ALTERNATE
TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS—THE
PRINCESS AND THE SURFER
Being the seventh 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
Note: This chapter contains some mature
content…just wanted to warn you…
ACT FIVE: THAT GAMILON
JUST SHOVED HIS FACE INTO MY FIST!
I.
MEMORIES OF STRANGE BREW…
The
Edge of the Great Magellenic Cloud
Space
Battleship Argo
May
27, 2207: 1700 Hours Standard Space-Time
We’ll
be back on Iscandar soon, thought Sasha in a depressed fashion as she
stood alone on the Argo’s aft
observation deck. A final three-thousand
lightyear warp tomorrow, and a few hours’ worth of sublight travel into the
system, and we’re there.
I
don’t know how I’m going to face being home again,
thought Sasha I want to see Deke so badly, but Iscandar has bad memories…from when I
left. I feel like I left in shame after that damned Gamilon Baron Harmen Rizak
Von Delvitz used me while I was dating General Fraken. He practically raped me
that horrible night in April of 2204…no…he did rape me. There was no
consent…how can you consent when you’re knocked out with a spiked drink?
I
was dating Fraken then; Duke Fraken of Gamilon, Major General of his forces. He
was honorable-we only kissed a few times. He was charming. More like a
companion after Talva drowned on Iscandar. Poor Talva.
That accursed Von Delvitz…He used words, flattery, and a spiked drink to lure
me into bed with him in what was then his mansion on the beach as Fraken’s
executive officer…I remember it…
Sasha shut her eyes and tried to keep from sobbing as she remembered
the night of April 14, 2204…
It had started on Iscandar…Sasha remembered as her mind took her
over three years back into the past…
April 14, 2204
Planet Iscandar
New
The Cocoanut Grove Bar…
The Coconaut Grove Bar was one of the
main watering holes near the Joint Fighter Base on Iscandar. Sasha, who was
clad in a white top, denim shorts, and white sandals as she waited at the bar
for General Fraken to come back to her from a talk with some members of his
command, was used to the place and its slightly funky/seedy atmosphere, with
its U-shaped bar and decorations in an eclectic style that shocked most
fresh-off-Earth Terrans who ended up on Iscandar guarding the slowly growing
population of Iscandar and the Pellian, Terran, and Gamilon scientists here on
the planet.
Most of the bar looked like it was
done up with palm trees, Terran tiki-style art, and fishnets, with
weird-looking Gamilon abstract art on the walls and oddball Iscandarian and
Pellian sculptures all over the place.
“Hey,” said an Earth pilot with
short hair who showed up. “Want a drink, hon?”
“No thanks,” said Sasha airily as
she swirled around her Mud Slide, a favorite drink of hers. Her Auntie Nova had
given her a taste for the creamy, sweet drink, usually
with very little alcohol in it the way Nova liked it.”As you can see, I’ve got
one.”
“How about
some foosball, then. Are you from Earth?”
“My dad is,” said Sasha as she began
tapping her toes to the subdued Terran Big Band music playing in the bar.
“Thanks, but Ive got a date tonight…”
“Oh?” said the pilot, who turned up
his nose as if he had smelled something nasty when Fraken appeared, with his
high-collared cape snapping about him as he came over.
“Sasha, is
this man bothering you?” said Fraken as he smiled at the Earth pilot under his
brown mustache.
“No, Farrell, he’s not,” said Sasha
with a shy smile.
“Farrell?” said the Terran pilot
with raised eyebrows.
“I am Major General Duke Lochner
Farrell Von Fraken, commanding officer of the twenty-ninth Combat Task Force of
the Gamilon Empire, based here on Iscandar on special assignment,” he said as
he clicked his booted heels and saluted. “I am accompanying Miss Sasha tonight,
thank you. Sasha, shall we have this dance?”
Sasha got up, nodded, and went off
with Fraken, whom, to her surprise, danced a good jitterbug to “In the Mood”, even though he was a
rather adventurous, raffish dancer in a handsome sort of way. Then, the band
began playing “Moonlight Serenade” as
their dance turned slow. Fraken began to dance an expert waltz, then, being
careful not to step on Sasha’s toes.
Sasha giggled during their dance.
“Where did you learn to dance an Earth dance like this?”
“Here on Iscandar, two years ago,
thanks to your Aunt, aboard the Argo,”
he said in a soft voice. “That was during the Rikashan War…before you were even
born. Actually, I diverge. I think you were being concieved around that general
time frame.”
Sasha laughed softly. “You bad man…wipe
that grin off your face. I need to know you a bit better, first.”
“Before what?” whispered Fraken.
“Before
I’ll jump into the sack with you, Farrell,” said Sasha softly as Fraken held
her. Normally, she wasn’t attracted to Gamilons, but Fraken’s handsome, rougish
ways and charm had turned her on somewhat. He was a noble, and he was very kind
to her in his way. I wonder how many
women he’s had? Sasha thought in a cute way. Sasha
had heard that Fraken had dated two other Gamilon women; one of them was Inge
Gernan (before she had been made a Countess and sent to Earth for a time as
Ambassador, that is), who was a ship’s captain in his command right now. Of
course, Sasha didn’t know that Gernan would eventually end up as the Duchess
Inge Gernan Von Fraken someday, but she knew that Fraken had a reputation for
playing the field, and she wondered if he’d settle
down with her or if it would just be another fling for him.
“Be wary
of someone,” said Fraken.
“Who?”
“Brigadier
Baron Von Delvitz. My Executive Officer, and
second-in-command of my spacecraft carrier, the Ekalata.” Moonlight Serenade
ended as the band began playing an old Iscandarian piece called Devasha, that
brought tears to the eyes of other Iscandarians from the scattered Exploration
Forces who had returned home at last because the song had been popular right
before the Great Plague that only some of them had survived. Sasha’s mind was
jolted back to her surroundings as Fraken said, “Baron Von Delvitz is not a
nice man. I have tried to have him transferred out of my command already.
Unfortunately, they tell me I cannot always choose my subordinates. Be very
wary of that man, Sasha. He is not a good man. He has dark feelings in his
heart.”
“Towards
me?” said Sasha.
“I will
protect you if need be,” said Fraken in words that would later prove sad and
ironic. “Just be cautious of him if you see him, Sasha. Now,
as for our dance?”
I’m seeing Farrell now, thought
Sasha as they danced, because I need some
fun in my life after Talva’s funeral. Finding the poor man dead, washed up on
the beach like that…Sasha also wondered if Fraken was the raffish pilot
with the face that was hidden from her that she saw in her dreams every now and
then. Sasha had been having a recurrent dream of herself in the back seat of
some very fast plane, flying in combat as the man she knew would be her husband
flew in the forward seat; and they were in a scary but exhilirating battle
together against the Cometines…over Iscandar! Sasha didn’t know enough about
planes or military uniforms yet to recognize that she would be flying in a
Cosmo Tiger II and that the blue uniform she had on was a Terran uniform..but she would find out what her dream meant in 2207,
since, as she stood reminiscing on the Argo,
she was only a few weeks away from the fulfillment of her dream.
Finally, the song ended, and Fraken
escorted Sasha back to the bar. He was about to sit beside her, and the night
would have gone very differently had he just stayed and then taken her home
decorously as promised, with nothing more happening than a hug and good-night
kiss before they parted.
“General,” said a Gamilon in that
brown space armor that Sasha had never cared for as he snapped that fascistic
Gamilon salute that Sasha had never quite cared for, either. “Captain Egalin
needs to discuss some radar plots with you; he just came back in with the
destroyers. It is most suspicious!”
“Damn, we might have to go into
action now?” hissed Fraken.
“Leftenant, I am occupied.”
“Sir, please,” said the Leftenant as
he nodded apologetically.
“I will be back in maybe twenty to
thirty minutes. The Lone Wolf of the Cosmic depths
shall return!” said Fraken as he kissed Sasha’s hand and left the bar in a
hurry.
Sasha sat tapping her fingers on the
bar as the band began to play an Earth tune, “The Breakup Song.” The lead singer, Sasha noticed, was a young
Terran in a blue EDF pilot’s uniform with a mop of wild brown hair, a mustache,
and weird-looking little round glasses who was playing
a long, deranged, distortion-filled intro on a black and white electric guitar.
Sasha had no idea who he was, but she would come to know him very well (to her
displeasure) in later years as he pointed at her and said, in a very weird nasal Anglian accent, “Hey, luv! You out there
with the blond ‘air and the denim shorts?”
“Me?” squeaked Sasha.
“Me mates in the band asked me to
dedicate this to you, luv! We think
you can find much better than Mister Mustache! So why don’tcha break up with
‘im and come keep me warm tonight? Me wife’s back on ‘arth and she’ll never
know!”
“I’d never!” said Sasha with her
nose up in the air as she turned down Bryan Hartcliffe dead flat. “Hmph!”
“Ah, go bug off, yer floozie!” said
Hartcliffe as the band laughed. Sasha turned red as the band began to play and
sing “The Breakup Song” with that obnoxious
Brit singing lead.
Ya broke up for good just an
‘our ago…
Uh uh ha ha uh uho ohh…
Sasha heard a heavy voice next to
her a moment later, as she turned her bar stool about. “Excuse me, Miss, is
that weird little man up there annoying you? I can have him shot.”
“Who are you?” snapped Sasha as she
looked hard at the new Gamilon who was facing her. He had browish hair, a bit
of a goatee, and a rather impressive uniform. He also looked handsome, and he
grinned as he sat down beside Sasha.
“I am Baron General Harmen
Rizak Von Delvitz, Sasha. I know you as I have seen you with Fraken.”
“Oh?” said Sasha as he looked at her legs with
almost undisguised lust. “If he’s told you about me, you must know he is
accompanying me tonight and has been called away on business. If you’d leave me
alone while I wait for him…”
“I’d like to buy you a drink,” said Von Delvitz.
“I’ve had enough.”
“Sasha, one drink.
That, and a bit of conversation, and then Fraken
should be back. You look like a most intriguing young lady.”
“I am, but not for you,” said Sasha.
“Please?”
“How many times and in how many languages must I
say ‘no’?” snapped Sasha.
“One drink.
It is Gamilon. It is called Panja. Very sweet and good. And they serve it here. That is my
price for leaving you be,” he said as a wolfish idea
burned in his mind.
All
right, she thought to herself as a vague sense of
danger went across her nerve endings. Fraken
warned me about him, but…what can one drink hurt? Not
like he wants to sleep with me or anything…not here, anyhow. There’s
people around.
“Order your drink!” said Sasha. “I’ll taste it
if you’ll let me be!”
“Fine,” said Delvitz. “A nice drink, for a nice
woman,” he said as he handed it to her; making sure that Sasha didn’t see him
adding some ordinary powdered sugar to the drink. That will activate the natural sopforics, he thought. A spoonful of sugar really makes the
medicine go down…
Sasha took the drink and took two sips. “This
goes to your head!” she laughed as the stuff began to go down.
Sasha felt the room spinning in an almost fun
way as the stuff worked down her defenses. “Wheeee!” she giggled as she sipped
at it. “It tastes nice! What’s in this stuff?”
“A nice brew from fruits, thought long-lost,
that we again grow on Gamilon,” said Delvitz in a voice that was beginning to
sound comically distorted to Sasha. The Brit’s band was playing a weird
rock-organ based version of Bach’s Toccata
and Fugue in D-Minor with heavy drums.
Sasha would not have taken another sip if her
head hadn’t been distorted by the rest of the strange brew, but, against her
better judgment (because she wanted to laugh at Delvitz’s weird voice) she did.
The room then spun around as lights began to
swirl, and Sasha passed out on the bar with a smile on her face. She didn’t
know the rest, but, later, some of her Terran friends who had overheard (but
who had been too far away to do much about it) told her what they had seen
Delvitz do.
“What did you do to her?” said the Pellian bartender as he looked at Delvitz.
“Nothing a big tip
won’t cure. She must not be used to Panja, Righ. Poor dear. Let me take her home to my manor to sleep it off.
Tell Fraken she just left,” he said as he put a big tip on the bar. “See you
later, friend Righ.”
With lust in his face, Delvitz picked Sasha up
in his arms and carried her off as he whistled and four of his guards came
along to accompany him out of the bar as he left carrying Sasha…
The rest of
it?
Sasha thought as tears ran down her face. Thank
the Goddess, I was out the rest of that night…but I knew what had happened the
next morning when I woke up naked in his bed, hurting all over..in an old Iscandarian mansion far up the coast he had
taken over for his own vile purposes. He had me the normal way, and he had me
in a way…no…I don’t even want to think about that.
And he wanted
to do it again…was starting to do it again, when I came to.
I should have
emasculated him with that sword, or run him through right then…but I was too
scared after I fought him off. I struggled away from him, hurting all over, and
I just ran. I ran for my life, out the living room, where I saw what were left
of my clothes burned in that weird Gamilon fireplace they put in there…and saw
smashed wine goblets all over the place in the fireplace, and I just took off
down the beach.
I stopped
running two kilometers away, went swimming naked to just wash the feel of him
off me even though the salt hurt me, and I ran down that beach with nothing and
in nothing. I ran right to Father, and, well, he took care of me, and…
Delvitz was
never seen on Iscandar again. I heard from Fraken later in a letter that he
“dealt with him” and left him to Desslok to finish the rest before he was banished.
I never saw Fraken again. If he knew Delvitz was like that, why did he leave me
alone in a place where he was even three damned kilometers away? “I never
thought even he would do that…he had never used drugs before, Sasha,” he wrote
back. Yeah, right…
Sasha
jumped back to the present when a hand touched her on the shoulder. She nearly
wanted to belt the intruder, given her dark state of mind (luckily, she didn’t
dredge up this memory often) until she looked and saw that it was just Uncle in
his white and red Star Force uniform.
“What’s
on your mind?” said Derek.
“You
don’t want to know, Uncle,” said Sasha with a sigh.
“Von
Delvitz?” he said softly.
“How
do you know about that?” snapped
Sasha.
“The
Press,” said Wildstar as he sighed in disgust. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but
those human jackals who dug out your background…that was supposed to be secret,
published it in a damn newspaper article before the Government slapped the
story down. They got it from your Medical records. It’s in your psych profile
and medical files. Nova and Doctor Sane never talked about it. Not even to me.
Thank Buddha for confidentiality, and may those jerks go to prison… ”
Sasha
cried again. I remember that first month
on Earth, she thought. Right before
Beast Barracks, seeing Nova every week in that little office for counseling,
drinking her tea, and crying a lot. At least Auntie hugged me and cried with me
as we discussed it. I couldn’t ever say much to Mother about it. But Auntie
understood. Me with Delvitz, her with that
“I feel sick
again,” sobbed Sasha. “I know Deke’s on Iscandar, and Mother…that’s the only
thing that makes going back there again bearable, but…it fits, somehow? I ran
from a scandal on Iscandar to Earth, and here I am running off Earth back home
to lay low with my sick father in the middle of a war. “
“I’m
so sorry,” said Derek. “Sasha, I’m glad I found you. Nova is busy with some
patients from the liner, or she would have been looking for you to ask you on her
own, but I have some questions of my own. What is going on between you and that
one nurse in Sickbay?”
“Her?
The one with the funny blond bangs?” asked Sasha. “We haven’t said a civil word
since I piped on board. She really seems to hate
me for some reason. Maybe it’s because I’m half-Iscandarian?”
“No,
it’s not quite that,” said Derek. “Your father had a talk with her a few hours
ago that wasn’t very instructive. She just said about you, ‘there is some nasty history between me and
the Ensign Apprentice’ and she refused to go into it. What sort of history
is there? Did she give you a hard time at the Academy or something, maybe? If
so, I can put her in her place, fast. Or have Nova do it. I don’t know who
could do it better.”
“Not
much,” said Sasha. “I never met her before. But I’ve seen her face before…I
know it was her.”
“When?”
said Derek.
“Before
all this stuff about me came out, right after Deke and I got married, I was
house-sitting for you and Nova in early May. Then, this lady called our house,
asking for Nova. She said she was a friend of hers. I had on my striped jammies
that I borrowed from Auntie. We’re always exchanging stuff. This lady looked
nice-brown hair, nice face. She asked for Nova. I said she was in the Denver
Megalopolis with you.”
“And?”
“This
nice lady must be related to that nurse,
Uncle. While I was talking in all innocence to her, not saying who I was or
anything, that nurse showed up in a
nightgown and robe. And she began to stare at me over that viewscreen from that
house with such hatred in her eyes.
She looked as if she wanted to scratch my eyes out over long-distance! I could
never figure out why. No one on Earth except for Deke and you and Nova and a
few others knew who I was….at least then.”
“Did
she say anything to you?”
Sasha
shook her head. “I talked with this lady and she hung up. My senses were going
after that. I had a hard time going back to sleep that night. I almost wanted
to call
Derek
sighed. “I can’t control anyone’s feelings, and she outranks you by a few
months…she’s just an Ensign, too, but with more seniority than you…but, I
expect you two to keep it professional. I will talk with her later to try and
get to the bottom of this because it is giving me the creeps, but let me know
if this goes beyond anything more than snide looks and a few snide words. Got
that?”
“Yessir,”
said Sasha with a pale smile.
“We’ll
talk later, Sasha,” said Derek as he left Sasha alone to her depression.
Deke, she thought. I miss you so much!
But,
later on, Dawn Hardy had her own questions about this.
At
1800, Dawn met Hardy in the messhall. They kissed across the table as she said,
“So how did the latest patrol go, Jeff?”
“Borin’,”
he said. “Nice and quiet out theah for once. No
Cometines, no R’Khells, and not even any Gamilons around. Those Gamilons went
ahead of us towin’ the
“I
did,” said Sandor as he came over. “We had to really do a lot of work, and it
was hard getting them through that warp we did yesterday, but they’re two
thousand lightyears ahead of us now. They’ll make port on Gamilon tonight, I
think…”
“Yessuh. The Princess Astra is about a megameter
behind us now, so I made a rendezvous with some of her Pellian and Iscandarian
pilots, and then we split off to patrol our ships,” as he looked at Dawn, who
had reverted back to her WHO uniform complete with a pendant that she and Jeff
had spoken of a little but had been tip-toeing around lately. “Why are you
wearing that again?”
“Just
weird feelings about that other uniform,” she said as Sandor nodded at Hardy
and left; Dawn figured out why a moment later when Nova was beckoning Sandor
over to her table. The two of them began talking about something in very low
voices as Dawn looked at Jeff and said. “I’ve been having a lot of weird
feelings lately. None of them make any sense.”
“About what?”
“That girl, Jeff. The blond Midshipman who’s been running around.”
“They
have a couple of blond girl Midshipmen on this ship this cruise, Dawn,” said
Hardy with a sigh. “Try ta be more specific.”
“The
girl in the blue uniform. With the long blond hair.”
“There’s four girls
on this ship in blue Second-Class uniforms,” said Jeff as he threw up his
hands. “Three of them have long blond hair. I don’t know any of their names. I
just see ‘em in the passages. I normally don’t bother with strange nuggets in
the Communications and Navigation sections. I have enough on mah hands with those four nuggets they put into our
squadrons and with those patrols. sorry, I’ve been
busier than a June Bug tryin’ to make babies. Some of ‘em don’t
know their butts from a hole in the ground. I heard from someone one of those
nugget Second-Class girls was in on a briefing they had on this boat on the 12th
while they were still in dock befoah we even flew aboard.”
“Would
this girl have funny burgundy-brown eyes…and?”
Then,
Dawn paused. A shiver went down her back as Sasha came up to their table
carrying a tray of food. “Would you be talking about me?” she said in a low voice.
“No
comment, Ms. Nosy Mind-Reader,”
snapped Dawn as Hardy studied her. “What’s your name?”
“Sir,
no disrespect meant, I’m very tired and down today. And I don’t think my husband
would appreciate your efforts to pick me up.”
“I’m
so sorry,” said Dawn in a snide
voice. “My husband just asked you
your name, Miss. You seem to have an attitude from…”
“My
name’s Sasha,” she snapped. “You can read all about me in the gossip pages in
the papers.”
“I
don’t read papers; I think they’re stupid,” said Hardy as Nova whispered
something to Sandor and got up, her skirt swinging about her thighs quickly as
she walked over to Sasha. Hardy got a look at her face,.
Nova did not look perky or happy. In fact, she looked downright po’ed over
something.
Nova
came over a moment later, stood beside Sasha, and said, “Ensign Hardy. Do you
know who this girl is?”
“I
wish I didn’t,” sang Dawn.
“Okay,
you don’t know,” said Nova. “Sasha, was she saying anything about your
parentage?”
“No,”
said Sasha as she looked down at the deck.
“You’re
sure?” said Nova.
Sasha
nodded.
“And
you really don’t know who this Ensign Apprentice is?” said Nova.
“I
don’t read the gossip columns, either, Nova,” huffed Dawn. “Do you know her?”
Nova
nodded, and bent down to Dawn’s ear. “She’s very sensitive and is going through
some heavy personal stuff. The less asked about her right now, the better it
will be. You’ll hear who she is soon enough, I guess. She’s been having enough
teasing this voyage. Knock it off. And even though I know you are a civilian, that is
not a suggestion. Are we clear,
Miss?”
“Aye,
aye, ma’am,” said Dawn in a low voice. She had never been on her hero Nova’s
bad side before, and didn’t want to start now. “Are you two related, ma’am?”
Nova
nodded. “You’ll find out how in a few days. Straighten up and fly right,
Ensign,” she said in a low voice. “Sasha, let’s go. You can talk with me by ourselves over dinner.”
“Okay,”
said Sasha as she gave Dawn one more black look before she walked off behind
Nova.
“Sasha,”
said Dawn in a low voice to Hardy. “She has been giving me the creeps.”
“Since
when?” said Hardy.
Dawn
then recounted her tale of seeing Sasha over the comm unit that night on the
Second of May. She finished by saying, “She sent shivers up my back then, and
set my teeth on edge. The feeling seems to be mutual, and I’ve said maybe three
sentences to her since she piped on board with the other rookies they called up for this cruise. We must be digging
the bottom of the barrel if we need cadets.”
“Yeah. Dawn, she
really bugs you for some reason. Why?
Although I do think I heard about her…or someone who looks like
her…in a news story. Something about some Iscandarian Princess found on Earth
or something. But that couldn’t be her, as a nugget, or anything? Could it?”
“It
could be, Jeff…but that doesn’t explain something else?”
“What?”
“Why
am I having weird dreams about her…being with my vengeful ex-boyfriend?”
“Your
vengeful ex-boyfriend?” said Hardy.
Dawn
nodded. “I mentioned him a little, Jeff. He is a bad memory, and…”
“You
spoke about him before,” said Jeff. “Bad memories. If
he’s such a bad memory, then why are you still wearin’ his star pendant?”
Dawn
sighed. Mom, you were right, she
thought. I knew this would come up sooner
or later. That, and the charm anklet…
Dawn
felt as if she wanted to cry as she said, “Jeff, I’m not really hungry. Can we
go somewhere private to discuss this?”
“Our cabin?”
“No…somewhere
else,” she said as she left her food and took Jeff out of there by the hand.
A
few minutes later, on the aft observation deck, Dawn sat in a chair looking at
the
“I
knew my boyfriend since we grew up together in
“So
what was his name? You haven’t mentioned it yet.”
“Deke,”
said Dawn as Hardy’s eyes began to widen. “Deke
“So,
you’re the mystery gal from Stovall’s
past? The girl who nearly got
“You
knew him, Jeff?”
“One
of my best students…and one of my friends…course I knew him. I still do.”
“And
you never told me?” she said.
“He
was a damn good friend, and a very good pilot, but when we were dating, I
didn’t want to get that much into my military life with you,” snapped Jeff,
more than a little peeved. “Especially since you seemed to have this big hate
thing for the military…” Jeff sighed and said, “You treated him like crap,
Dawn.”
“Given
what happened…I can’t ever tell him, Jeff, but I’ll tell you. I’m sorry now and
I regret it. I wear this star because it makes me think of the old times. We
had good times together once, He was my best friend
once, Jeff. I can’t help it…”
Jeff
sighed.
“You’re
mad at me?”
Jeff
shook his head. “I feel like a thief.”
“A thief?”
“I
took you away from him. And now we left him all alone in the world.”
“You
didn’t, Jeff…I did,” said Dawn. “And he told me he was ‘moving on’. He said he
was involved with another girl. He’ll live, Jeff. I…”
“You what?”
“Jeff,
I’ve known him for most of my life. I try to keep brusque about him so I won’t
have to admit…”
“Do
you still feel somethin’ for him? Maybe marryin’ me was a mistake?” said Jeff.
“It’s
not that at all!” cried Dawn. She
moved her bare leg, and Jeff saw something glittering above her ankle bone on
her sandal-clad foot.
“What’s
that? Is that his too?”
“It’s
mine, Jeff,” she said as she motioned him over and he squatted down on his
haunches. She carefully put her right foot in his lap. “It’s a Rancho Carne
High School Mustang charm. That was our old high school mascot, Jeff. See?”
Jeff
looked at the charm anklet above Dawn’s ankle. “It’s kinda cute,” he said as he
smiled. “Nova’s the only other girl I know who wears ankle bracelets. Hers says
“Derek” on it. I’m not mad, Dawn,” he said as he looked at her with a look in
his visible eye that made her want to melt.
“I
should take this off, Jeff,” she said as tears ran down her face. “I’m with you now, and…”
“If
it makes you think nice things about Deke,” said Hardy. “I still have some things
around that Mio gave me.”
“Your old fiancee’?”
“The
one the Rikashans tortured and killed,” said Jeff as he sighed. “I can never go
home again to her, but I like to think nice things about her…I’m sorry I
snapped at you…”
“I
like to think nice things about Deke, too,” said Dawn. “Maybe that’s why that
strange girl is getting to me. If she’s Deke’s new lady love…”
“Let’s
change the subject,” said Jeff. “I don’t mind if you keep on wearin’ that
pendant. On one condition?”
“Yes?”
“Take
it off when you make love to me,” whispered Jeff. “I don’t want you in anything
but your wedding band and maybe a cute nightie, when…”
“Jeff,”
said Dawn as she kissed him. Then, she smiled at Hardy and said, “I agree to
your offer, Jeff.”
“Good,”
he said back.
At
that, they kissed again, and then she got onto the deck with him and they just
held each other.
For a very long time.
II.
STRANGE DAYS INDEED
Planet
Iscandar
New
May
28, 2207: 0600 Hours Local Planetary Time
The
sun was coming up on a beautiful, sugar-white powdered sand covered beach as
two men sparred together with wooden kendo
bokens in the dim light under a stand of palm trees.
One
of the men was Senior Lieutenant Jere “Brew” Marrable, who was trying to hold his
own in his bare feet in the sand against his angry friend and sparring partner.
The
other man was Senior Lieutenant Deke “Sticks” Wakefield, who was taking out his
aggressions on his second squadron leader as they sparred hard.
Finally,
Deke gave a good swing and knocked Brew down. They laughed and then Deke said,
“I think you forgot about that from our senior year of high school. I was on
the fencing team much of the time…”
“Given
I just met you when I transferred to
Deke
put up his sword in a salute. “I’m in a vicious mood today. I’d love to drive
this thing through a certain Gamilon’s chest,” he said as he smiled viciously.
Oh, shit, he’s
smilin’ again, thought Brew. “The Gamilons are our allies, Sticks.”
“Not
this Gamilon,” he said. “On our wedding night, Sasha confessed to me she had
some bad history with this Gamilon Baron that she never gave me the name of. If
I ever find out who this Baron is, and if he gets within ten meters of Sasha,
and he puts his blue paws on her again, he is a dead mother, Brew. One dead mother.”
“You’ve
been married to Sasha for a month…”
“And
I can’t wait to be with her,” sighed Deke. “I wish the Argo would get here now…”
Then,
as if in answer to his request, Deke and Brew heard the distant, singing,
whistling sound of a ship’s engine on the wind.
Both
of them looked up above the trees. Deke’s heart was beating like mad, and he
had no idea why.
Is it the Argo? Deke thought. Please, let it be the Argo, he thought.
Then,
Deke squinted hard at the outline of the ship as it turned a little to port and
he saw a bit of its starboard side as the morning sun glinted off its silver-grey
hull. “Oh, crap,” said Deke. “Just the Goddamn Wasp, coming in from manuevers.
Another fraggin’ carrier…”
“There’s
another ship behind her, downrange and up even higher,” said Brew.
“What
is it?” said Deke as he glanced up at the carrier one more time with disgust as
it began to slow and then pass through a high cloud.
“You can’t see nothin’,” sighed Brew.
“She’s too high up. Maybe a cruiser. Wanna watch them
come in?”
Deke
looked up. “Just a damn little black speck; just must have finished re-entry,”
muttered Deke. “It’ll take at least fifteen minutes before we can make her out.
Let’s go. I wanna go get chow,” said Deke.
“Yeah,
let’s go,” said Brew. They gathered up their things and headed back for their
boat. Deke looked up one more time, nodded in disgust as the carrier emerged
from the high cloud, and said, “That beach, Brew. The one
across the inlet on the mainland. I have to go surfing there…soon…”
“Not
likely, the way we’ve been flying…” said Brew. “Let’s go.”
“Yeah,”
said Deke. They got to their boat and didn’t bother looking up as they went
back down the coast towards the base.
If
they had looked up, they would have been able to see, about ten minutes later,
that the carrier, indeed, looked just like the Wasp. But it wasn’t. It did not have the yellowish-white markings
of the EDF, though. It was marked with purple trim; as a ship of the Royal
Iscandarian Defense Forces. It was the Princess
Astra.
They
also didn’t notice that the ship cruising in above and behind her was not a cruiser.
It
was a space battleship.
And
she was red and blue, and she had once been an ancient sea-going Earth
battleship.
Deke
didn’t know why his heart was pounding like hell, but his body knew.
The
Argo was almost in the seas of
Iscandar.
And,
so was Sasha.
Sasha
was almost home.
III.
ANOTHER DAY FOR DEKE…
Planet
Iscandar
New
May
28, 2207: 1730 Hours Local Planetary Time
“Okay,”
said
“Negative,
sir,” said Patricia “Stripes” Dodd as she swung her shorts-clad legs around the
bar stool to face Deke and Lt. Barry Haas, a pilot from another Group based on
the island. “Tried to drive up there after we landed around 1600 when we came
in, and the Marines wouldn’t let me near the docks. Didn’t even get close
enough to see who was there.”
“And..”
said Deke as he tapped the bar with his fingers in the Coconaut Grove bar while
some music played over the bar’s sound system. “…Brew and I heard when we came
in that a metric buttload of medical boats were in and out today, flying people
between here and the base hospital, flying people up north to Mother Town…all
sorts of stuff.”
“I
heard the crews from those two new ships won’t have liberty calls until
tonight,” said some man with short hair from Base HQ. Like most of the other
Terrans here, he had on a hula shirt. “We might know somethin’ concrete when we
see them, sir.”
Deke
sighed hard and sipped at the beer that Brew pushed towards him. “Until then,
we’re in the dark…”
“Why’s
he so jumpy?” asked Haas.
“He’s
waiting for his Squirrel to show up,” said Brew as the others laughed.
“Too much information, Brew. TOO MUCH INFORMATION,”
said Deke as he blushed. “Overshare, Brew! Bartender! Get my friend here a real
cold frosty shut the hell up!”
“Bartender! BARTENDER!”
yelled Stripes as she stood up at her stool. “Get my Group leader another
drink! We’re off tomorrow and we’re trying to get him drunk!”
Stripes
clapped her hands, laughed, and threw her light brown hair out of her
sunglasses-clad eyes as she smiled at Deke while adjusting her hot pink lei.
“I’m
gonna kill you,” said Deke with a pleasant grin.
“Is
that me you are referring to, Earthling?”
said a very deep voice.
Deke
tensed. Goddamn, he thought, Sounds like that Gamilon I met when I first hit
the beach here. If he is…he thought as he cracked his knuckles.
Deke looked
up, and saw he was staring right into the face of his “friend” Haratz. Haratz
was in his brown armor, and was just as big, just as nasty-looking, and just as
ugly as ever. Beside him stood a slightly taller Gamilon in the sort of dark
green and white tunic, black and red cape, black slacks, and dark green boots
favored by many of their officers. This man, Deke guessed, had had a handsome
face once, or it would have been if he didn’t have a big scar going across the
bridge of his nose and an eyepatch over one of his eyes.
“Hey,
you,” said Deke.
“I
am not a ‘hey, you’, Earthling surf bum,” said the newcomer Gamilon officer in
a very arrogant, rough tone of voice. “I am a noble back on Gamilon. You would do well to remember that.”
“What
I was gonna say, sir,” snapped Deke.
“Was that your buddy there in the brown armor? The big jerk?
If it is, tell him he has about ten seconds to apologize for the way he talked
to me or I may want to have a talk with him. And, for your information, I am an
Earth Defense Forces officer and naval aviator. You owe me an apology, too.”
“For
what?” sneered the tall Gamilon. “Do I need to
apologize for the fact that I am speaking to an idiot?”
Deke
stood up, not caring that he was about a foot shorter than this Gamilon.
“Buddy, I will have you know that even though I don’t like your kind…”
“What?”
snapped the Gamilon. “You admit to being a xenophobe,
too? What a pity, Haratz. Another stupid xenophobe Earthling we need to
educate.”
Haratz
laughed loudly at that as Brew got up, too, staring down the Gamilons. The room
was going quiet as Haas and even Stripes stood up.
“Stripes,”
whispered Deke. “Go wait for us in the booth.”
“Like
hell I will,” said Stripes. “I’ve been in a few fights in my time.”
“Oh,”
said the big, tall Gamilon officer. “She wants to fight. He wants to fight.
Hear that, Haratz? They want to fight!”
Haratz
laughed. “Too bad the people from the Teufelschiff
aren’t here yet? This would really be fun. Or, should I refer to that damned
red and blue boat as the “Terran Garbage Scow”?”
“Hold
it,” said Brew. “What ship are you talking about?”
“The
ship that devastated Gamilon years ago,” said the Gamilon officer. “I am
Brigadier General Baron Von Delvitz. When the Argo showed up, it devastated my manor on Gamilon, killed my wife,
and killed two of my children. It also ruined the plans I had for my new home
on Earth. Desslok later forgave you scum. I have no idea why.”
“Well,
Baron,” snapped back Deke. “Your Goddamn planet bombs killed my father and baby
sister, and the radiation you smeared all over Earth killed my mother later on.
Except for my wife, I have no family left because of you blue bastards.”
“Oh?”
said Von Delvitz mildly. “No great loss,”
he hissed. “Your kind are barely evolved barbarians!”
Deke
cocked up his fists, but Delvitz threw the first blow by tripping Deke. As Deke
stumbled, Delvitz slammed a fist right into the top of his head. Deke went
flying against a pool table.
“Dirty
fighter!” yelled Brew as he jumped into the fray by swinging at Delvitz. He
connected, giving the Gamilon a bloody mouth.
Haratz
went for Stripes next, but she jumped back and threw a sneaker-clad foot into
his chest. Haratz fell down, but then, he got up and slapped Stripes. She went
for him with a bar stool, but he just laughed and dodged as Stripes whipped the
bar stool at him while Haas came up from behind and smacked Haratz in his
helmeted head.
A
moment later, Bangs overheard the fun and she jumped in to help Stripes,
slamming her sandal-clad foot into the crotch of one of the armored Gamilons
accompanying Haratz as she threw a flying kick at him.
Deke
got up and went for Von Delvitz, throwing several punches at him. Deke saw, to
his great pleasure, that this rotten Gamilon was staggering under his blows.
At last! Deke thought
to himself. At last, I get to get in some
licks against a damn Gamilon who was asking for it! This is for you, Kathi!
Deke thought as he remembered his little sister’s pretty face and punched
Delvitz in the face.
Brew
got in on the action, helping Deke by kicking Delvitz in the butt. Delvitz
grabbed Brew and flipped him onto a table, where he crashed down on top of some
Pellian couple’s dinner. They screamed and ran as Brew, a little stunned,
shrugged and grabbed one of their brews before the glass spilled over. Can’t waste the brew! Brew thought as he
took a good gulp before going back into battle.
Deke
took a blow to the face from Delvitz, but he barely felt it as he thought of his
handsome father Alex and swung like a madman at Delvitz. This is for you, MOM! Deke thought as tears ran down his cheeks as
he remembered his mother Jessica’s beautiful face and swung and connected as
Delvitz fell against the pool table.
In
the meantime, Ivan, Stripes, and Bangs teamed up on Haratz, finally cornering
him while Ivan tackled him and began beating the crap out of him while Stripes
kicked him and a laughing Bangs dumped a pitcher of beer over the Gamilon’s
head, which had been stripped of its helmet. “Have some brew, buddy!” she
screamed while laughing. Bangs grinned when they saw that Haratz was out for
the count, so she kissed his helmet and kept it as a battle trophy.
Deke
was still working on Delvitz as he dodged a pair of blows from the enraged
Gamilon. This is for
Then,
the face of his father-in-law Alex came to his mind as he remembered him and how
the story of how the Gamilons had brought down the Paladin and had almost killed him. This is for Alex Wildstar! Deke thought as an image of the burning Paladin and an injured Alex ran through
his mind as he picked up a pool cue and snapped it over his knee as a stunned
and terrified Von Delvitz went for the grip gun at his belt.
Deke
howled and smashed the grip gun out of Delvitz’s hand, using his pool cue like
a club. Then, an image from a movie he had seen not long ago ran through his
mind. It was a film about the first journey of the Argo to Iscandar, and one of the last scenes of the movie replayed
how Nova had started the Cosmo-DNA and had almost succumbed to Gamilon sleeping
gas. And this one is for my Auntie Nova,
you son-of-a-bitch! Deke thought as he swung towards Delvitz’s head with
the pool cue.
“STOP
IT!” yelled a surprisingly strong feminine voice as Deke turned around. “STOP
IT NOW!”
Deke
looked up and saw that a young woman in a pink shorts suit and pink boots had
gotten up on the pool table. She looked like Nova at first glance, which made
Deke start, until Deke saw that she had long hair.
“Nova?”
he stammered.
“No,
Novalia,” snapped the young
Iscandarian. “Deke, I’m ashamed of
you!”
“Lady
Novalia, he started it!” said Deke as
he gestured towards Delvitz, who was being helped to his feet by Haratz and
some of his buddies.
Novalia
turned on Von Delvitz and yelled, “What are you
doing here? You know you are persona non grata on Iscandar! Especially after what you pulled that time!”
“I
have been assigned here as part of your defense, Lady
Novalia, explain that to
Starsha!” snapped Von Delvitz as he coughed up blood. “Desslok will hear of
this, Earthling!” he said as he pointed at Deke. “This isn’t over yet!”
“I
hope it isn’t!” yelled Deke as the shore patrol came in. A few other
Iscandarians talked to the EDF Shore Patrol as they nodded, and then one of
them turned towards Deke. “Son, you’ll have to come with us.”
“What
about them?” snapped Deke as he pointed at the Gamilons.
“Their
own men are coming for them,” said
the big SP. “They’ll get it, too. But for now, Mister Wakefield, consider
yourself under arrest.”
Deke
looked at Brew and hung his head.
Two
hours passed as Deke Wakefield sat in the outer office of Commodore Raymond
Priceman, the base commander.
Priceman,
still known as “The Iceman”, was still a cold and tough officer even though he
had come up through the ranks. Hardy, Wildstar, and Nova had all had brushes
with the man, and all had warned Deke that this man was a tough, cold man who
usually cut no one any slack.
Finally,
the door opened, and Brew came out hanging his head with a swollen and bruised
face. “Extra duty, man. Three days of extra duty,
Deke…damn! When you get in trouble, you take a lot of people with you. AND NO BEER!”
“Sorry,”
said Deke.
A
moment later, a young female Ensign in Admin whites came out and said, “Senior
Lieutenant Wakefield. The Commodore will see you now.”
“Thanks,”
said Deke as he went in and stood on Priceman’s EDF blue carpet as he faced
down the black peacoat-clad flag officer who wore inhuman-looking cool mirrored
aviator glasses
in silence before he saluted and
said, “Senior Lieutenant Deke Wakefield, reporting as ordered, sir.”
Priceman
snapped back a salute and then asked Deke, “What happened?”
“Sir,
I couldn’t help it,” said Deke. “That Gamilon started it, and he rammed his
face right into my fist. Couldn’t stop him; honestly…”
Priceman
replied, “
“Sir?”
“Look
at that picture on my desk,
“No,
sir,” said Deke.
“My wife, Victoria. She died in
2199 thanks to the Gamilons. I never remarried. I got my revenge in a battle
near Mars in a fighter a few weeks afterwards. Lost an arm and an eye after
they messed up my Super Starfighter, but I got better, even though I can’t fly
anymore thanks to the fact that my depth perception is off due to my bionic
eye,” said Priceman as he adjusted his aviator glasses. “That’s why I always
wear these shades, too. Damn bionic eye. I think we’re going to have another
round with the Gamilons some day, son. I trust them about as far as I can throw
them. I understand what you did. But, for now, we can’t condone it.”
“Therefore,
I’m ripping this up,” said Priceman
as he tore up the Article Fourteen report slip the SP’s had filled out on
“What?”
said Deke.
“For
seventy-two hours,” said Priceman with a grin. “I heard scuttlebutt that you
like to surf. Go do some surfing. Do some thinking. Don’t come near this base
or a plane for seventy-two hours, and don’t come near any Gamilons. I think the fact that the particular Baron we are talking
about tripped you first will mean that the report of protest we are sending to
Desslok will make that man go over like a turd in a punchbowl with his own
kind. Starsha’s not too happy, either. But, we’ll discuss Starsha and some
other…business…after you come back from suspension. See me here,
“Thank
you, sir,” said Deke as he saluted. Priceman returned the salute and Deke did
an about-face and left Flag Country for now.
Could have
been a lot worse, thought Deke. Thank
Heavens that guy has something of a heart…
About
forty minutes after Deke and Brew left the
“Send
him in,” said Priceman as he put his glasses and cap back on.
A
moment later, Priceman got up and saluted his
visitor, an officer who was also a Commodore, but a man who outranked him
because he had held the rank for a longer period of time.
Commodore
Derek Wildstar returned the salute and set his naval cap down on the desk as
Priceman shook his hand. “Is he here?” said Wildstar with no preamble.
“Who,
sir?” said Priceman.
“
“Do
you mean Deke Wakefield?”
“I
do,” said Wildstar. “Is he all right?”
“Yes
and no,” said Priceman. “You just missed him, sir. He was in a little fracas in
the base gedunk club tonight.”
“With
whom?” sighed Wildstar.
“The Gamilons. No, I didn’t
put him in the brig, sir. They started it.”
Wildstar
sighed and shook his head. “Sometimes, I have a hard time looking them in the
eye when I remember what they did to my
parents…”
“Yes,”
said Priceman. Then, he said, “Why did you want to see me?”
“I
need an instructor for someone,” said Wildstar as he opened a dossier. “And
this situation is going to be a little
sticky, but it has to be
“Tell
me,” said Priceman.
A while later, Wildstar came out of the
Base Headquarters building. He smiled as he tapped lightly with
his knuckles at the blacked-out window of a sleek Earth-made sports-type ground
car in black.
“What
is it?” questioned the car’s driver as she quickly lowered the power window.
“OUCH!” she yelped as one of Derek’s taps tapped her lightly on the end of the
nose. “Derek, would you watch that?”
“Sorry,
Nova,” he grinned with a blush as he kissed his wife on the nose. “Priceman’s
agreed to assign our man to train Sasha.”
“Where’s
Deekee?” cried Sasha herself as she
stuck out her head from the back seat of the sports coupe that Nova was
driving. She was wearing her regular blue Midhipman’s uniform. “I thought he’d
be right in the office!”
“He’s
not,” replied Derek sadly as he kissed Nova on the nose again (she was still wincing
slightly). Then, he got into the coupe on the passenger side, admiring his
young wife’s skirt-clad
legs as she popped the clutch, shifted into gear, and drove off
in first. Then, he turned back to Sasha and said, “Deke got into a fight with
some Gamilons at the local watering hole, so Priceman suspended him for three
days. He has no idea where he went after that.”
Sasha
furrowed her brow for a moment as she guessed that Nova was driving them back
north to the docks where the Argo was
now docked, and she said, “I’ll find him.”
“Sasha,
are you sure you want to be wandering around this island all by yourself?” said
Nova with a concerned voice as Derek rubbed her stomach when they came to a
stop sign that was in three languages. “It’s going to be dark soon…”
“It’s
the night of the summer solstice here on Iscandar; the longest day of the
year,” replied Sasha. “I’ll have four; five hours left to find him before the
sun sets. I’ll need a boat and my swimsuit.”
Derek
looked at Nova, and she shook her head and smiled as they shared an amused
thought. “You can sign for a boat at the docks,” said Derek as Nova drove off
again. “How much liberty will you need?”
“The
night,” said Sasha brightly. “I think I know where he’s going. And I know where
to find him…”
“Be
careful,” said Nova.
“I’ll
try,” replied Sasha with a teasing grin.
“That’s
the part that has us worried,” replied Derek.
“I’m
married to him; I know what I’m doing,” sang Sasha.
“We
hope so,” said Derek.
IV.
THE SURFER…AND HIS LADY…
Planet
Iscandar
The
Southern Coast of the Great Continent
North
of New
May
28, 2207: 1910 Hours Local Planetary Time
Deke
After leaving the squadron in the hands of Brew, Deke had rented a
skimmer from the colony (along with a surfboard) and he had decided to spend
his "leave" camping out on a beach up the highway from the base, just
across the strait from
For a surf nut, it was just too tempting not to want to give it a
try.
Deke finally got the skimmer to stop not far from a small cove.
Clad in his hula shirt, baggy swim trunks, and sandals, he began dragging his
items to shore, wading in through the warm water as he watched the surf.
Those
waves are damned gnarly, he thought as he watched the waves crashing in
while he made camp beneath a stand of palm trees that grew on the beach. He
stripped off his shirt and smeared himself with sunscreen. As he got his board
on its tail in the sand and began to wax it, he thought, It’s been so damn long since I’ve been surfing. And this is the perfect
place to do it….
The beach was pure white sand, surrounded on both sides by high,
sandy bluffs of golden-white sand about twenty to thirty feet high that were
beyond stands of palm trees. The pure white beach was in something like a
valley between the two high bluffs. There were palm trees around. Deke observed
that it was a very pretty beach.
I’m
probably gonna wipe out the first few times I try those waves,
thought Deke as he flicked on his portable sound system and began to play “Pipeline” on a continuous loop. “It’s
gonna be worth it,” he said to himself as he saw the sun beginning to wester
(and wondered why it was still so bright at just past 1900 Hours local
planetary time). “Man, I need to work out that anger somehow. And maybe wiping
out is the best damn way to do it.”
So, Deke took his board, set it in the surf, and he paddled out to
attack the waves.
Off shore, he felt a wave coming up. He got up off his knees, dug
his toes onto his black and gold surfboard as he began to hang ten, and he
began to capture the wave spectacularly before he wiped out and swallowed lots
of Iscandarian salt water.
Undeterred (but coughing) he tried five more times. One time, he
stayed on the wave for about eight seconds, while he wiped out the other four
times. He found himself ingesting many, many
Two hours passed. On about his thirteenth try, Deke finally
succeeded in shooting the greenhouse, riding in on the top of a very gnarly
wave that gave him a great view of the beach.
When he made shore, he coughed a little, put his board up in the
sand, and he switched his sound system to “Surfer
Girl”, missing Sasha more than ever as he considered the waves, the sun,
and the solitude.
Deke then spread out his beach blanket and lay down for a nap
under the palms as the sun began to set.
He wasn’t sure how long he was napping, but he let Morpheus
conquer him for, maybe an hour. Then, he woke up.
When Deke woke up, there was a spectacular sunset burning in the
sky to the west, but the sun and sky were still bright blue in the east.
Gulls (or the Iscandarian equivalent thereof) sang in the distance
as the surf rolled on, and then….
…Deke caught a glimpse of someone lying on a shady part of the
sand (where the beach sand looked brown-sugar like in the fading light).
As
he rubbed sleep out of his eyes, he saw that the someone
was female…
…and that she had long blond hair down to her lower back, and that
she was wearing a sky-blue bikini and nothing else.
“Hi, Deke,” she said in a soft voice as he came over. “Looks like
I found you…”
“Sasha?” he said as his eyebrows went up.
“It was me the last time I checked,” she giggled as Deke plopped
down on the sand beside her, still too stunned to do very much.
“I’m real,” she said as she kissed him on the nose. “I’m not a
mirage. See? But what are you doing here?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing here?” said Deke as he slowly
put his arm around the bikini-clad apparition. Then, as “Surfer Girl” continued to play on in the background, he found she
was quite real.
Very real…as they exchanged
a long kiss.
“Your swimsuit is still wet,” she said as she touched his stomach.
“So’s yours,” he said as he touched her breast. “Were you
swimming?”
“Yes, while you were alseep, Deekee. We could catch cold like
this,” she said with a teasing wink as she got up and led Deke to his beach
towel, with her bare feet leaving messy but enticing footprints in the sand as
she walked. “Especially you,” said Sasha as she pulled down Deke’s baggy
swimsuit.
“Hey!” he laughed.
They plopped down on the towel together, and Sasha began to kiss
Deke as he caressed her breasts. Somewhere in the caressing, her top came off,
and his lips began kissing her firm breasts, making her gasp and giggle as her
nipples came up in the sunset.
As Sasha gasped and cried out softly, she went straight
for Deke’s crotch. As she grinned a little, she slowly went down on her knees
before him, and began to purr as
It involved her lips...and a certain part of Deke
Wakefield’s anatomy...
“Do you know what today is?” said Sasha as she caught her breath
while she was busy taking his breath away.
“What? What? What?” said Deke. I can’t think straight with you doing that,
he thought as she drove him crazier by undoing the ties on her bikini bottom,
making herself completely naked for him as she smiled at him.
“Our one-month anniversary,” said Sasha. “It must have been a long
month for you. Right?”
Deke just nodded as his hands found Sasha’s most delicate area as
her buttocks loosened for him as he touched her round, firm bottom. Her sighs
and gasps made him smile as he knew when he found the right spot. It felt like a
wet rose on the beach.
“It was a long month for me,” he gasped as Sasha worked him while
she worked on him, driving him mad with her tongue. “It was too long!”
“Well, now our wait is over,” said Sasha as she smiled at him.
“Was it worth it?”
Deke nodded. Sasha looked at him a second later, and her eyes locked against his. His eyes
looked large, glittery, and very sensitive and very loving at this particular
moment. “If anyone ever touches you like this…the way I’m touching you now…”
“Yes?” Sasha gasped as Deke continued to touch her..like that. Her toes curled in the sand at the edge of the
blanket as she got very hot all over.
“If anyone but your doctor touches you in this initmate
fashion, I swear unto you I will run him through with a sword or a knife. Over and over and over
again. Then, I will cut out his heart and make him eat it as he dies,”
said Deke in a strange, trembling voice as a bizarre sense of wildness ran
through him. “No man shall have you but I…”
“And I will cleave for no one but thee,” replied Sasha
in a strange, murmuring voice as she lay on her back, trembling as Deke gave
her the most initimate of kisses.
As she began to gasp and scream in the throes of
release, Deke melted into her like ice cream on a hot day. She felt hot,
intense, gasping pleasure as he took her, renewing their marriage vows without
an ounce of shame as the surf rolled on, and his player finally turned itself
off in electronic exhaustion.
But, they were not exhausted….
No…they were far from exhausted….
And, their joining went on, and on, and on….
Later on, the sun had set.
Deke had built a fire from driftwood.
The lovers, wrapped only in towels, sat beside each
other eating some franks that Deke had brought in a cooler. They were roasting
them in the fire on sticks as they talked.
“You know, Dekee, this beach isn’t the best place in the
world,” said Sasha.
“Why not?”
“Dekee, you know you're not supposed to be here. This is a
forbidden/sacred place for the Iscandarians. Only those of the Royal House may
come here, or those that the House grants permission to.”
“Oh?” he said, a bit dumbfounded. He began to say, “Sasha, we
shouldn’t be here..”
when she cut him off with a kiss.
Then, she replied, “Why not stick around? What's it going to hurt?
Trust me, I don't bite, Deke! You know that!”
They laughed, knowing very well that if she had a habit of biting,
he would have found out about it…earlier…
Deke nodded, “so you say”
To that, Sasha smiled and said, “And, Deke Wakefield, when was the
last time you were on a completely deserted beach naked with a woman?
Especially the one you are married to? Tell me? When?”
Noting a sense of sincerity in her voice, Deke chuckled, “You got
me there, Sasha. Do you have permission to be here?”
“Yes,” she said. “This is where Nova taught me to swim as a little
girl, matter of fact.”
“Why is it sacred?”
“I was conceived here,” said Sasha in an innocent voice. Deke
nearly choked on his frank at that as she added “This is where the Royal
Families have conceived their children for thousands of years. I think they
have that taboo up to keep this place nice and private.”
“How do you know?” said Deke.
“Mother told me,” said Sasha as she wriggled her toes against his
leg. “We aren’t that prudish here on Iscandar, silly…”
“So I’ve noticed,” said Deke as she cuddled up beside him while
the fire burned on and they made more hot dogs. His player came back to life as
a cover of the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t it
Be Nice” came up randomly as they snuggled and talked.
Even though he found the feeling of her in his arms extremely
comforting, a part of his brain kept flashing back inexplicably to Dawn. He was
reminded of the time when his little sister Kathi told him "ooh, Dawn's gonna hurt you Deke. U not
supposed to be with any other girl."
This led to a sense of guilt rising up within him. For some time,
Deke felt torn between his past and the present with his beautiful wife there.
A moment later, as if Sasha could tell what he was thinking, she
surprised him by asking; “Deke, is there or was there someone else in your
life?”
Deke didn’t answer right away. After thinking for a long moment, he
lit another cigarette, leaned back on the blanket, stared up at the stars and
said; “Once upon a time, yes. But now...only in the windmills of my mind.”
Sasha didn’t understand the terminology, but she picked up on the
underlying meaning of his comment. Resting her head on his chest, she asked,
“Deke, would you like to talk about it? I’ve told you about as much as I can
about myself tonight. I’ve confided in you. Now, confide in me.”
Putting an arm around her waist, Deke shook his head; “No, not
really. It's not like I can go home again, Sasha, so..."
“Why can't you go home? Did you do something bad?”
He chuckled; "no, it's...a figure of speech. It's like...you
can't go back and relive your past. Once you've grown up, you can't go back
home and be a kid again. We’re married now. I can’t ever go back to the past.
And I don’t want to, either," he said as he hugged her. Then, Deke
remained silent for a long time, recalling the events of his senior year in HS
to himself as Sasha looked into his eyes and said, “You need not say anything,
Deke….”
“Why not?”
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said as a tear ran down her
face. “This beach is the place where my Iscandarian lover and I were last
together. After he drowned, I haven’t been back here again. Until
tonight.”
“Until tonight,” said Deke. “There remains one fact staring me in
the face…”
“What?”
“Without sacrificing my career, there was no chance of hanging on
to Dawn. None at all. And I am now married to you…so…”
Sasha asked, again, “Was there any way to go back?”
He sighed, shook his head, and said; "No. Not without cutting
my own throat in the process."
“Sounds painful.”
Recalling again
As the evening eased into night, Deke's sense of guilt subsided as
his thoughts moved from the past back to the present. Before long, one thing
led to another again as they kissed, and the two of them eventually threw off
their towels….
…and lay back down on the blankets….
….as they again renewed their vows naked under the stars as the
surf rolled on.
Fade to black…
TO BE CONTINUED…
To Return to the Introduction to The New Comet, click here