"Nice."
"You're going to be there. So is Carol. Antares is still at Earth."
"OK."
"Buddy, for someone who talks way too much you're not saying much."
David smiled. "Sorry, Dan, just thinking. Who else is available?"
"Joe and Larry will both be there. Some others from the U."
"Kinda short notice."
"It is, but I checked with Evans, and Cobra can't go before New Year's. It won't be ready. So, that pushes the whole offensive planning back a month or two as well."
David nodded his agreement. "Makes sense. But once it starts, it's gonna get hairy."
"That's why we made the change."
"That, and..."
"Let's not think about what might or might not happen, David. But, if it does, she'll be taken care of."
"Understood. Anything else?"
"No. I just wanted you to have the scoop. I already sent Carol a SLIP."
David stepped back into the Intel workroom and finished his conversation with Katch, but he was suddenly disconnected from the moment. It seemed incongruous to him that within three weeks, he'd be feeling real sunshine and smelling salt breezes with the other half of himself at his side. It was too soft a picture to feel real, too much removed from his current steel-and-glass existence to believe. But now there was much more to look forward to than a few presents and an eggnog by the fire.
Big Blue
The Pasture
Friday, December 9, 2078, 1205 UTC
Beta Hydri was just rising over the horizon when Intrepid's shuttle set down in the pasture, near where Ben Price was killed. At his own request, Weapons Officer James Kirkland did the piloting. He'd severely misjudged both Price and Henderson when they first came aboard, and now he regretted that reaction. Price had excelled at his job, and Henderson was as good a Captain as there was in the Fleet. Flying this trip was just the start of his personal penance.
Joanne brought Colin Garrett along so that he would be familiar with how to work with the Seekers. As they disembarked, Joanne was surprised to find no enemy remains. They could see signs of the battle, blood and drag marks on the sandy soil, but no bodies.
Garrett followed the grooves in the soft ground for fifty meters, then turned back to Henderson and Kirkland.
"Looks like they were dragged to the sea, Captain. From the end of that little rise you can see the trail goes right on down to the beach."
"So, the Seekers did this?" Kirkland asked.
"I guess," Henderson replied.
They walked the three hundred meters to the north edge of the pasture, working their way through a herd of the Seekers' food animals, climbed the easy cliff to get out, and then down a gentle slope back to the beach.
Seeker lookouts had seen them land, and Eaagher and Ullnii were waiting. Once the usual introductions were made, Joanne typed a question on the translation tablet.
"Where are the hard faces killed yesterday?"
Eaagher waved his left hand and wrote.
Put in sea then sea animals eat.
"Wow," Kirkland said, "that's cold."
Garrett was surprised. "But, Captain, I've seen the pictures. They walk into the surf when they're fishing."
She typed another question for Eaagher.
"Sea animals not eat you?"
Eaagher waved his right hand, then wrote.
Tiny sea animals eat dead not eat living.
Garrett looked up after reading the translation. "Tiny sea animals — wait — didn't Antares' doctor report some kind of nasty-looking near-microscopic sea creature? Told everybody not to go swimming?"
"Yes, that's right."
"So, there are tiny seagoing maggot piranha that only eat dead flesh?" Kirkland suggested.
"Gross," Garrett said with disgust.
"Gross, sure, but convenient," Joanne responded. She turned back to Eaagher.
"Hard faces gone for now but we think they will return. We will stay until new Friends come."
Grateful Friends here.
"You can't see us, but we are there, and we are watching over you."
Eaagher just raised his left hand in acknowledgment.
Joanne kept typing. "We will visit again with new friends within five suns."
Friends future welcome.
The group started to leave when Eaagher got Joanne attention again.
Ullnii has questions for Friends.
Joanne looked at the child, who she now realized was holding a book. Joanne waved her left hand, and Ullnii came forward. Joanne knelt on the beach to get down to her eye level. Ullnii opened the book Antares had left her to a picture of a zebra. Joanne smiled. She'd always loved zebras as a kid.
"Zebra."
Ullnii looked at her carefully, watching her mouth.
"leeba."
Joanne said it again very slowly. "Zeeebra."
"Zebra."
Joanne waved her left hand, then realized Eaagher had written a question for her.
Is this a real creature?
Joanne waved her left hand to say yes, this is real. Ullnii looked at her for a moment, in what must have been an expression of surprise. She opened the book to a picture of a blue whale with a human figure next to it for size and pointed to it. Joanne lifted her left hand again.
Ullnii lifted her right and shook it rapidly.
Joanne took the tablet and wrote, "What does her gesture mean?"
Eaagher wrote back, She not believe. She thinks impossible.
"Are there not large animals in your ocean?" she typed.
No.
"That is surprising. So much ocean," she typed back.
Know ocean well. Nothing so large.
She looked back at Ullnii and raised her left hand again. Ullnii closed the book and walked back towards the cave.
Joanne stood up and wrote on the tablet. "My home a very different place. Your home a very different place."
Eaagher waved his left hand and wrote Hope short future see Friends again.
Joanne waved her left hand and headed back to the shuttle. She wasn't sure her short kindergarten teaching career had gone all that well.
Next time, she thought, I'll send Ann.
Eagle arrived December 14th, and after Friendship arrived on the 16th, Joanne began making plans to take Intrepid home. Two squads of Marines volunteered to stay, so she transferred one each to the newcomers. Captain Martin and Lieutenant Harry would go home on Intrepid to make their reports to Fleet in person. She made one last trip to the surface with the new captains to introduce them to Eaagher, then set course for home. She welcomed the safety of FTL travel, but quietly grieved the lives lost, their remains now carried home in the deep freeze behind the hangar deck.
Next to the five they'd lost in battle lay the three enemy bodies recovered from the pasture. Their eventual disposition would be something altogether different.
Columbia
Earth Orbit
Wednesday, December 21, 2078, 1400 UTC
Shortly after Columbia was settled into its parking orbit, a fleet shuttle arrived carrying Kieran Barker, Harry Hess, and Elias Peña. They met in the Intel conference room with Dan, Katch, and Dan's new XO, Maz Dawes. Alona Melville was already gone, headed to the ship factory in the asteroid belt to take over Jarvis, which was almost ready for delivery. Barker and his most senior staff had come to Columbia to set the tone for his flagship.
Barker wasted no time, beginning to speak almost before they were all seated.
"OK, Commander Smith, I just wanted to talk this out a bit."
"Talk what out, Admiral?"
"Right off, I want to reassure you that this is still your ship. I know to have me and my retinue aboard is going to be a distraction. But you are still in command, and I will respect that."
"Well, thanks, Admiral, but we both know Columbia's primary task now is not to fight, not to find the enemy, but to keep you breathing."
Barker smiled. "Your reputation for being direct is
intact, Commander." He paused a second. "That is typical, yes, but it will not be the case here. On the other hand, Commander, keeping me breathing means keeping yourselves breathing!"
"Yes, sir, true enough."
"There's more, and I think this will help our situation. A FleetShips crew will be here later today. Based on what's previously been done to Antares and Intrepid to carry Marines, we're going to take those same two lower levels here for my people. We'll have our own operations area, some quarters, and a communications center. We'll be adding a second SLIP system as well."
"That will certainly help. I had Lieutenant Murphy looking at how we were going to allocate quarters with your people aboard, and it wasn't going well."
"You may still need to give me a few bunks, Commander Smith, but we're not going to totally take over."
"That will be a relief to our crew, sir."
"Good. But we will be around, on the Bridge, in the Wardroom. My instructions to everyone are to remember we are your guests, and to respect that in every way possible."
"Thank you, sir. If your choices in staff are any clue, I can see that this will work well."
Elias Peña leaned forward on his elbows. "Lieutenant Khachaturian, I will need your help with the Intel process between ship and staff. This is part of why we pulled Powell for Cobra and kept you here."
Katch smiled. "Well, Commander, truthfully, I'd have ducked that assignment even if you'd asked me. I'd much rather stay operational here on Columbia than go snooping around in the dark with Evans."
Dan turned to Barker. "You felt strongly about keeping the HQ mobile. Are you planning to orbit somewhere? Stay out of any system?"
"We'll have Ceres along with us, nearby, anyhow. I'm going to go to Beta Hydri first. Our presence will bring additional firepower there, and it puts me closer to where the offensive is going to end."
"Alpha Mensae?"
"Correct. My hope is to push through to the home planet shortly after this first set of strikes."
"After Cobra visits?"
"Oh, yes, definitely. We need to see what's there before we can think about staging any action."
"I agree, that's wise. When are you planning to leave, sir? I need to let the crew know."
Harry Hess spoke for the first time. "We're not waiting for Ceres. It can come along later. So, plan two weeks here, and then we'll depart."
"Assuming our space is complete," Peña added.
"Right," Barker agreed, "assuming that, we'll head to Beta Hydri January 5th."
"Columbia will be ready, Admiral."
"Very good." Barker looked around the room. "Gentlemen, I'd like a word with Captain Smith if I may?"
Dan could not keep the surprise off his face as the four other officers filed out, Maz Dawes closing the door behind him.
"Sir?"
"Listen, Dan, you're a very junior Lieutenant Commander. If you think you got that because it was expedient for FleetPers, you're right. I've been around this Fleet for a long time, maybe fifteen years."
"Your point, Admiral?"
"None of that means shit now. This is your ship."
Dan was still very unsure where this conversation was going.
"Thanks, I guess."
"As the captain of my flagship, I expect your honest input on decisions that affect her. Like it or not, your part of my staff now, Dan, and I want you to feel free to speak your mind."
"Never been a problem for me, sir."
"I know. It's part of why I picked you."
Dan finally broke a grin, one somehow sheepish and cocky at the same time.
"I think we'll do fine, Admiral."
"Good. So do I."
The new Admiral and his aides headed back for their shuttle, their goals for the visit accomplished. Barker did see a lot of himself in Dan Smith, and he wanted to sit face-to-face with him and establish a working relationship. Smith was direct, as he'd said. He was also smart and resourceful. If Barker wanted to live to finish off this offensive, Columbia gave him the best chance to do that.
South Fleet Resort
Florida Keys
Monday, December 26, 2078
Everyone knew Randy Forstmann was rich beyond anyone's dreams of avarice, but no one ever said that he was ungrateful or ungenerous. Once he realized that his invention had required the creation of the Fleet, he knew there had to be a place for crews have a respite, to have some fun and time away from the stress of their duties.
So, along with a half a mile of Lake Erie shoreline near his boyhood home between Vermilion and Huron, a little east of the Cedar Point amusement park, he made a similar investment in a winter resort in the Florida Keys. Behind the beach, he built a series of low buildings with small apartments where Fleet people could stay for a nominal fee, just enough to cover the costs of services and maintenance. The beach and walkway behind were open to the public, but the facilities were only available to Fleet personnel.
This was the place Carol, David, and the others came for Dan Smith's wedding. Once Dan knew that they would be the flagship in a new offensive, he and Linda decided to move their marriage up six months. They could not know what might happen, and they wanted to 'get this done' as soon as possible. CINC called Forstmann and Forstmann called the resort, and it was done.
The timing was perfect for David and Carol. He was now relieved of duty on Columbia, but not due on Cobra until after the New Year. Carol asked Terri Michael for a week's leave, as there was at least that much time before they would be headed back out, and it had been easily granted. They would have a few days together away from the war and the death and the fear; a few days to spend feeling the warmth of their own sun, their own wind, and the sand of their own planet between their toes.
Dinner on Monday was a luxurious mixture of good wine, great food, and fine company. They told tales from the University, from missions 'out there,' about friends present and also those now gone, reveling in the inside jokes and puns that only SFU grads would get.
By seven-thirty or so it was breaking up since Dan and Linda and the rest of the official wedding party had a rehearsal to get to. As they left, Carol strolled back over to David.
"So, sailor, can a girl buy you a drink?" she asked, one eyebrow up and the smile clear in her voice.
"Well, let me think..." he responded with mock skepticism. Carol took David's arm with some authority, steering him back to her room. She walked him to the balcony overlooking the beach, then headed back for the small bar.
"Glenlivet or Balvenie 16?" she called.
"Glenlivet, one cube." She poured his drink, then served herself a Southern Comfort, neat. She walked out to the balcony, the stars shining brightly in the clear sky. The evening was cooling quickly, a contrast from the warm sunny day. She stood there for a moment, sipping gently, and feeling the evening beginning to fall around them. She slipped an arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"That was the best thing I ever did in my whole life."
"Oh? What?"
"When I promised that next time I would stay for the sunset," she said quietly. He set down his drink and looked away from the water, into her eyes.
"But tonight, we missed it."
She poked him in the ribs, just hard enough.
"Well, anyway, here I am, still standing here."
They were quiet for a while, sharing the beauty of the moment and the feeling of being together. They stood close at the rail for a long time, sipping their drinks and talking only a little. Carol finally stepped back into the apartment for another pour, and with the sound of the waves David didn't hear her return. In his mind, he was reliving the day, seeing their time together over and over again. Her hair was short now, done in a way that showcased her features very well — David had long thought she looked her best with that style. He could see just a little more of the freshman girl he had fallen for the first day of University, still living there somewhere deep inside the fully mature, experienced Fleet officer.
"Davi
d..." she said softly, very close to him.
As he turned, she took his face in her hands, thumbs resting gently on his lips. Her sudden touch felt electric, as chills ran down his back all the way to his toes, a quick knot appeared in his stomach. Her face was mere inches from his.
"I've missed you so much."
David, struck dumb for the moment, could only nod and let her talk.
"I want to tell you, just once, just this once, that I think I always have loved you, ever since that stupid first day."
David, struggling to speak, managed only "Doesn't seem so stupid now, does it?"
"I just couldn't see it somehow. I don't know how I could have been so blind. I mean, there you were, right there, all along..."
He pulled her close and finally, found his voice. "I said it before, and now, just this once, I'll say it again. I'll never regret whatever it took for us to be here. Right here, right now."
She nodded her agreement with her face pressed against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat.
He gently pulled her back to him.
"It's time," she said.
He looked at her, puzzled. "Time?"
"Time to read the journals!"
They sat cross-legged on the floor of her room, leaning against the small sofa. They went back and forth, in chronological order, each reading the other's words aloud. There were tears and laughter, questions and answers, the occasional tease and the more frequent hand holding.
By the end, they were exhausted by the experience.
"I think next time we do this a little at a time," Carol suggested.
"Yes, definitely."
As they stood and stretched, loosening muscles made tight by sitting a little too long, she took his hand and gently pulled him close.
The next afternoon, after the wedding midday, David and Carol were back on her balcony. The reception would be later, drinks and dinner and dancing at seven. They both looked forward to a fine evening with people they loved. There was a breeze coming off the ocean, and the air was moist but starting to warm with the sunshine.
David turned to Carol. "So, I guess we should really talk."
She nodded. "You have orders..."
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