The New Comet-A Strange Interlude-Part One

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 Arizona

The Vicinity of Alpha Centauri

Tuesday August 12, 2206

1232 Hours: Earth Time

Ten days had passed for the crew of the space battleship Arizona as the Cometines continued their war by launching another small raid from a light carrier upon an Earth convoy a few days after their last battle.

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…

“Wakefield!” ordered Conroy. “Your flight is the first one in…protect the Escort Squadron flagship!”

“Roger that!” said Wakefield. “Okay, let’s go on in…keep sharp…the Huron is still fighting back and we don’t wanna get hit by friendly fire in this furball with those greenies! Simon, Venable…you two stay in close and keep sharp!”

“ROGER!” they said.

Wakefield did a hard jink to port, relaxed, and pumped a missile into one of the Scorpions, blowing him apart even as he dodged fire from the gunboat’s heavy gun emplacement on its top. His tail gunner blew apart a second plane, but they found themselves in a tight intercept course with a third ship a moment later.

“Think we can dodge him, sir?” asked Wakefield’s new RSO. His old one had been switched to another plane ten days ago as a relief and had died in the last battle.

“Easy as cake,” said Wakefield as he lined up his sights on the Scorpion. He shot up the plane, nearly ignoring it as a few shots from the enemy boat skipped around his Tiger like burning brands.

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 Wakefield as he grabbed a fire extinguisher and worked at putting out the blaze. He did so in a minute, and then wondered where the dull pain in his left bicep was coming from. “Damnit!”

Wakefield got his answer a moment later when he saw several splinters of glass and quite a few splinters of metal and plastic sticking out of his arm.

“Sir?” asked the RSO, who was named Ensign Tim Geary. “Sir?”

Wakefield opened a comm channel to Conroy. “Boss, this is Bravo Flight Leader, Second Squadron. I’m going to be going a little slower…I’m hit…over?”

“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 Wakefield as he looked out and saw smoke and flame trailing out of his fuselage. Great, this bird’s more screwed up than I thought, he hissed to himself. “Simon, take command!” said Wakefield. “I’m damaged and retreating to base!” he said as he began to pull away with a salute. He gritted his teeth with pain as he worked the throttle and found that he wasn’t just going to be a little slower…he was going to be a lot slower. I’ll stink in combat like this, he thought.

The next few minutes were a blur of pain for Wakefield as he flew on, guarded by his tail gunner, who worked double duty to protect the rest of the crew while two more Scorpions pounced on the burning ship on the way home. The pain got worse and made Wakefield’s eyes water as he reported that he was about to make an emergency landing. He still managed to line up on his normal spot on the Arizona, however, and he made a normal (if somewhat bumpier) landing as a crash crew surrounded the smoking plane and got the fire out.

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 Wakefield as he threw off his helmet and gritted his teeth in pain.

“It is not logical to assume you can walk!” barked IQ-9 as he pulled Wakefield’s helmet out of his hands.

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 Wakefield as he laid himself down.

“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 Wakefield to Sickbay as IQ and she followed.

“Pulse, blood pressure, and tempature all within normal parameters,” said IQ-9 as they worked on Wakefield in one of the beds in a rapidly crowded Sickbay. To his surprise, Deke was still vaguely awake under a local anesthetic for the field surgery he had to go through, and Nova was doing most of it, since Doctor Bradford was circulating among Sickbay with a bloody lab coat on looking at or working on other patients. Not far away, Bradford gave a curt nod a moment after someone’s monitors flat-lined for the third time and three attempts with the defibrillator paddles produced nothing.

Nova shook her head sadly as she saw them pulling a sheet over the man’s face.

“Who was that?” muttered Deke.

“Claremont just coded out,” said Nova.

“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 Bradford examined the paperwork) “Carry on as I’ve been doing, then?”

“Carry on with him,” said Doctor Bradford with a nod as she adjusted her glasses and scribbled an order onto Wakefield’s chart. “But I want to see you later on in my office, young lady. Something you disclosed on your last 12-2519 Form today obligates a fresh medical contact to look into it.”

“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 Bradford left.

“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 Wakefield.

“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 Wakefield.

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 Bradford had poked and prodded her bare stomach a few times, written up the results, and then had listened to her heart. “I have to, Wildstar. The urine test was inconclusive, and it’ll take me some days to get a positive or negative with this assay.”

“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 Wakefield had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. He was wondering if Nova had more to worry about than he did when he felt a great wave of pain going through his arm. He looked down and saw that some of Nova’s sutures had come loose and he was bleeding. In fact, he was bleeding very heavily. “Oh, cripes!” he yelled as his blood pattered upon the non-slip deck like rain.

Bradford ran in a moment with a syringe in her hand. She gave Wakefield a very dirty look and opened and slammed shut a cabinet. The pretty but-severe looking woman opened a drawer, and then said, “thanks to these dumb-ass medics who do not stock the cabinets correctly, you’ll have to come around in here, Wakefield!”

“What?” he said. “Ma’am, you have a patient in…”

“Well, she’ll move down and she has something on,” snapped Bradford. She held a heavy pad against Deke’s arm and said, “Sit down and squeeze that…hard! Nova, we’ve got a venous bleeder here. What did you do wrong with those sutures?”

“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, Bradford grabbed her, moved her down a few centimeters, and handed her a rubber ball to squeeze. “Just a pinch and then you can get dressed and help me in fixing your mistakes.”

“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 Bradford put the needle into Nova’s arm and withdrew blood.

Thirty seconds later, after a cotton ball went against the inside of her elbow, Nova jumped off the table, only to have Bradford slap her on the behind.

“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, Bradford got on a fresh set of gloves and looked at Deke’s wound as Nova scrubbed up again as fast as she could. “Wildstar, sorry I blamed you…we had bad sutures, that’s all. One of these Goddamned B-25 Heavy sutures just broke in my hand! They’re from that Hungnam Pharmaceutical plant in China. That’s near that cult activity. I wonder if these medicines and supplies are coming out bad because of the terrorist activity on Earth? That is a good possibility.”

“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 Bradford. “Lay down. Grit your teeth…it will burn.”

Deke nodded, yelling a moment later as both Nova and Bradford worked on him in a closely correlated ballet. As the pain lessened for a moment, it seemed interesting to Deke that these two women, who clearly seemed to him to dislike each other, worked so well together. Deke didn’t want to look in the bloody mess of the wound, so he didn’t know how much work Nova had done and how much work Bradford had done. He received another shot, and, this time, he thought he did finally pass out altogether as everything went hazy for a while and then resolved itself again. He stared at the overhead in pain through tearing eyes as the procedure finished up.

Finally, Deke felt some relief when his arm was bandaged and he was given some pills by Bradford. “They’ll help with the pain, Sticks.”

“Ma’am?” said Nova. Deke also looked at Bradford in surprise. Bradford smiled a little. She felt a bit bad for having jumped down her best nurse’s throat before and she was trying to lighten up a little.

“It appears my young apprentice here has just told me what they usually call you,” said Bradford with a smile. “We were talking about you while you were under.”

“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 Bradford. “Get him into a room and stay with him until the shift change. Then get some food because you’ll be off.”

“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 Bradford was coming over towards the shower room with her own lab coat and shoes off.

“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 Bradford. “I will try to get the results as quickly as possible.”

“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 Arizona

Sickbay, Room 20-B

On the way to the Alpha Sirius System

Tuesday August 12, 2206

2206 Hours: Earth Time

The Arizona had received new orders in the night. While the Cometines had been cleared at last (for now) from the area around Alpha Centauri, and the convoys coming in were now safe, because the base had finally been reinforced when Earth sent a battleship squadron out to finally relieve the Second Star Force, there were still dangers in space near Earth.

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 Arizona had performed a space warp there while Deke had slept in an uneasy drug-induced slumber and the ship was now cruising towards the stony world that held the EDF base there. Its nearest major companion star was Procyon, at 11.41 lightyears away. It held in its gravity well the larger world known as Procyon VI, where the Gamilons, with Earth Federation permission, had built a new base and listening post as part of their alliance after the Rikasha Incident.

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 Bradford.

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 Wakefield, here…she might meet up with the enemy early like he did, and get a field promotion to Ensign. Who knows how this war will go?”

“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 Bradford. “He seems to have an unerasable crush on Mrs. Wildstar, for one thing…”

“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 Bradford.

“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 Wakefield. “Captain, that’s too long…I…”

“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, Wakefield was alone with Nova. A lower-ranking nurse had brought in food for both of them…soup and bland, boring food for Deke, and soup and a salad for Nova. Mrs. Wildstar stayed in the room to eat with Wakefield, and that was when she had her second talk with him.

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?”

Wakefield sighed. “I thought, and still think, that Starsha was toying with us. Why did she make the Argo make the long journey to Iscandar and back for the Cosmo-DNA?”

“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…”

Wakefield whistled. “Funny how Destiny has a way of making things come back upon you like that.”

“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 Pan-Am University. I heard through her mother she pledged this sorority named Delta Beta Gamma. The Deltas, it seems, were party girls. Dawn, I was surprised to hear, seemed to want to get me out of her mind as quickly as possible. So, she went along with what the Delta broads did. “

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 Wakefield’s Bitch” was one of the nicer ones.”

“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, Lynn said, but I have no idea how or when. There is so much unresolved here, Nova.”

“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 Central Hospital in the Tokyo Megalopolis to get a bionic one put on. He was in Central Hospital for a while. I had the misfortune of having that jackass in my ward at that time, Deke.” Nova then sighed. “He tried to molest me right in his hospital room,” she said in a small voice.

“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 Arizona has recently done.”

“Sir, will we be working with the Arizona?”

“Only in an indirect sense. While the Arizona recently won a large battle near Alpha Centauri and stopped a Cometine invasion of that base, she has been assigned to patrol duty and interception near Sirius. You will be at Procyon. We percieve threats to both of those bases, and remember, that Gamilon did also allow us to establish a listening post on Procyon VI. You will be protecting those men and women as well as the Gamilons, since the Gamilon garrison there is currently light.”

“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.

Victoria came over and bit her lip. While Diane played with her hair, Henson finally said. “I’m sorry, sir. We…thought we were helping…really.”

“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 Arizona. How are you? I miss you so much!”

“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 Arizona opened himself, but decided against a waste of resources for such a small thing.

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 Arizona’s comm room and then she set it aside.

“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 San Diego, CA. The phone began to ring. A sound came through a moment later indicating pickup. After text messages went across the screen at both ends, Nova was looking at the face of a very surprised Lynn Westland, who had on an apron and looked as if she was washing dishes.

“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 Arizona, and I’ve been counseling him. There are a few things going on about him that worry me…”

“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. Lynn, I respect you. Do you know why your daughter Dawn might never have answered any of Deke’s letters to her or e-mails? He would love to know how she is doing. He also wants…well…some kind of closure…to their relationship…”

“Well, Dawn’s been very busy. She’s been drafted into the World Health Organization Commissioned Corps and she is at Pensacola training as a flight nurse/pilot. MOS 512Delta.”

“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 Lynn with a wink.

“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 Lynn. “We think alike, you and I. I guess you’re wise beyond your years….part of being a good nurse. This will be about the third time I will have tried to nudge Dawn into writing to Deke to just be decent and let him know it’s over. She is also holding and wearing a Star Pendant he gave her years ago. I think she should just put an end to it, especially since she has been seeing men, and send the necklace back to him. She needs to stop playing games with him. Especially because they used to be so close once.”

“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 Lynn. “Okay, that’s it. I’ll try calling Dawn to let her know what you want.”

“When?”

“Tonight.”

“Now that’s EDF efficiency!” laughed Nova. “Best news I’ve had all night!”

“Good luck to you,” said Lynn.

Nova smiled and cut off just as the 240 seconds ran out.

That daughter of mine, thought Lynn as she began to dial her daughter’s number in Pensacola. One way or another, we are going to have this out!

Dawn Westland was bushed.

She was drinking a beer, and she had her sweaty fatigues open, revealing her dogtags, star pendant, and a bit of cleavage, as the phone rang.

“Okay, I’m getting it!” she yelled at no one particular as she turned down her loud music. She did a double-take when she brought up the image of her mother. She did NOT look happy.

“Oh, mom…hi! This is unexpected! How are you?”

“Not well,” sighed Lynn. “I wish I was better.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you drinking again?”

“Mom, it’s just one, and I’m not going to be flying again until Sunday,” she laughed. “I hooked up with a Delta Beta Gamma alumni association here, Mom.”

“I thought I told you not to mention that stupid bunch of slobs…those so-called society girls… to me again, Dawn,” snapped Lynn. “They treated you like garbage when they threw you out of their house when you were down!”

“Mom, when I was told to leave the House, I was still in good standing with the National Chapter, at least. They said I was a Delta for life…and we’re doing an aircar wash this weekend, and…”

“Dawn…you told me they threw you out!”

“Of the House, Mom! Out of the Chapter, Mom! Not the National Organization!”

“Dawn, I hope…I pray, your life does not go through another round of what you did when you were nineteen and I had to sign you up for AA!”

“People change, Mom! I’m twenty-two now, and I’m a working girl! The military has me, and even though this is a really wacko and weird environment for a nurse, I guess I can live with it.”

“How did you do in basic rifle marksmanship and familiarization?”

“I didn’t qualify, if that’s what you’re wondering, You know WHO doesn’t teach that and the EDF only gave us a week to learn this stuff and we didn’t get to learn how to use those Astro Automatic sidearms. Not that I would particularly want to, either, Mom. Is that why you called me?”

“No, your idol called me tonight.”

“My idol?” said Dawn. “You mean Brandon McLaughlin called up to ask me for a date? Tell him I’m…”

“Dawn, I don’t mean any boy-band singers. You used to have a picture of her up on the wall beside your eye chart in your room! Or you did when you were decent!”

“If you’re telling me,” said Dawn in a sarcastic sing-song voice, “that Nova Forrester-Wildstar called from her space battlewagon to talk to you, Mom, no disrespect, maybe you need to go to AA!”

“If you were here, Dawn,” said Lynn angrily. “I’d slap you across your smart mouth for that! Because that is precisely what happened! Do you know why I got a call from Mrs. Wildstar from the Arizona tonight?”

“Because an ex-boyfriend of mine is sitting around with his thumb up his ass wondering when I’m coming back to him and she’s been counseling this space case?”

“Dawn, you have become something that your father Cal would be sickened to talk with,” said Lynn with tears in her eyes. “This ex-boyfriend with his thumb up his ass is just Deke! Deke is serving with Nova out there, and I heard you have never written to him to let him know where things stand between the two of you! He wants to move on with his life, and you promised me several times you’d write, or call….”

“I keep on meaning to, Mom, but something puts me off, and…”

“Nova tells me you’ve been sending back his letters marked RETURN TO SENDER,” hissed Lynn. “Young lady, no daughter of mine will ever treat anyone like that, especially not the brother and friend she grew up beside!”

“Mom, I don’t know what to say to him, Okay? I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO TELL HIM!”

“DO you have a boyfriend?” insisted Lynn.

“Yes and no..” said Dawn. “All right…there’s this pilot…but I don’t know if we’re…”

“A pilot!” said Lynn.

“We write and all, but he’s on this ship, and…”

“Dawn, I thought you said you were breaking up with Deke because he wanted to be a pilot. Now that he is one, you are dating another pilot? That is as if you are dragging him face-first through the mud! And you owe it to him to send back that Star Pendant he gave you.”

“I like it.”

“Dawn, that is, or was, if you remember, your engagement symbol with Deke! Most women do not keep the engagement ring after they break it off, let alone keep on wearing it!”

“Does Deke have a girlfriend?” said Dawn.

“I am not at liberty to tell you that,” huffed Lynn.

“Does he or doesn’t he?”

“I have no idea. I do know that Nova told me he wants to move on in life. And this is not the first time I talked with her.”

“When was the first time?”

“In May, when Deke graduated from the Space Fighters’ Training School. I went there to see him right before you graduated from Pan-Am!”

“MOM!” yelled Dawn. “You did NOT do that!”

“I had the right to, and I did, young lady. He is still like part of the family as far as I’m concerned. And didn’t you say that you hoped he and you could…?”

“Mom, that was in the past. We could never get together now.”

“That’s such a pity. He would be good for you, if he could ever forgive the way you have treated him. He looks so much more mature in that uniform, now. He’s a very professional military officer.”

“He’s a professional killer!” yelled Dawn angrily. “Yeah, I bet he still wants to shoot down every Gamilon he can get his paws on and I bet he still carries that stupid gun he calls DJ! Right?”

“If he does, what do I care? He has a commission now and he’s a man!”

“You never liked him carrying that greasy, stupid gun around or wearing that smelly uniform into the house, mom!”

“That’s because he was like a boy trying to do a man’s job then with that Junior Space Cadet Corps crap! Now, he’s a real member of the military, and…”

“I’d prefer not thinking about Deke, his smelly uniform, his smelly gun, or his stupid drumsticks any more tonight, Mom!”

“When are you writing to him and taking off that Pendant, Dawn?”

“When I feel like it, Mom. GOOD NIGHT!”

Dawn cut off the connection herself.

She kicked her desk and sat with her head in her hands. Deke, she thought. Why are you like the damn ghost I can never get rid of?

She tried to take off the Star Pendant, but then, as she held it in her hand, all of the memories came flooding back.

She just shut her eyes and cried herself into oblivion at her desk.

Later that night, Dawn Westland wrote six letters to Deke. Three of them were variations on breakup letters, one expressed a wish to be “friends”, one was an “I HATE YOU AND I WISH YOU WOULD DIE” letter, and one letter pleaded forgiveness and hoped they could get back together again.

None of them were sent. All of them remained stored in her PC as she finally cried herself into a very confused sleep.

IV. NEWS AND MIXED FEELINGS

Space Battleship Arizona

Sickbay

In the Alpha Sirius System

Monday, September 1, 2206

1100 Hours: Earth Time

Nova Wildstar had been through this routine before with both Doctor Sane and Doctor Bradford.

She lay stripped of everything on an examining table as an ultrasound probe ran over her stomach, courtesy of Doctor Bradford.

“Hmmm,” said Bradford. “The image is not as clear as I’d like, and I’m not clear whether this is a heartbeat…but I do have something…”

Nova’s heart leapt at that. “You mean?”

“This time, Nova, both the blood test and the urine test were positive.”

“Oh…my…God,” said Nova in a soft voice.

“I need to confirm everything with a clear ultrasound, but, based on all the signs, you should be showing in a few weeks, Nova. Congratulations. You appear to be expecting.”

“I wanted a baby,” sobbed Nova. “But, not now…I…”

“I don’t think Captain Venture is going to put you off the ship in the middle of space. I’ll let him know later if you’ll authorize the release of the info.”

Nova nodded. “I’ll sign off on it. Can I tell Derek?”

“Yes…just be sure to let him know about the inconclusive ultrasound. But that does happen now and then. I do see a weight gain of about two kilos, which seems consistent with you being near the end of your first trimester. You will need maternity uniforms in about a month, and I’ll sign off on them then.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” said Nova.

“Be careful of what you eat, and be sure and get enough rest. Go and get dressed….”

Many days later, on the Argo, (on September 4th, to be exact) Commodore Wildstar received the following e-mail from his wife:

September 1, 2206

Derek:

I’m sure you remember what we were up to….uh…the day we said goodbye when our ships left on their respective missions?

I saw Doctor Bradford a few days ago. The blood tests and other tests confirm what I told you when I had my call the other day…Derek…I’m finally expecting! (Even though the Doctor says the ultrasound is ‘inconclusive’)

Please pray for both of us, and pray this war ends soon. I want to be home with you and I want to see you so badly. I have pictures in my hand of you holding me as we feel the baby moving in my stomach together…and then, your holding my hand as I get through having the baby, and then, our being a full family at last as we look at our son or daughter and hold him or her before putting the baby to bed…

Thank you so much, Derek, for giving me this gift. The gift of life with you. I hope we can beat the Cometines soon and be together…

Love, NOVA

At first, he showed Doctor Sane. The two men sat together as Sane read the letter. Then, he said, “She had her contraceptive shot?”

Derek nodded.

“There must have been trouble of some kind with it,” said Sane.

“What can we do now?” said Wildstar.

“Hope she’ll be safe,” said Sane as he poured Wildstar a drink. “We can’t get her off the Arizona, and wartime is not the most ideal time to become a mother, but…”

“But what?”

“If we come through this all right, you’ll be able to greet Nova and your child, or children, all at once when we all wind up on Earth in May of next year for that scheduled stand-down and refit. Congratulations, Commodore.”

“Thanks,” said Wildstar. But, under the circumstances, he did NOT feel much like celebrating. He missed Nova too much, and he was afraid for her.

Still, he thought. Thank You, God, that she was not infertile after all. Thank You, Lord, for giving us…a child…

V. BETRAYALS AND BETRAYERS

Outer Darkness

Somwhere in the Deep Parts of The Cosmos

Sunday, September 7, 2206

The spiritual husk of a man who had once been Prince Zordar of the Comet Empire lay again, gasping, in chains in the bizarre cell that he lay in in this horrible place.

I have no idea where this place is, thought Zordar. Except that it is somewhere in the great depths of some world. I am dead, and am in the bowels of the Cosmos, suffering torment for all I have done…

Zordar (or what remained of him) trembled as he looked down upon what appeared to be his naked body. It was covered with scar after scar from all of the torments he had suffered here. Torments he knew he deserved.

In this place, there was great heat, near-darkness, and a horrible stench. Monstrous demonic creatures came into his cell every now and again to perform unspeakably painful and sickening torments upon him. There was nothing to drink, and he was burned every now and again.

The burning heat down here never stopped (and there was never any relief) but sometimes, somehow, fire, or even liquid lava itself poured through his cell. Zordar seemed to have been consumed in flames a billion times already, but, a billion times over, he reformed and gasped as the heat and hunger and thrist and longing for friendship grew worse.

Oh, he had companions every now and again in this place. This place that he knew wasn’t Arishna’s bosom. He knew now that Arishna, if she even existed, had no control over his fate. Instead, some avenging, terriible, wrathful but pure God he had offended was now the master of his fate. Because of His decree, Zordar had companions in this place. But no friends.

Occassionally, the demon creatures threw others like himself into this cell to share his torment. They came from different worlds, in all times, all places. One of them had been a Rikashan named Zaden who had shared torment and backbiting with him. Another one had been his one-time subordinate General Bleek, who had lost at Saturn-Titan and had died at the same time he had. Yet another had been an Earthling named Sparks, a man who had been a member of the Star Force. He thought that it was very amusing that some of the brave members of the Argo’s crew had ended up in this place until Sparks had started raving about many different ways to do perverse things to a woman. Even Zordar, who had slept with his own daughter, had hated Sparks.

Then, there had been the madman named Adolf somebody they had flung in here with him for a time. Some crackpot dictator from Earth, raving about how the Master Race would still rule the cosmos, raving about how the Messiah of the Jews Himself had forced him to be in this place for the murder of millions of His brothers and had told him that to his face. Zordar had told him that did not matter, he had killed billions. All until a demon dressed in some striped uniform had come by, flicked a switch after laughing, “Remember Treblinka!” and then had made the cell fill with liquid blue flames that devoured them yet again. The little naked madman with the mustache had then vanished, but Zordar had been left in his cell.

Then, the cell door was flung open. Zordar trembled when he saw two monstrous creatures with burning pikes dragging another man by his arms. This man was bearded, with longish hair, and a sallow face with a long nose. One of the demons yelled, “Zordar! Piece of filth Zordar the fornicator of worlds! Here is another fitting companion we found for you, you piker of a maniac! Have a talk with this!”

Then, the cell door slammed. The sallow man had just been beaten horribly. You never bled here, but things like maggots crawled in his open wounds. The man gasped, “help me.”

“I cannot help you and would not in any way. You are beneath me, Earthling!” gasped Zordar in a ghost of the deep voice he had once had when he had lived. “Curse you, Trelaina, for putting me here in the hands of this wrathful God.”

“Look at my neck,” gasped the man. “I put myself here. I hung myself when I lived upon the Earth. If only I had not! If only I had asked Him to forgive me!”

“Who?”

“The Man I betrayed. He put me here. He really was the Masiach and I sold Him to the Sanhedrin for thirty pieces of silver! I knew I had betrayed innocent blood and tried to give the money back to the priests with it, only to have them buy the Potters’ Field I was buried in as its first burial in an unmarked grave! I betrayed Him, just as your daughter is betraying you!”

“What?” said Zordar.

“I was put…before the Leader of the Rebellion, the one whose angels are imprisoned here, and he told me that your daughter wants to destroy everything that House Gatlantis stood for in the name of revenge upon your death. She is out to kill Desslok, whomever he is…he…”

“I loved him as if he was my own son and gave him back his flagship and wanted him pardoned. And now she seeks his death?”

Zordar screamed, crying as flames came up from a hole in the floor and set him ablaze. Then, the flames died down, and the burned dictator lay screaming in maggots, scar tissue and agony as Judas laughed like a maniac. Iscariot’s torment had been to have acid raining down on him. “A betrayer, just like me,” laughed the tormented man as tears of agony ran down his face. “We cannot escape our damnations. He will never let us go free! We deserve to be damned! We deserve to suffer forever!”

“Perhaps we do! Can warning be sent to my daughter Invidia, lest she find herself down here with us at the end?”

Then, another demonic presence came into the room. Both Zordar and Judas shrank from this being. It was a strange amalgamation of demon and human, a form in black cloud and fog, clad with fire, with red gleaming eyes. “I’ll bring news to her, through my OWN anointed, at the command of the Leader of the Rebellion.”

“He used me!” gasped Judas. “Tell him he deserves all he will get when he joins us here in torment! He took me and used me…he entered into me and…”

“You let him, didn’t you, Iscariot?” laughed the Being. “Just like Stovall lets me possess him to have a body to do mischief in, alhough in lesser measure. Yes. And, Zordar, Radnar is about to be thrown into the mix, soon, Zordar. Like that? Radnar? The one you exiled? He will soon have dealings with your daughter!”

Zordar screamed again.

“Are you HIM?” raved Iscariot. “Are you Belial himself?”

“No, just a lieutenant of the Shining One, the son of the morning. I am named Ekogaru. But I will overthrow him, take his kingdom, and drive the King of the Cosmos off His Throne someday. I belong here, but some foolish demons help keep me alive, and free, you see, or they do until and unless my artifact is destroyed. Then I must pass down here to be with you and drink the wrath I deserve. But that’ll never happen, not as long as I am free and have anything to do about it. Oh, what a great privilege it is, to be able to visit the Abyss at will and get out and do things every now and then as I do. I get around, Zordar. I’ve even been to the Homeworld.”

“Not you?” hissed Zordar. “Tell them to change their minds, stop this conquest, stop worshipping that so-called Arishna, before it is too…”

“Iscariot, your Master told you about Lazarus and the Rich Man? I’ve been reading up from a lot of His Book lately. Father Abraham is gone. He is Above. There is no water for you to drink. And we can’t tell your brothers and sisters to repent since they are all down here with you in the Pit! The Time draws nearer. Too bad you won’t have a front-row seat to the End Times! Now, I must leave you two buddies to the tender mercies of Shugg and Belzab behind me,” said Ekogaru as two particularly monstrous demons appeared behind him. “I now go to speak with the original Yvona Josiah. You two should meet sometime, Zordar. You are both fanatics. You would like each other.”

Ekogaru bowed mockingly and left as the demons strode in with burning whips. Judas was dragged off.

Zordar experienced more torment. Just another day in Hell, a waiting place nowhere as bad as what would await the Damned in the future.

After a long period of time, Ekogaru’s black spirit flew back up through the Earth from the Abyss and it re-entered Stovall.

“How goes the Globe?” whispered Ekogaru in Corporal Mick Stovall’s mind.

The Marine, who was half-asleep as he lay in a foxhole, said, “It’s fine, boss.”

“Good. You must keep it safe. Glad I got you back to China?”

“Just before they were about to write me off as AWOL, yeah,” laughed Stovall. “Where have you been, you weird spook?”

“Having a hot time with the original Yvona in the hot town below our feet tonight,” laughed Ekogaru. “She is getting her beauty bath in a nice hot wrought-iron tub of boiling fire and brimstone tonight. She was not happy to see me. Like to see the Abyss someday?”

“HELL NO!” hissed Stovall.

“Good,” said Ekogaru. “If you would not see it, listen to me, and listen with care. Here is what I want you to do next, Stovall…be sure you OBEY…”

And Stovall nodded.

September 8, 2206

Planet R’Khelleva

Dawn in the Capital

Yvona’s clone lay weeping in a cell with a dirt floor in a dungeon keep far beneath the upper rooms and courts of the Temple of Ekogaru on Planet R’Khelleva itself. After she had been impegnated on Earth by Ekogaru through Stovall, Yvona and the unborn Child were hauled here by the R’Khells to this place of torment.

Yvona wore nothing but a serape-like shift over her body, a single large piece of sackcloth with a hole cut in it that went over her head. It was tied about her body with a rope at her waist. It was very short, and it left much of her breasts and her flanks bare to the leers and gapes of her guards, some of whom delighted in touching her in sick ways as she lay there chained to the wall, aware day by day that her body was slowly changing as she approached what she knew was the point near the end of her first trimester. None of them raped her again, though. They made it clear this was only on the Dark Lord’s orders that she thus remained technicially untouched. “We are to preserve the Child,” hissed one of the Temple Guards that night as he forced her to eat a gruel of some grain and water. “That is the only reason why you are even fed.”

“Why am I tormented so if he favors me?” hissed Yvona’s clone.

“It is his command,” said another guard. Then, they left her.

Yvona had cried since then. And she had remained crying until a freezing wind blew itself into the room near sunrise.

She looked up, and saw that the very same spectral Presence that had troubled Zordar and Iscariot in the Abyss now stood before her.

“You look better with a body on, My Lord Husband,” she hissed.

“Do I not frighten you?” whispered the presence of the demon-possesed and imbued Engineer and Sorceror King who had ruined Rikasha so long ago.

“No,” lied Yvona.

“I cannot easily bring the body at a moment’s notice…yet. Unlike the King, I am not yet omnipresent. Not even the Leader of the Rebellion has that power yet. But I was in Hell tonight. Mother sends you her regards. Unfortunately, she is a bit TIED UP at the moment!”

“You said you were the King. Liar! Talk to the King and maybe He’ll make something of you!”

“What is this?” hissed Ekogaru. “Repentance?”

“And what if it is? You promised me paradise but gave me only pain, husband. Why? Do you not love me?”

“I have my reasons,” hissed Ekogaru. “We will give you more food soon, remember, you are eating for two, now!”

Ekogaru laughed like mad as he vanished.

A great feeling of utter depression came over Yvona’s clone as she looked up through the slit of a window she had in the fading night towards Earth (she guessed) as she prayed, “Lord, I found that bit of paper from that old Gideon’s Bible in that dead EDF Officer’s slacks on the R’Khell sub in prison when they gave me those rags as a blanket, and I asked You to forgive me and save me. If You are there, save me from this place. Please. I know I made many wrong choices in my life, please be with me. I don’t serve that Rapist anymore, my so-called Husband, I serve You. Help me…in Jesus’ Name…amen…”

No answer came to Yvona except for a sense of peace and quiet in her heart that somehow drowned out the discordant alien screams, gongs, and horns of the weird Dawn Rites of the deluded priests who worshipped her evil “spouse” above her head. With the first smile on her lips in many weeks, Yvona felt the presence of her child, and fell peacefully asleep with thoughts of peace in her mind…thoughts of peace, and a conviction that she had to make things right with her “niece” Nova someday…but…how?

VI. INVIDIA’S NEWEST ACT OF TREACHERY

The Eritz Gatlantis

Deep Space: 75,000 Lightyears Away From Earth

Wednesday, September 10, 2206

“So, Dyre, how far, now, are we away from the Earth?” asked Priincess Invidia as she lolled on her throne before her Court.

According to the latest navigational readings, we are now twenty-five thousand lightyears away from the Prince Zordar Line, the current edge of the Empire, and seventy-five thousand lightyears away from the Earth,” said General Dyre as he stood on the floor video panel with his arms at his hips over an image of Earth. “Earth’s technology has improved slightly but it should still be beatable if we are careful with our resources. The advance satellites that our submarines and recon ships installed are in Earth’s star system now and sending back regular messages on the disposition of Earth and her fleets. The Earth Defense Fleet has almost rebuilt, but it seems a little smaller than it was five years ago at this time when we attacked Earth.“

“I think we are ready,” said Gernitz. “We cannot yet take on Gamilon, but perhaps if we had the Earth, we could use it as a base. Give us the pemission to attack Earth, punish it, and enslave its people. We can then capture their fleet and force them to serve us.”

“They are not alone, though,” said Gorse. “They have those damned alliances with the Rikashans and the Gamilons. We are at war with them both. Princess, are we ready, yet, for a major battle in the Sol System?”

“Besides, the Emperor has told us to wait,” said another officer who stood behind Turpitz. “Princess, can we disregard the commands from the Homeworld?”

“We will not have to,” said Invidia with a smile, “And we can still attack Earth and Gamilon and also earn the aid we need from other Houses to be sure we win.”

“How, Princess?” hissed Gernitz.

“The Emperor wants us to negotiate a truce with Gamilon and Earth for a few years, right?” smiled Invidia. “We can set up a peace conference at Melezart in a few weeks. At that time, we can talk with Desslok and a representative from Earth.”

“And then?”

“I have a few Gamilon agents implanted in his ranks,” said Invidia with an evil smile. “One of them can arrange to try to “assassinate” me. I can then assassinate Desslok and the Terran representative. Then, since they tried to kill me when I offered peace at the Emperor’s great command, I can tell him we cannot trust him. Then, we will have the Emperor’s support to gain the support of the other houses and wipe the Terrans and Gamilons off the face of the Cosmos and into the ranks of our slaves.”

“An excellent plan, Invidia,” said Gorse.

“Just like you…very treacherous,” purred Dyre.

“Thank you,” said Invidia.

“Princess,” said a young woman with blue skin and blue hair who dark blue robes and had a headdress on. She wore a gold pendant with a masked woman’s face on it; the token of the Cometine goddess Arishna. “I beg leave to pray for thee. This is truly great news.”

“Thank you, Vila,” said Invidia. “Offer as many prayers to Arishna as you wish.”

Vila bowed and left the room.

She slipped into a sealed room a while later in another building of the Eritz Gatlantis after an aircar ride; two guards loyal to her nodded

In the room, she turned on a communications coder and began to tap a message into it. The message read:

Dear General Radnar…..

This is Vila. The time has come for you to rise again. Invidia is plotting rebellion against the Grand Emperor’s commands; she is plotting to assassinate the Gamilon and Terran representatives to the peace conference to defy the Emperor’s commands. Please report this blasphemy to Arishna and to the Emperor. I believe the time for a holy war to wipe the daughter of Zordar off the Cosmos has begun.

Love and revence….

Vila.

A coded message came back a few minutes later.. it read:

Vila:

I am far from the Homeworld but will change course to head there and report to His Lordship Emperor Varnax the Thirteenth myself in person. I will let him know of this treachery and beg leave to attack Invidia and House Gatlantis. Then, we can avenge Arishna’s honor as we see fit, and either forgive or curse the deluded Earthlings as she commands me.

In Arishna’s name…

Radnar.

“Arishna, may you be praised,” said Vila as tears ran down her cheeks.

To Return to the Introduction to The New Comet, click here