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)
Major Thanks to Tim Eldred and Michael C. Crump (aka “Max Damage”) for artwork contributed to this
chapter.
And, thanks to Ami Meitsu from the “
Note: This chapter contains some mature
content…just wanted to warn you…
ACT SIX: FOR LOVE AND
FOR HONOR…
I.
OF SUN AND SURF…
Planet
Iscandar
The
Southern Coast of the Great Continent
North
of New
Sunday
May 31, 2207: 0820 Hours Local Planetary Time
Yet another morning came to Iscandar.
The surf rolled on on the sacred beach as Deke and Sasha lay in
the wet sand, kissing, hugging, and cuddling in their swimwear as the ocean
rolled over them.
They were so much in love that they didn’t care about getting wet
again and again as the surf rolled over them.
“I want you again,” murmured Deke as he kissed Sasha.
“I would love to,” whispered Sasha as she kissed back. “Oh, I
would so much love to…” she whispered as tears ran down her cheeks.
“Then why not?” said Deke.
“Today’s the thirty-first of your month of May,” said Sasha in a
whisper. “I”ve told you, Deke…I have to go back now.”
“Now?”
“Or very soon, anyway,” said Sasha. “I have to be back on the Argo by 1100 Hours today. That is when
my liberty runs out.”
“Oh,” said Deke as he kissed Sasha again, with a bit less ardor.
“Yeah. I have to be back at the base tonight, anyhow. My exile endeth,” he
sighed as he got up.
“We can be together a little
while longer, Deke,” said Sasha. “We can…work at…breaking camp.”
“I wish we didn’t have to,” said Deke as he got his surfboard.
Sasha ran to hers and kissed Deke again. “You said you liked to
see me surf,” she said. “Like to see me go in one more time?” she asked as she
wiggled her toes and picked up her board.
“I guess so,” said Deke.
“Good,” said Sasha as she kissed Deke. “Then, I’ll give you a
goodbye kiss.”
“I hope it’s more than a kiss, Mrs. Wakefield.”
“It will be,” said Sasha. “I have to take off this swimsuit after
I surf,” she said mischeviously. “And so do you…” she said as she kissed him
yet again.
Then, she ran into the surf with her board.
An hour or so later, Deke found himself waking up from a drowsy
sleep on his blanket. Sasha had put him to bed after their surf…in a very sweet
way…with no clothes on at all.
Now, to Deke’s disorientation and disappointment, she was gone.
She had taken her things…as if in a rush. But, she had cleaned up much of their
camp and taken her surfboard.
But, he found a note near the blanket. He unfolded the note and
read:
Deekee:
I had to go now. You know that. I know that. But
I know where your squadron is based. I think we will meet again soon. After
all, we’re on the same planet now.
See you soon.
Love and Kisses---
Sasha…
“Damn circumstances,” muttered Deke as he held the note and cried
softly. “You’re here, and the bastards take you from me again. I hope we can
put an end to this crap…and soon. I want you by me every night…”
Shaking his head, and wondering if the past three days had been a
hallucination, Deke began to pack up and break camp packing up his things, as
he prepared to return to the squadron.
“Damned squadron,” he said to himself. “Damned planes. Damned
war.”
At that, Deke forced himself to work.
As soon as
Yet
another note, he thought. And my seventy-two hours aren’t up yet. Oh, well, let’s see what’s
going on…
Deke read the note; it read:
Senior Lieutenant Wakefield:
Report to my office at 1330, as soon as you get
this. I am ending your exile early. You have a training assignment waiting for you.
I will have the trainee waiting in my office.
Regards,
Priceman, Raymond, Commodore, Joint Base EDF
Commanding Officer.
PS-Get your butt into my office in a full
uniform-not looking like a God-damn surf bum.
“Okay,” said Deke to himself. He was still in a hula shirt,
shorts, and sandals. And it was now 1318.
“I’ve got five minutes. Better get changed.”
At that,
He made sure he didn’t forget his sticks.
Five minutes passed as it was déjà vu all over again as Deke Wakefield
sat in the outer office of Commodore Raymond Priceman, the base commander.
Again,
the door opened, and Brew came out once again, saying, “Sticks! Boy, do they
got a surprise waitin’ for you in that office!” he said with a big grin.
“I
put you through three days worth of hell, and extra duty and crap, and you’re
smiling?” said Deke.
“Sheeeiit! I heard you’ve done Spindletop
on me, boy!” he laughed. “Oil wells! Gushers! Son of a bitch! Son of a
mother….”
“Toad,
would you kindly cut out the
editorial comments?” purred a familiar alto voice from the other side of the
door.
The
alto voice was female. Deke had heard that voice before, although not at any
time in the past few weeks.
Damn!
“
“Aye,
aye, sir!” said
And,
then, his jaw nearly dropped off.
As
Deke pulled the door closed, he beheld two figures sitting before Priceman’s
desk in chairs.
One
was a rather pregnant woman in a black and gold male-pattern Star Force top,
gold skirt, and white sandals. Her hair was a lighter honey-gold than he had
seen it in some time, but Nova Wildstar was rather hard to miss.
The
other woman had long blonde hair, and was in a blue and white female
Midshipman’s uniform, and dark blue boots. She looked freshly groomed, and wore
a smile as if she was the cat that had just caught a canary.
“Mister
Wakefield,” said Priceman in a dry voice. “Re-fasten that jaw, and try not to
make that…tent…in your trousers so obvious as you sit down.”
“Yessir,”
said Deke as he swallowed and sat down in the third chair between Nova and his
wife.
Then, Nova said, “Deke, this is Sasha. She is … someone you know
very well already, Deke, shall we say. As you know, she came to Iscandar with
us. Your job now is to help train her...”
“To train her?” said Deke. He was still flabbergasted as Sasha sat
smiling at him.
“Yes,” said Nova. “Sasha is being trained in Radar, Survey,
Analysis, and Navigation ops.”
“I’m here on Iscandar because I had a horrible time on Earth, Deke,”
said Sasha. “You know some of the story. I told you when we were camping out.
Now you’ll hear the rest.”
“Sasha, I know you told me some of this already back on the beach
when we were together…,” replied Deke.
“You two were together already?” said Priceman.
“Yes, for three days, sir,” said Sasha. “Is that such a sin, sir,
given I am a Princess? And given I am
married to him?”
This made Deke’s head spin. “Sasha, I thought your identity was
supposed to be a secret…”
“It came out back on Earth,” said Sasha. “So did our marriage.
Remember? I told you some of that. Damned press.”
“How’d it happen?” asked Deke as he gritted his teeth, held
Sasha’s hand, and got a look in his eye that scared Priceman a little bit.
Nova than interjected, “Some creeps stole her private medical
records from the Academy and published them right after she was in battle with
us on the day the Nagato was
launched.”
“Is that why they took you out of the Space Fighters’ Training
School?” said Deke to Sasha.
“Yes,” she sighed. “Well, that’s part of it. The rest was after
what happened to…”
Nova then added, “Well, after she fought in battle successfully on
Earth briefly on the space battleship Nagato,
and after that business happened at the Academy and her identity was publicized
world-wide…”
“It was decided that it was a security threat for me to be on
Earth then with my identity exposed. There were riots because of who I was, and
trouble with the Iscandarian Government, because Mother and Astra protested,”
said Sasha.
“Cripes,” said Deke.
“Then, adding to it, was the fact that the Cometines and R’Khells
tried to kill my father on the New Orient Express in
“And that’s when a clone of Yvona Josiah saved our lives,” added
Nova.
“This is weird,” said Deke.
“Yes, it is,” laughed Sasha nervously. “Then, Nova?”
“Yes,” added Nova, after she bit her lower lip for a minute. “Because
of…all of this, and Alex’s injuries that necessitated his return to Iscandar,
it was decided to graduate Sasha early and make her an Ensign Apprentice. Which
was a good thing, because she has learned very quickly and has gotten her space
legs in a hurry. She was in several battles with us on the Argo on the way here, and she did well. Mister Kitano and I have
just finished training her in everything we could teach her on board ship. She
has quite a learning curve, and she’s mastered weeks…months…worth of training
in a few days, because of her…unique heritage. But, as much as I’d like to…my
physical condition keeps me from getting into a fighter plane right now, shall
we say?” said Nova as she patted her stomach. “I still have my pilot’s license,
but I can’t safely fly anything but a medical boat or a Cosmo Hound until after
I become a mother and heal up a bit. That’s where you come in, Deke. Derek and
I picked you to take Sasha out for several runs in your Tiger to train her in
recon ops and combat ops in that second place. She already trusts you, and you
have…quite a rapport, shall we say?” Nova smiled at that.
“So?” said Deke.
“You’ve been picked,
“Yessir,” said Deke as he looked at Sasha. “I…I..accept…”
Sasha’s eyes lit up at that.
“Good,” said Priceman. “Mrs. Wildstar. Mrs. Wakefield. Both of you
are dismissed. You can go.”
“Yessir,” said Nova and Sasha together as they saluted. Then, they
left.
Priceman then looked at
“Sir?”
“PRP,” he sighed. “Personal Relationship Protocol. Oh, I know
she’s your wife and all that crap, but I don’t want to find you two buck naked
in some cockpit screwing around on my
tarmac, Mister. Are we clear on that?”
Deke then turned a dozen shades of red and said, “Yessir. I’ll
take a cold shower ASAP…”
“Good man,” said Priceman. “Dismissed.”
Deke saluted and left.
Upon leaving the HQ building, Deke found Sasha waiting for him. She
stood to attention and popped him a sharp salute.
After returning it, he asked, "I didn't dream all that on the
beach the other night, did I?"
In reply, Sasha shook her head and with a coy smile she said,
"Oh, it was a dream, Deke, but it was very real."
Deke smiled, and replied, "That's what I was afraid you were
going to say. You know…there is such a thing as PRP. On the job, we have to be
professional. As professional as possible. No hugging, kissing, touching, going
“Deekee” on the job…”
“But we’ll be all alone
in that cockpit,” said Sasha as, nearby, Nova stood tapping her foot against
the sandy soil and rolling up her eyes a little.
“Playing those sort of games in a plane can get us killed in a big
hurry,” said Deke. “Are we clear on that?”
“Yessir,” said Sasha in a depressed tone of voice. “I guess I
won’t be seeing much of you…off the job…”
“I’m getting that changed,” said Nova as she turned to them. “It
will take several days, but I am getting your quarters situation changed so you
can at least room together somewhere and have some privacy for your off-duty
time in the evenings. Unless we are on alert, that is…”
“Several days?” said
Sasha. “That’s a long wait…”
“Sorry,” said Nova. “The paperwork for your PRP waiver is taking a
while, and, besides, I have to find you two suitable quarters somewhere near
the base for you to set up housekeeping. It will be fixed in a few days. You’ll
see! I know darn well you two are married. Between you and I, I wouldn’t want
to be away from Derek for long, either. And, given what has happened, you no
longer have to keep your marriage secret, either….here, or on Earth.””
“Don’t thank me,” said Nova. “I wasn’t behind our almost getting
killed back on Earth. They hurt Derek, they tried to kill Sasha, they tried to
kill me and our unborn children, and they came that close to killing Alex. If I ever see that rotten Princess
Invidia again, she is going to have a lot
to answer for! Finally…Queen Starsha will be seeing both of you sometime in the
next week. Your father’s health is slowly improving, Sasha, and your mother
wants to talk to you both.”
“Thank you, Auntie,” said Sasha.
“I’ll be going now,” said Nova. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” said Deke.
II.
MORE FUN FOR INVIDIA…
The
Eritz Gatlantis
The
Grand Throne Room of Invidia’s Palace
The
Edge of the Great Magellenic Cloud
Tuesday
June 2, 2207: 0820 Hours Earth Space-Time
“How
many days,” snapped Invidia, “Until Zed-Day?”
“On
the Fifth of Kaled, we told Desslok that he and Iscandar had fifty-five days
left,” said General Dyre. “Now, twenty-one days have passed us. So, we now have
thirty-four days left until we must fulfill our promise and strike. Our forces
are drawing into position now,” said Dyre.
He
made the screen built into the floor change as he said, “I have personally sent
General Turpis to lead the advance strike and reconnaissance operations near
the Sanzar System. He has a fleet of sixty ships at his disposal…and we keep
him lurking in the
“We
are drawing our forces thin,” said Gorse.
“Regardless,
we must do so,” said Invidia. “The backup of the softening-up operation is being
led by General Athlon, with a battle fleet of fifty ships, mostly space
battleships and cruisers. He also has anti-matter missile ships, enough to
destroy either Gamilon or Iscandar if we have to,” added Invidia with a sick
smile.
“Would
we destroy them?” said Dyre.
“I’d
prefer not to destroy Iscandar,” said Invidia. “If we had to destroy Gamilon,
it would not be so bad,” she said with a sick grin. “And watch Desslok’s face
if we blew his sacred homeworld to bits! Ha ha ha ha
ha ha ha HA!!”
“That’s only a hundred and ten ships,”
said Gorse. “That
is not even enough to engage Desslok’s Combined Starfleet, let alone the Earth
Forces, especially if the cursed Star Force meddles in the operation..”
“That
is where our Black Nebulan friends come back into play,” said Invidia. “Now, on
the way from the Black Fox Nebula are three battle fleets,” she said as she
nodded to Dyre.
“Attack
Fleet Number One is led by Baron Derdan,” said Dyre. “It consists of two
hundred destroyers, eighty cruisers, and twenty first-class space battleships,
as well as at least ten carriers and many landing ships. Baron Derdan’s job
will be to serve as the first vanguard of the main attack with his three
hundred and fifty vessels. We are anticipating that we can take care of most of
the Gamilon Fleet with these ships. Derdan’s job is to reduce Desslok’s fleets
back to the ragtag collection of ships he once had.”
Invidia
smiled and nodded at that.
“Attack
Fleet Number Two is led by Baron Meldazz,” said Dyre. “It consists of ten first-class
space battleships, thirty destroyers, five more carriers, and an invasion fleet
of a hundred landing ships and troops. And, last but not least, there are two
Gorba Floating Fortresses. One will be commanded by Admiral Dega, one of the
fiercest fighters of the Black Nebulans’ forces, and the other will be
commanded by Meldazz himself. We have commissioned them to destroy the
Iscandarian Fleet and the bulk of the Earth forces, and to draw the Argo herself into a trap.”
“So
what do we have planned for the Star Force and Desslok?”
“Destruction
and disgrace, respectively,” said Dyre. “The Third and final Attack Fleet from
the Black Nebulan forces will be led by two ruthless commanders. The main
Battle Fleet will be led by Lady Sarda. It will consist of twenty first-class
space battleships, eighty destroyers, and ten Beta-Cannon equipped space
battleships. The Beta-Cannon ships are to engage the Argo and are to either destroy her, or help Meldazz trap her for
the final trap we have set up.”
“Which
is?”
Dyre
smiled as he nodded. “A Task Force of Seven Gorba Floating Fortresses. Six are
the usual type, one is a new Siege Fortress. The Siege Fortress is designed to
attack
“What
about the Territorial Fleet and the R’Khells?” snapped Invidia.
“We
are holding them in reserve, Princess,” said Dyre. “For the attack upon Earth
that will follow, hopefully, with you commanding our forces either from the New
Comet or from Queen Starsha’s throne room after she is dead.”
“What
about Starsha, Aliscea, and Astrena?” snapped Gorse.
“HE
says they will be dealt with,” said Invidia. “Trust him. In fact, he has
reinvigorated us. And where is Radnar hiding?” sneered Invidia.
“We
do not know,” admitted Dyre. “But Skaldart has sworn to me that he will deal
with him…if he has to.”
The
room filled with hubbub as Invidia smiled. “Yes. I like that, Dyre. Thank you
for your efforts. And when do we bring the Comet into the Sanzar System?”
“Only
when Skaldart has Desslok in chains,” sneered Dyre.
Invidia
laughed a long, hearty laugh at that. She liked this.
She
liked it a great deal….
III.
FLYING FRUSTRATION TOUR ONE
The Vicinity of Planet Iscandar
Deke
Thursday
June 4, 2207: 1130 Hours Earth Space-Time
“Targets
spotted,” said Sasha in efficient tones from the aft place of Diamond Girl, Deke Wakefield’s command
plane. “Two bogies, range, twenty megameters, speed, eighteen space knots and
accelerating. Identified as two recon-type Scorpion boats.”
“Good
spot,” said Deke from the pilot’s seat of his plane. “First squadron, we’re
going in after those Cometine recon boats. Brew, keep watch behind me over the
planet for any others.”
“Roger
that,” said Brew from his plane as the Trojans split formation into two
squadrons.
Deke
nodded through his canopy at Ivan and at Stripes. Both junior officers nodded back,
and, not far away, Bangs also gave a nod as she ordered her flight to follow
“Where’s
those enemy birds, Sasha?” asked Deke.
“We’re
still holding course; looks like they’re scanning the base like mad.”
“They
won’t be scanning much longer, the
green sons-of-bitches,” said Deke with a grim smile. “Okay, Sasha, in we go!”
“Attack!” barked Deke over his lip mike.
A
moment later, his Tigers blasted in. Sasha smiled a little in spite of her
fear. She liked it when Deke flew nice and fast.
A
moment later, Sasha snapped, “Incoming!”
as the enemy recon boats changed course quickly and began to let loose with
their upper disc turrets.
Not
far away, Ensign Tomaselli, another one of Bangs’ men, wasn’t fast enough, so
he was the first to get caught by the enemy fire. His Tiger blew up not far
away while Sasha shivered, and then felt a sudden rage as she said, “Sir, we’re
in range for missiles!”
“Locking
on,” muttered Deke as he switched to missiles. “All right, you killers, take that!”
Deke
fired, and two missiles roared out into space and right into the underbelly of
the Cometine Recon Scorpion. “Scratch one boat!” he snapped with a laugh.
“Deke!”
cried Sasha.
“What?”
“One
o’ clock, RIGHT ABOVE US!” she cried.
Deke swiveled his
head and spotted another recon boat, followed by two regular Scorpion boats
roaring in over their heads. One of the regular attack boats fired at the Diamond Girl, and if Deke’s reflexes
hadn’t been quicker, he, Sasha, and the Marine private in the aft turret would
all have been dead. As it is, Deke dodged, in just enough time for Private
Martin to lock on and begin pumping away with his guns.
The
Scorpion was scared away…but for just a moment. He blasted back in, took aim,
and he blew away Stripes.
“NO!”
cried Sasha.
“Sasha,
this isn’t the end of this game yet,”
snapped Deke angrily as he thought of how nice Patricia “Stripes” Dodd had
been. “Where are they?”
“One
o’clock, six o’ clock…”
“I’m
going to do something about this!” snapped Deke as he swung about and blasted
at one of the Scorpion fighters. He succeeded; it was blown to bits.
From
above him, Brew and his wingmen roared in, and they jumped the other Scorpions.
“Not
bad,” muttered Deke. “Sasha, where’s that other recon ship?”
“Almost
a megameter away now,” she said. “Make that two…make that three…four…five! He’s disappearing into Gamilon’s
shadow!”
“Request
permission to pursue!” said Brew.
“Negative.
He’s in Gamilon’s defense zone now. Have fun with the Gamilons, green guys…”
muttered Deke as he watched a few lights appearing on Gamilon’s night side. “Sasha?”
At
that, Sasha smiled. Sasha then said, “He’s having some fun with the Gamilons,
all right…they’ll make sure he doesn’t get back to his ship.”
“What
happened to Stripes?” snapped Ivan as he took formation beside Deke.
“Dead,”
said Deke.
“Damn,”
said Ivan as he bit his lip. “That stinks!”
“Tell
me about it,” said Deke.
“Yeah,”
said Sasha as she opened her faceplate for a moment. She wiped her eyes and asked
Deke, “How much longer are we out here?”
“Until
1200,” said Deke.
“Good,”
said Sasha. “I can’t wait to land today.”
“Like
the training?” said Deke.
“That
wasn’t training,” said Sasha. “That was fighting.” Sasha made a fist. “They
make me so mad.”
“You’re
not alone, Sasha,” said Deke. “Sasha, you’re not alone…”
In the meantime, on the Argo,
Dawn Hardy had received a compliment from Lieutenant Maxine Jenkins, another
nurse she had been working with.
Several days’ worth of work and walking about in the sun on
Iscandar had lightened Dawn’s brownish/dishwater blond hair to a somewhat
lighter dark gold shade. Dawn’s blond bangs were now a very light golden
blonde, lighter than they had been before.
“I like your hair,” said Maxine as they worked together in
Sickbay. “But, Dawn, the bangs are so light…”
“They’ve always been like that,” said Dawn.
“Well, you could either darken the bangs to match the rest of your
hair,” said Jenkins as she tapped her sandaled foot (she, like Dawn, was now
wearing sandals and the lighter summer-issue nurse’s minidress with bare
shoulders that had been broken out for the Iscandarian climate). “Or, you could
lighten the hair to match the bangs.”
“I’d either need to wash and rinse it like crazy the ancient way,
or get a Cosmo Chick lightening Comb,” said Dawn. “And
I don’t have enough money for a Cosmo Chick Comb, either…”
“I’ve got one here,” said Jenkins. “A Number
Five. Try it for a few days, and see what Jeff thinks of you. You’ve been
saying you want to be different…”
“Hmmm,” thought Dawn. “It is different, but, why not? I’ll try
it.”
“It’s yours…for now,” said Jenkins as she handed Dawn the small
comb.
“Thanks,” said Dawn. “I’ll see how it looks.”
IV.
YET ANOTHER ATTACK
The Vicinity of Planet Iscandar
Deke
Friday
June 5, 2207: 1458 Hours Earth Space-Time
A
bit more than a day later, Deke was in battle again.
This
battle was really ticking him off; the Cometines had brought in about twenty
Scorpion boats and about twenty Paranoia fighters, and they were actually
attacking a part of
The part that ticked Deke off as he went into battle with four other squadrons
on short notice (without Sasha) was that the enemy was actually going after
civilian houses on the island in bombing raids. Many families had already been
killed and split up by the time
Fortunately,
the groups had reinforcements. The Argo
had taken off to sortie to attack the nearby enemy carrier fleet, so the Black
Tigers had joined them in battle, led by Commodore Wildstar himself in his
Super Star. However, Deke noticed that Wildstar was a little hard to make out
over the sheer babble of communications and adrenline rush of the pitched air
battle. He knew Hartcliffe was one squadron leader from the Argo…he could not make out who the other
squadron leader was.
Not
far away, Deke heard communications from a Gamilon fighter squadron made up of
their green fighters. “
“Thanks,
Hafler,” said
“Good.
I’ve got your back,” said Hafler in his usual cold, grating voice.
“Thanks,”
said Deke as the two squadrons separated, with the Trojans going after the
Paranoia planes while Hafler’s 205th Group attacked a knot of
Scorpions who were roaring down towards
A
moment later,
“We’re
screwing around with a knot of Paranoia birds, sir,” said Deke as he lined up
on a Paranoia and shot it from the sky of Iscandar. “The Gamilons gave us a
tip.”
“See
if you can assist Hartcliffe’s second squadron of Black Tigers when you have a
chance. He’s in a hairball with more of them. I’ve taken over personal command
of my first squadron; the squadron leader had to pull out-his plane’s taken
damage.”
“Who’s
the squadron leader, Wildstar?” asked Deke as he pulled up and around, lining
up on another Paranoia.
“Not
important right now. Get here when you can,” snapped Wildstar.
“Roger,”
said Deke.
Deke
flew into battle, shooting at Paranoias as fast as he could.
But,
one of them got an indirect hit against Diamond
Girl’s wing. The Tiger began to spin.
“Dekesticks!”
yelled Brew as Deke began to spin.
“Thrusters
are FUBARED,” grunted Deke. “Trying to get control of it!”
“Punch
out!” yelled Brew. “Man, don’t leave Sasha a widow!”
“To
hell with you!” said Deke as he noticed his bird was burning. “I’m putting her
down and walking away from this!”
“STICKS!”
yelled Brew.
Deke
struggled to keep control as his Tiger roared down and out of the battle. Soon,
he was back over the runway. “Declarin’ an emergency!” he yelled to the
controller. “Guide me in!”
“You’re
clear for one-niner north,” barked the controller. “
“Like
hell I’m giving up control of my ship to a Tinwit!” yelled Deke. “Any landing
you can walk away from…”
“
Deke
came in, smoking hard, the control surfaces barely responding to his stick and
rudder pedals as he forced his damaged plane down hard on the runway, a tire
coming off with sparks going down the runway under the damaged gear as the
plane waggled down the runway as if Deke was flying drunk. But the bird kept
fairly close to the center line as it slowed down with a grinding screech as the
fire and crash crew trucks roared up to it near the taxiway that Deke
manhandled her onto, clearing the runway for another casualty he knew was
coming in behind him.
As
Deke slammed the brakes one more time, the damaged gear let go altogether and
the Tiger lurched hard onto one wing, with a wingtip hitting the grass as the
plane slammed around and Deke’s helmeted head quickly made friends with part of
his canopy, crashing hard into it. But the helmet protected him, doing its job.
As
the crash trucks stopped and the crews began soaking Diamond Girl with foam to put out the fires, Deke somehow crawled
out of her and staggered down the rungs to the ground. On the rungs, he took
off his helmet, looked at it, and threw it dejectedly into his cockpit.
Feeling
like CRAP, Deke climbed down the last two rungs…
Then…as
Deke was climbing off the last access rung, Diamond
Girl lurched again on its damaged landing gear, which caused the fuselage
of the plane to smack him hard in the side of his head.
Deke
fell off his smoking plane, and his head contacted the grass hard, making him
see stars. Cursing, he struggled to his feet.
“Any
landin’ you can walk away from…” he muttered as, in a very weird, sleepy,
half-conscious fashion, he staggered towards the arms of someone who jumped off
the crash truck and ran to him in the grass who he was convinced was Sasha as
his head really began to hurt.
“Hi,
Saaaasssshhhhaaa,” he said as he smiled and fell right into the waiting arms.
He
smiled as he passed out, not knowing that the person who had just jumped off
the crash truck and whose arms he had passed out into was female, but was
defintely not Sasha.
Nova
Wildstar stood in her bare-shouldered summer Medical minidress and sandals, fresh
from a small emergency medical unit helping survivors in the town. She held
Deke up as she yelled “Medics! This man has a concussion! He has a lump on his head the size of a baby’s fist! I
need backup! NOW!”
And,
at that, backup came…
Deke
didn’t know anything for quite a long while.
But
he was dreaming.
It
was about Sasha.
For
him, at least, that was pleasant as he slept, not knowing that Diamond Girl would be saved…along with
him…
That
night, Jeff Hardy came into the cabin he shared with Dawn to find her combing
her hair and whistling.
“What’s
with the hair?” he said.
“Cosmo
Chick Number Five,” said Dawn as she shook her head and looked at herself in
the mirror. “I’m going to try this to see if blondes really have more fun.”
Hardy
looked at her as she combed and combed. The laser effect from the comb, with
its little Matsumoto Dial at the end, was quickly turning her hair an allover
lighter shade of gold. “People might have a hard time tellin’ yuh apart from
Nova if ya keep that up.”
“Mine’s
lighter than hers already,” said Dawn as she sat there in her nightie using the
comb. She also held up an old picture of herself. “Different,
huh?”
Jeff
looked at her. “Hard to say if ah like the old Dawn or the new Dawn,” said
Hardy with a smile. “Why’re ya doin’ that again?”
“The
sun here was beginning to bleach it anyway,” said Dawn. “Also, who knows? If I
ever run into an old flame, maybe he won’t recognize me. Then I can have a
little joke.”
“Which
old flame?” said Hardy.
“You
know who I mean,” sang Dawn as she went on with her experiment.
V, DEKE’S
VERSION OF “THE LUCK OF THE IRISH”
Iscandar
Space
Battleship Argo
Sickbay
Saturday
June 6, 2207: 1113 Hours Earth Space-Time
Nova
and Dawn had just gotten back to the Argo
after a morning’s worth of work at the outdoor clinic on
“You’re
saying we have to do what with
Nova
smiled, coming out of her naughty little reverie, as she said, “We have to give
Lieutenant Wakefield a bath, Dawn. After we finish reviewing these scans, that
is. Deke is sort of undressed right now. Doctor Sane and Lieutenant Jenkins had
to give him a scan all over for broken bones and internal injuries while we
were on the island.”
“A
bath?” said Dawn.
“And
a shave, too,” said Nova as she began to gather up the necessary items after
popping out the wireless computer keyboard, whch she used to take new
hyperultrasound imaging MAT scans of Deke’s head. Then, she took a new EEG
pattern and then looked at the results and Deke’s charts on the computer screen
above his bed, nodding, and looking at the printout of the earlier scans and
signing off below Doctor Sane’s initials. LUMP
HAS GONE DOWN. NO SIGNS INTRACRANIAL BLEEDING, PT STILL in TWILIGHT STATE
of UNCONSCIOUS, BRAIN WAVE PATTERNS
CONSISTENT WITH COND., ADVISE KEEPING PT ON GUARDED CONDITION, 1120 HRS, NW,
LtC, RN,
Nova wrote in mostly capitals in her pretty, girlish script. “He hasn’t been
fully conscious for like…twenty hours. Luckily, the only injury he is
presenting is a minor concussion with mental confusion. It’s not like he can do
that sort of thing himself right now. That’s also when I like to change a
patient’s sheets…bathtime.”
“I
don’t like this, ma’am,” snapped Dawn.
“Why
not?” said Nova. “He’s your ex. So what? Water under the
bridge, right? You said you’re changing your life, right? Isn’t that why
you’re making your hair look funny?”
“No.
If you divorced Wildstar, would you want to give him a bath? And my hair does not
look funny, ma’am. I kind of like it,” said Dawn as she ran her hands through
her new golden locks.
“Beside
the point,” said Nova as she slammed shut the chart and tossed it into a
receptacle near Deke’s bed after putting it into a round transport carrier
after rolling it up. A tap of a switch
with her sandaled foot sent the chart through a vacuum tube carrier system back
to Sane’s office with a quick whoosh.
“Dawn. You took a variant of the Hippocratic Oath when you were pinned as a
nurse. Remember? “I will help to the best of my ability, and I
will do no harm to a patient under my care…prejudice against a person in need
of my care… shall not be part of my ethic…””
“You’ve
got that memorized, ma’am,” sighed Dawn.
“They
made us memorize it when I went to nursing school,” snapped Nova.
“I’m not sure about you.”
“I..”
Nova
looked at Dawn hard. “Dawn. This is an order. Help me treat Mister Wakefield,
or go in to see Doctor Sane and resign your World Health Organization
commission.”
At
that, Dawn almost wanted to cry. Her idol, the person she had admired
throughout nursing school, telling her she had bad ethics? But she knew she was
right. She felt even worse knowing her idol had suddenly lost a great deal of
respect for her. Is she saying I’m a bad
nurse? Dawn thought. Maybe she’s
right.
“Damn,
ma’am, you are taking this very…”
“What
is it?” said Nova. “Are you helping me or resigning?”
“I’m…I’m
nervous about this,” said Dawn as
Nova saw her toes curling in her sandals…almost with…revulsion?
“C’mon,
Dawn, “ giggled Nova. “It’s a simple job; I’ve seen you do it several times.
Heck, when I was in the hospital, you gave me
two baths in bed,” said Nova.
“Yes,
but you’re not my ex,” said Dawn as she blushed. “And you don’t have…uh…”
“What?”
said Nova.
“Part
of you still doesn’t care…I…I don’t know how to face it, ma’am. Can I just run
from here? Go clean bedpans?”
“Ohh…that’s
it?” teased Nova. “No, Dawn, we don’t have to give him a Saturday Night
Special!”
“A
what?”
“A
little violation of medical ethics,” said Nova as she blushed. “I reserve those for Derek when no one is around,” she said with a giggle as Dawn saw
Nova’s toes curling in her
sandals…and it didn’t seem to be with revulsion, either.