks involuntarily as he said, “Nova, I
lost my mother, my father, my sister
to the Gamilons and the devastation they caused upon Earth. No one is ever
going to tell me to kiss Desslok’s ass when I’d prefer to put a good military
boot up it, and no one is gonna make me forgive Starsha, or any one of her
relations in her wacky extended clan over there on Iscandar for sitting back,
going ‘la-de-da’ and pulling their mind ju-ju games when they could have fried
Desslok like a french fry with their minds if they were so powerful,
particularly if they lived next door to him and knew what he was like. Then,
they could have high-jacked a Gamilon ship or two and brought the Cosmo-DNA to
us. Starsha and her relatives can go to hell.”
If only you
knew you are dating her daughter, thought Nova to herself. I almost wish I could tell her how you feel,
but I can’t bring myself to do so and ruin something that may help you. Besides…maybe
she knows.
Nova
then looked at DJ. “Why did you name your weapon DJ?”
“I
did that in November of 2201 when we were first fighting these Cometines. Funny
how it’s almost getting on five years later. “D” stands for “Dawn”, who was
then my girlfriend, and “J” stands for Jessica…my mother. Look in my bag,
ma’am…you’ll find a picture of Dawn in there. Dawn Westland was my first
girlfriend. I grew up with her…her parents lived near mine all our lives.”
Nova
did so, pulling out a portrait of a young woman with pretty features (although
not as delicate as those of Nova or Sasha) with medium brown hair, slightly
blond bangs, and something of an impish smile. Nova looked at the picture and
pondered what Deke had told her. She also mentally remarked to herself upon her
resemblance to her mother, Lynn Westland, whom Nova herself had met in Deke’s
presence back in May at his graduation. “She looks like her mother. Is she as
kind as she is?”
“She
used to be…before I went into the military. Now, I have no idea what she’s like.”
“You
told me already how you came to break up. And all of your letters to her were
unanswered?”
Deke’s
eyes filled with tears. “Every darn one. Some even came back marked “Return to
Sender” in her handwriting…unopened. I started smoking around then. “
“I
wish you’d stop…it’s not good for you, you know.”
“I
know that. Sasha tells me that, too, in her letters.”
“Bully
for her. That girl’s got a better head on her shoulders than you give her
credit for,” said Nova. Then, there was an uncomfortable pause as Deke played
with his IV hose. He wished he could have his drumsticks, but he didn’t know
what Nova would think of crawling around on the deck under his bed in a short
dress to get his bag (not knowing that Nova, with her mild tomboy streak, had
done so while had been out with the others in the room, damn the consequences…)
“And
there were other things, too…,” said Deke.
“Such
as?”
Deke
sighed as he gathered the strength to tell this sad and tawdry tale. “I was put
through hell in my first year at the Space Fighters’ Training School in the
summer and fall of 2202. My platoon leader was an asshole named Mick Stovall. I
heard he had a brother named Lance who was also an asshole.”
“Mick?”
said Nova. “Did he end up in the Space Marines later?”
“Yes,
where he became an even worse asshole,” said Deke.
“He
was,” sighed Nova. “I ran into Mick Stovall myself once. I have a story to tell
you about Lance Stovall and Derek at some point. Lance gave Derek a very hard
time at the space school, too. He actually helped beat him up at one point in a
sordid business over a girl…”
“It
is,” said Nova.
Deke
continued. “This has to do with Dawn. Dawn lived…a very straight, good life and
was a cheerleader in high school, you know, a goody-goody type of sorts.”
“Like
me,” giggled Nova.
“What,
ma’am?”
“Another
story, another time. Back to you. So, Dawn lived a good life…”
“Until
she started at
Deke
cleared his throat. “This gets even worse. Now, Stovall was looking for some
sadistic way to get to me…to break me…to make me throw myself out of the space
school, right?”
Nova
nodded. “There are, sadly, people like that in the Service. Go on.”
“Okay,
ma’am. So, Stovall….he set things up to go to Pan Am to a party at Delta House.
While there, he meets Dawn. Her takes her to her room, gets her drunk, and
takes advantage of her in the most disgusting way possible. I mean, it involved
things like…bondage clothes….fishnet hose in black…sick and vile things I will
not even mention…”
“How
did you know about this?” asked Nova.
“The
son-of-a-bitch took pictures. And then he distributed them all over campus on the ‘Net and by actually pinning them up to
bulletin boards and lamposts. They went up with little captions attached to
them…. “Look at Plebe
“What
happened?”
“What
do you think, ma’am? We had a talk, and in the talk, the man could not help
shoving his jaw right into my fist! Of course, I was placed on Hack.”
“And
you were on your way out, right?” said Nova, who, oddly enough to Deke, had no
trace of condemnation in her eyes.
“Uh-huh.
Forced to stand a Commandant’s Mast, whole nine yards. I had talked to the
Chaplain the night before my Mast, though, Thank God I did. That was because I
told the Padre everything. And the Padre stuck up for me before my trial. It
seems the Commandant had already decided to throw me out, right? After the
Padre told him the background of how Dawn and I had grown up together and been
an item for so many years, it began to change his mind. He also told him how
and why she broke up with me, and how I sacrificed my personal feelings to go
ahead and come to the school instead of dropping out and making up with her.”
“That
spoke volumes about your commitment and potential dedication as an officer,
Deke. And it says a lot about Dawn. That is not a nice story. Did Dawn ever
straighten herself out?”
“She
did,
“What
happened to you after the incident?”
“I
was remanded to walking punishment tours, banned from any leave for the remainder
of the semester, and required to attend mandatory counseling sessions for anger
management. Stovall was thereafter brought up on charges of actions unbecoming
a gentleman and a cadet. The commandant stated that socking it to plebes was
understandable to weed out those that can't handle the rigors demanded of
military life. However, getting a non-plebe lady drunk and then seducing her,
and then spreading photos of her around to involve an emotional punch to a
fellow cadet was beyond deplorable in his book. He sent me a letter stating
these things.”
“Good
thing he did, Deke. Stovall was sick. He still is. So…?”
“Nova,
the commandant stated he had demonstrated by his actions that he lacked the
character required of an officer. Thus, he was dishonorably expelled from the
school. Mick Stovall was remanded to enlisted training having previously signed
his EDF contract at the end of his second year, committing himself to a
six-year term of enlistment. He was sent to the Space Marines as a buck private
to endure the rigors of boot camp as an infantryman.”
“I
know,” said Nova.
“How?”
said a shocked Deke.
“I
met him in 2204,” said Nova as she put DJ down on a table. She stood wringing
her hands for a moment and knelt beside Deke’s bed. “Deke, you are not to tell
anyone this, or I swear, Derek and I will rip you a new asshole if this ever
hits the Scuttlebutt Express and we trace it back to you. Is that clear?”
“Yes,
ma’am.”
“Okay,”
said Nova as she bowed her head. Then, she looked Deke straight in the eye and
said, “Mick Stovall became a Corporal by 2204. He was in a battle with the
R’Khells near Alpha Centauri when he lost a leg. He got medevaced home to
“What?”
said Deke.
“To
be specific, he put his hand up my minidress, while I was bending over him to
change a dressing, and his fingers began going into places reserved for Derek
and my doctor,” said Nova with a deep, ashamed blush. “I didn’t take it well.
In your words, his jaw ran into my fist. Tinwit, our friend IQ-9, saw me
struggling with him and protected me by giving him a concussion. He would have
torn him to pieces if I hadn’t stopped him. There are times when strong robots with unerasable crushes on you can be
useful…”
“Yeah…,”
said Deke. “I’m sorry, Nova.”
“I’m
more sorry for you,” she said. “Dawn should have written to you and apologized
for being, a, please forgive me…an utter slut.
She should have known or guessed Stovall would have put those pictures up all
over the place. She should be given a tongue-lashing for it by her mother…and I have half a mind to do so if I ever
meet her. My husband has taken some…sweet…pictures of me in…oh, you know…but I
don’t let him show the whole world.”
“Yeah,”
said Deke, who was growing sleepy.
“Deke,”
said Nova as she cleaned up and put the dishes on a cart after putting DJ away.
“Look over your letters from Sasha. Look at your lack of letters from Dawn,
and, tell me…what does that say to you?”
“I
don’t think she cares anymore,” Deke sighed. “But, I don’t know…I…”
“I
think she’s with someone else, and she’s moved on…and so should you, Deke.
Sleep well. Good night.”
Nova
then pushed out the cart and turned out the light. It was not long before Deke
was asleep.
The
dreams he dreamt were very disturbing and sad that night.
III. A REST AT MELEZART
Space Battleship Argo
In Orbit over Planet
Melezart
Deep Space: 80,000
Lightyears Away From Earth
Thursday August 14, 2206
1900 Hours
Commodore
Derek Wildstar was on the bridge of the Argo,
in his blue peacoat, watching the Black Tigers in flight practice over Melezart
as Domon reported, “I have the figures from our gunnery practice session
earlier, sir. The average rating was ninety-five percent.”
“They’re
getting better,” said Wildstar. “Work on that, Mister. Practice ends at
nineteen-thirty.”
“Yessir,”
said Domon.
The
bridge doors opened and Lt. Victoria Becker walked in, pushing a tray filled
with juice. Kitano turned his head, took a look, and got up and whistled while
Becker did a pirouette in the skirt,
blouse, boots and vest she was wearing. Her dishwater-blond mid back-length
hair was fixed in a ponytail, and she smiled as she handed a surprised Eager a
glass of punch.
“Lieutenant,
what is this?” said Wildstar.
“Sir,
you did give us permission to have a party today to celebrate the
re-restablishment of the Independent Government of Melezart?”
“I
did, but weren’t you on duty?”
“I
went off duty at eighteen-thirty, sir. Like my outfit?” she said with a smile.
“No
comment, Miss Becker,” said Derek as he figured she was busy boyfriend-trolling
down below on the observation deck. He did take some punch, though as she
handed it over with a kind but antiseptic smile like a professional office
hostess back home in the Megalopolis. “Nice glass of punch, thanks,” he said as
he thought …But someone else always does
a better job making punch on this ship and always will.
“Communication
from Earth!” said Homer as he brought up the signal.
The
crew came to attention as Commanding General Singleton came on the screen.
Singleton raised an eyebrow at Becker’s cart and outfit.
“Commodore,
did I interrupt something?” said the Commander in a calm voice.
“No,
sir. I have good news. The Independent Government of Melezart has signed off on
a Basic Charter today, sir, and they have declared their independence from the
Comet Empire. We are asking leave to escort Pyle Janlits, the Envoy, to Earth
in a few days per his request.”
“I
have agreed to meet Janlits myself already, Wildstar,” said Singleton. “I
intend to meet him in a few weeks myself aboard the space patrol cruiser Huron, which recently fought well near
Alpha Centauri. I will let you know when to leave Melezart. At that time, since
the Gamilons and Rikashans have told us they are aiding us in helping the
Melezartians and the remainder of the peoples of Rotella form an independent
defense force that will be an ally of ours, I will have you leave after your
planning with our own Admiral Gelman, skipper of the Holland and your humanitarian work is finished. Gelman should
arrive there in a week. When I send my orders, probably in early September, you
will then head to Saturn-Titan after we meet for debriefing, inspection,
repairs, and replenishment. After that, you will be reassigned to the Procyon
Sector to aid the Gamilons in heading off any further Cometine attacks, as the
“Sir,
will we be working with the
“Only
in an indirect sense. While the
“Yessir,”
said Wildstar.
“Carry
on,” said Singleton. The crew saluted, and Sandor turned to Wildstar.
“Wildstar?”
said Sandor.
“Yes?”
“Why
don’t you give me command and go get a drink at the party? It’s been a long
day, and we’re about to change watches at nineteen-thirty, anyway. I’ve got it
up here until Yamazaki takes command as OOD.”
“Okay,”
said Wildstar. “I’ll be leaving the bridge. Sandor, you have command.”
At
the party, Wildstar talked to a few people and shook a few hands, but he mostly
found himself off to the side with a punch, smiling a little as Becker flirted
with some of the Black Tigers. They flirted back.
Not so long ago, just seven years
ago, that was Nova and I, he thought to himself. He found a section of
the noisy, semi-darkened deck where there was a chair and a spotlight and he
sat in a corner. He took a sheet of paper out of his inner bridge coat pocket
that was quite precious to him. I miss
you so much… he thought as he read the letter:
August 9, 2206
Darling,
It’s barely been three months, but
it feels like ten years. I knew these space wars would pull us apart sooner or
later, but it is not easy being without you, Derek. Not at all.
You asked me how I keep my mind
off things. I work very hard, and work myself hard. Some nights, I go to sleep
exhausted, some nights, it’s normal, some nights, I am numb, and some nights,
well, those nights, I cry myself to sleep holding the white ascot I have that
smells like you, Derek.
I have something bothering me
somewhat, and I don’t know how you’d take it…it concerns my health, but it is
not that bad…just…funny…that’s the best word to describe it…funny. I’ll let you
know as soon as I have news, Derek.
How is that Becker doing holding
down my post? I recommended her because she was nice, but also because I
thought she was professional. I was sad to hear from you that she messed up
some battles.
Also, Mark is nice, but he does
some things differently as skipper compared to you. Even he takes getting used
to.
This ship sounds different at
night, it feels different, my bunk is hard, but the worst part is that it is
cold because you are not there. I wish I could declare Aliscea “trained” so I
could come home to you on the next shuttle and serve with you again, Derek.
But, we know that won’t happen yet.
I Love you and please don’t get
into trouble.
NOVA
Wildstar
smiled, shook his head, and shook tears out of his eyes. “A letter from Nova to
home,” he sighed to himself. “Just like thousands of thousands of e-mails going
home in this dragging war.” He looked at the stars while holding the letter. He
began to whistle “Scarlet Scarf” to
himself as he thought, When does this
end, God? We want normal lives. Oh, God, when does this end?
Derek
started as he felt a finger tapping on his shoulder. He turned, to be
confronted by the sight of Diane Henson there. She wore shorts, a tank top, and
flip-flops and was laughing.
“Well,
hello, sir? Why the gloomy face?” asked his long-ago ex-girlfriend.
“You
know me, Diane. You should know why,” he said with a scowl.
“Oh,
yes,” said Diane. “Sir, Vicky sent me over to ask you to get up and live a
little tonight.”
“Would
you be happy if you were worried sick
over your spouse?” snapped Derek.
“I
forgave you, Diane, for that Stovall and Parmon thing years ago…and the way we
broke up…”
“I
know…thank you, sir.”
“It
doesn’t mean I’m still not hurt. But thanks for trying to be kind.”
“You’re
welcome, sir.”
Homer
came running in. “Sir! A communication is holding for you.”
“From
the Commander?” said Wildstar.
“It’s
personal, encrypted, and in your quarters. The party says she has just 240
seconds worth of computing time, and…”
Derek
was aghast. “I don’t know if I can…”
Diane
grabbed his hands. “Derek. Go to her. Don’t worry about us. Go up and talk…”
Wildstar
got up as his mind was filled with a welter of emotions.
In
his cabin, Derek Wildstar sat in a chair before one of the many screens in the
front instrument panel that made up the forward part of his large cabin. He
typed a code into the one that had a small green light flashing below it, and,
a moment later, a wave of static came across the screen and across the
speakers. A message appeared across the screen that read LIMITED TO 240 SECONDS
PROCESSING TIME. Then, the image of a young woman with honey-blond hair above a
gold and black uniform appeared on the screen.
Derek
could barely believe he was seeing his wife. “Nova, how did you get to do
this?”
“I
asked Mark for the processing time and he gave it. I also have to try to call
Earth tonight to try and resolve a personal problem for a crew member here on
the
“I’m
not eating so well without you around. Otherwise, keeping busy.”
“Same
here,” she said. “We got some reports about what you guys have been up to out
there. Let’s leave it at that.”
“I
got your letter. You told me you were worried. What is it?”
“Something…funny
with my health…I’m seeing the doctor about it…it’s not that major…I think…”
“You
think?”
Nova
smiled in a Mona-Lisa type fashion and said, “I got a letter from Mom and Dad.
They told me to say hi to you. David and Aurora say hi, too. They said in the
letter that…that…they miss us…”
“I
thought they would,” said Derek as he realized his eyes were misting over. “I…I
miss you…more than you’d know…”
“Sometimes
I take your scarf to bed with me,” said Nova.
“Sometimes
I sleep with that picture of you
under my pillow,” said Derek with a sad smile. They paused while looking hard
at each other. Finally, Nova broke down first and just began to cry.
“Nova?”
“Derek.
I hate this! I wish you were here with me! NOW! I want to…” and she sobbed a
few more times…”I want to be in your lap, hugging you, telling you this in
person. I’ve…my health..I’ve missed something, and…”
“and
what?” said Derek through a broken sob.
“Derek…the
doctor isn’t sure yet, but…I’ve been getting sick in the mornings…craving weird
foods…I think maybe, just maybe, I might be carrying your…”
The
screen suddenly went blue, and a bland computer voice said, as the same message
scrolled across the screen “240 SECONDS PROCESSING TIME EXPIRED. MESSAGE ENDED.
ENCRYPTED MESSAGE, PERSONAL, FOR COMMODORE WILDSTAR ENDED. PRIORITY LOW. THANK
YOU.”
“Damnit,
Nova, come back!” he yelled. “Come back!”
Wildstar
fumed at the screen for a moment. He thought of ordering a channel to the
A small thing? Derek
thought. My wife might be pregnant and
I’m not there and it’s a small thing?
At
that, he just sat for a long time in torment with his head in his hands.
After
carefully drying her eyes, Nova Wildstar drank some water to calm down in the
“Okay,
there goes half the time I was able to allot from Venture for this week. Now,
let’s see if I can reach Mrs. Westland and get a few things straight,” she
said. “I get 240 seconds for this call…let’s see if she is in…”
Nova
punched in some codes and then dialed the dataphone number in the FederationNet
that connected to the comm terminal in Lynn Westland’s apartment at the Rio
Camarillo apartment complex in
“Nova!”
she laughed. “What merits a call from you? I’m quite…”
“It’s
about Deke. I’m the Living Group Leader here on the
“Is
he all right? I heard there was a major battle near Alpha, and...”
“Deke
was slightly injured, but he’s recovering,” said Nova. “But that’s not what I’m
worried about.”
“What
is it?”
“I
have to be quick…I’m sorry.
“Well,
Dawn’s been very busy. She’s been drafted into the World Health Organization
Commissioned Corps and she is at
“That’s
close to one of my MOS’es,” said Nova. “Okay. If she is a 512Delta, she must
know by know she can’t leave some wounds festering…they…”
“I
can let you know she’s tried to date…not much success…not that she tells me,
anyway. She is getting very close-mouthed to me about her personal life. I
don’t like it much, but I guess it’s part of growing up. You only look about
twenty-seven or twenty-eight, Nova. You must have been there not so long ago
yourself…kid,” said
“I’m
sorry to intrude, but I am worried about Deke. This is affecting his efficiency
as an officer. Do you think…?”
“Nova,
I’ll be honest,” sighed
“Deke
is trying to move on with his life, but this is stopping him,” said Nova.
“Please call as soon as you can, and e-mail me about it. I’m texting you my
address below my image.”
“Captured,”
said
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Now