The Begining (The Navigator Book 1)

by Ben Winston

  Joe found out later that the lady Navigators preferred natural insemination as opposed to the offered artificial method. She simply told the Admiral that everything had already been worked out, and it would be dealt with once they got to the Citadel.

  Departure day arrived far slower than Joe would have liked. Learning to use his new body had been a difficult task. Even though he shocked his therapists with how quickly he got a handle on it. He was practicing his martial arts before they released him, because he still had a lot of work to do to build up stamina. However, when he started sparring with some of the guards and winning, they figured he could handle the rest of his training on his own.

  Joe was amazed at what the medics had done. Yes, he was still forty-seven, but now he was in very good shape and probably healthier than most folks half his age. He wasn't overweight anymore, the doctors explained that the nanobots used as much of the material from his fat cells as they could, and the rest they simply removed.

  The surgery scars on his stomach were gone, but the nanobots didn't replace his missing belly button. Dr. Ortegon told him that the scar tissue had to be removed since it would interfere with the new muscle tissue, but that the belly button served no purpose, therefore there was no reason to replace it.

  Everything that had been wrong with him only two weeks before was now, fixed. He was in perfect health; the doctor gave him a hairy eyeball and explained. “Even though the nanobots stay in your system and keep you healthy. You must eat right and exercise in order for them to perform as designed.”

  Joe assured him that he intended to do just that.

  Joe had gathered a few things while on Darkwater Station. He needed new clothes and toiletries, and managed to get a framed picture of his wife. He went down to Marine country and got four sets of ACU uniforms with his name and rank insignia on them, and two pairs of boots just in case.

  The quartermaster had heard of Joe from the other Marines and actually had most of the stuff ready when Joe walked in to get them. They also gave him a plain black beret instead of the normal cap. When he asked about it, the Master Sergeant explained that the Admiral had ordered the alteration. The crest on it was from his old unit - a dark gray skull wearing a black beret on a green field.

  After tucking the beret under one of the carry handles on the bag with his ACU in it, he took the bag off the counter and the Master Sergeant saluted him. Joe came to attention and returned the salute, gave the quartermaster a grinning wink, and left.

  He met Becka down in the hanger, where she was talking to a young woman in a green jumpsuit. The woman was slightly taller than Becka and wore her blond hair cut short. She was athletically trim, but not super thin, and was very easy on the eyes. The insignia on her suit showed her to be a captain in the Canadian Air Force. She saluted him when he got close to them.

  He returned the salute while Becka grinned. “Captain Darryl, this is Major Anderson. Major, this is our pilot, Captain Shana Darryl.”

  “At ease, Captain. I thought you were flying us, Becka?” Joe asked.

  “No Sir,” Shana said, answering him. “She'll only tell me where to go; I'll be the one to get us there.”

  “We have enough to worry about just doing the navigating. Space is a big place after all,” Becka replied. “Are you ready to roll?"

  “I was hoping the Admiral would be here; I wanted to say goodbye and thank him,” Joe said, looking around.

  “He wanted to be here, but he got called back down to Earth for a meeting. He said to tell you he wished you the best of luck and that he looks forward to seeing you again,” Shana replied. “If you'd go aboard, sir, we can stow your gear and get going.”

  Joe nodded to her and followed her instructions on where to put his gear. He raised an eyebrow when she opened the door to a small stateroom. “We don't have very much for accommodations on these smaller shuttles, Sir, but I hope this'll be comfortable for you two.”

  Joe nodded. It was the first he'd heard about sleeping with Becka, but he wasn't going to argue. “This should be fine, Captain. Thank you.”

  “I have the other cabin here across the hall and the head is back across from the airlock. The cargo hold door is marked and I would ask you not to go in there. It's packed to the bulkheads and if you open the door, we'll never get it all back in.”

  “Will do, it's your ship, Captain, I'm just a passenger. By the way, I'm still actually a civilian. You don't have to salute or any of that, and you can call me Joe.”

  “Yes Sir, I know your status. The Admiral was very clear on that. The common area is just here, past our cabins. You'll find the replicator, as well as a full entertainment and communications suite available. Although this will be a relatively short trip, I'm sure you'll appreciate them before we dock at the Citadel.” She was smiling like it was Christmas the whole time, and Joe could clearly see she was aroused through her semi-tight jumpsuit. “That door leads to the navigation chamber and the one beside it leads to the cockpit. She's not much to look at, Sir, but she'll haul ten times her weight in cargo, twenty if she stays in micrograv.”

  “Wow, I'm impressed. But tell me, why are there only two staterooms?” Joe asked.

  “Well Sir, this is a cargo ship. We normally don't carry passengers at all, just freight. One room's for the pilot, the other is for the navigator when we have one,” Shana finished.

  Joe decided she had a slight french accent and probably came from Quebec or one of the other French-speaking provinces. “Merci,” Joe replied. “Thank you for showing me around. Where do you want me for take-off?”

  Her smile got wider when he thanked her in French. “Oui Monsieur!” She replied. “You can have a seat here. I can get you a coffee or something if you'd like?"

  This whole time, Becka was standing back trying hard not to grin and failing. Joe winked at her.

  “Thank you, Shana. I'll get the coffee. Want me to get you and Becka a cup before we lift?” Joe said. He had to brush against Shana to get to the replicator. As he passed her, he could smell her arousal and she had tilted her head up at him as if to receive a kiss.

  He bent down and gave her a very light brush across her lips with his. She moaned. When he got to the machine, he turned to a now openly grinning Becka. “Pepsi? Or the Turkish blend?”

  “Jolt this time. I'm doing the navigating, remember?” Becka said.

  Joe turned back to deeply breathing Shana. “Shana? What would you like... to drink.” He put the slight pause in the question to get her attention. It worked.

  “Oh, you are so mean! If you ask for a 'high-energy mocha' it'll give you what I like to drink, thank you,” Shana replied, chuckling.

  “Well, at least I got you to stop calling me 'Sir' finally!” Joe said.

  “That you did... Sir!” Shana said saucily and exited through the door to her cockpit. She was really cute.

  “You know where she's gonna be sleeping don't you?” Becka asked.

  “I thought you had something up your sleeve when I walked up. But I thought you wanted our first time together to be just us?” Joe asked.

  Becka nodded, smiling at him. “It will be. For the next three nights, you can entertain Shana until she can't walk. I'll be there with you and I plan on getting my share of her too, but you and I won't be together until we get to your quarters at the Citadel. I plan to sleep with you, but not make love until we can do it right.”

  “So, why are we sleeping with little Shana then?” Joe asked.

  “She's a friend and she's very lonely. She's only slightly bisexual, and I think that's mostly so she can have sex with somebody. All the males she knows are off-limits to her, because of the military. She hardly ever gets a navigator and when she does it's usually a female,” Becka explained.

  “But I wanted to talk to you before we make the jump. This being your first trip and you being a natural, you're going to feel it. It might make you nauseous, or euphoric, or just about anything else. I just wanted you to know its normal and not to be alarme
d.”

  Joe nodded. “I kinda expected that it would be different. Do we have time for you to show me what you do, before you have to get busy doing it?”

  Becka smiled, “Sure, come on.”

  Aspen Hills Trailer Park had a campground with a pavilion for use by their guests. Today, the edifice was being used to say goodbye to a friend.

  “Jed, I can't stand it. I have to try to find him. I know he did all this to protect me, but I need him. If I knew where he was, and when he'd be coming back, that would be different. But I just can't pretend he's dead,” Laura said, crying.

  Hurriedly, Jed led Laura away from the other guests so no one could overhear them. “Laura, you have too! If you start poking around, they might just kill you anyway! I know damn good and well Joe would want me to keep you safe. This is not the way to do it!”

  “I know, I know! Damn it! I have to be with him! He's everything to me! If he isn't in my life, I don't have one!” Laura said, crying.

  Jed had known that Joe and Laura were far closer than most couples he'd known. He'd never seen two people so in love even after so many years of marriage. He knew it would be hard for her, but he had to find a way to get her to listen to reason.

  “Laura, look over there.” he nodded toward the Honor Guard the military had sent for Joe's funeral. He was actually surprised that they'd come to the wake as well. Three men and three women stood off to one side at rigid attention. He'd never heard of them doing this for a normal soldier.

  “Do you honestly think those soldiers are regular military? Since when does an Honor Guard attend the wake? Did you notice that none of them are wearing unit patches?” he finished.

  “So what?” Laura asked.

  “I think they are here as a not so subtle reminder that we need to leave this alone. It's also a sign that we're all being watched on this. Laura, they'll kill you if you try to find him!” Jed said. “These folks scare the crap out of me and they should scare the crap out of you, too!”

  Laura just shook her head and started crying harder. Jed took her by the elbow and gently guided her over to a chair near were another woman was also sitting and crying. Jed knew Joe had known a lot of people, but he wondered about this woman. She was crying almost as hard as Laura was. “Laura, do you know who that woman is? The one with the older gentlemen trying to comfort her?"

  “Her name is Mary, she and her husband came for the funeral from Montana. She was Joe’s first love,” Laura replied. “I think she still loved him; I know Joe still loved her.”

  He sat Laura down near the couple, and the two women immediately began crying on each other’s shoulders.

  Jed made sure they had plenty of tissues and the man had a fresh cup of coffee. Jed retreated then, he needed to get his own emotions under control. 'Damn it, Joe! Why did it have to be like this? It would have been better if you hadn't told her what was happening!'

  Unknown to either Jed or Laura, there was another woman that had attended the funeral and was now at the wake. She wore the dress uniform of the United States Air Force and the rank insignia of a Major General.

  She had been the one to order the guard detail. The military didn't actually send them out anymore due to budget cuts, but this was a special case. This man had been very special indeed.

  Many years ago, in a different life, Major General Sharon Hastings had been Lieutenant Colonel Hastings. She had been assigned to a special NSA project that trained very specialized snipers as assassins.

  The Agency had used Joe very badly and he walked away from them. Before they could track him down and 'retire' him, the project itself had been 'retired' in a very permanent way. Mostly thanks to Sharon ratting out her superiors.

  She’d learned that four of the people Joe had been used against had nothing to do with National Security and she had to stop them. They let her live for her aid in stopping the rogue department. She did her best to hide Joe's location from the cleaners and they left him alone.

  Today, he had been buried. Funny, she thought to herself, Joe had always seemed too bull-headed to pass away from a heart attack.

  A small flat dish had been set out for donations to the widow. Sharon discretely dropped a small, sealed envelope into the dish. She had been here too long already and it was time for her to leave.

  She turned and looked at the grieving woman whom Joe had given his soul. Silently, she wished the woman well and walked back out to her car. She got in and had the driver take her back to her plane.

  Just as the car carrying Sharon away pulled out, a large, purple semi-tractor pulled in. Mark Torrence was another of Joe's best friends. On many occasions, Joe had referred to Mark as his brother although they were not related. They had become friends online as Mark also wrote science fiction stories. Over the years, they had met and their friendship had grown. Mark had begun driving an over the road truck when he began having trouble writing.

  Laura had called Mark to let him know of Joe's death. Mark had been in Florida at the time. He dropped his trailer and drove cross country trying to make it for the funeral. He missed the funeral, but had made it for the wake. Laura was still very upset, so Jed went out to greet him. The two men had only met a couple of times, but other that their mutual friendship with Joe, they had little in common.

  "Glad you could make it, Mark. Laura's pretty tore up," Jed said by way of greeting.

  The two men shook hands. "I imagine she is. They were everything to each other."

  Jed nodded agreement. "Come on, I'll take you to her."

  That night after the guests had left. Jed was going through all the notes of condolence and small donations for Laura. Toward the bottom, he came across one that was very odd. It included a plane ticket and was printed on very expensive stock, but that he didn't notice until later.

  Mrs. Anderson,

  Your husband was a good man. I knew him very well in the days before. Even in retirement, he was a good man and I can honestly say that the world is a more dark and dangerous place now. In his previous life, he had many people that loved him, even those of us that knew who he really was. Although I am sure I cannot imagine how you must feel now, I can say that I share your loss.

  During his life with you, Joe had been afraid of making himself visible to our old agency. I don't know if he knew it, but he, and more importantly to him, you, were safe. As such, he never tried to access anything from his old life. Might I suggest you take a vacation and try to accept his last gift to you.

  Once you find it, I will be watching over you, to make sure you remain safe. It's the least I could do for him.

  My warmest regards,

  Sharon

  There were two series of numbers printed below the message and nothing else. Opening the plane ticket, Jed saw that it was for a two-person vacation package to Zurich, Switzerland.

  Although Jed had no idea what the message had been about, he did know who it had been from. Which meant that it hadn't been the 'Agency' that took Joe. He quickly refolded the message and put it back in the envelope as the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

  His adult daughter, Brianna, who had been helping him and making a list for thank you letters, saw her father suddenly go white.

  “Daddy? What's wrong?”

  “Nothing, Sweetheart. Just missing Joe. I had no idea he had this many people that cared for him,” Jed replied trying to cover his reaction to the letter.

  The young woman nodded. “Yeah, I always thought he was a bit of a flake, but maybe I was wrong and just didn't understand him.”

  “I know you never liked him. He had a very eventful life, Sweetheart. He served our country with honor, saw a lot of places, and met a lot of people. He was the kind of man that left a good impression on folks,” Jed replied.

  “I would say so; did you know that he was friends with three US senators and at least six other people in high government office? I mean from the looks of this, he should have been living a lot better than he and Laura lived,” Brianna replied.


  “Well, I won't argue that he should have had a better life, but then again, look at how many people cared about him? I'd say he had a pretty good life just from that.”

  Brianna frowned. “You know what I mean. He was always struggling to pay his bills. Before he started working for you here at the park, how far behind was he? That's what I mean. I can't imagine someone that knows all these important people living like… like trailer park trash."

  “That just goes to show you that you can't judge a book by its cover. Did you know he had two college degrees?” Jed said. "He held a security clearance so high he couldn't even admit to having one. I know how you feel about the people that live here, but Joe was a man that deserved everyone's respect."

  “No way. That would make even less sense,” the girl replied.

  “He got an associate degree in Computer Electronics, back when an AS degree actually meant something, and a master's degree in English. I've never read any of his books, but someone must have liked them, because that's what they lived on when Laura wasn't working,” Jed explained.

  Brianna raised an eyebrow. “I knew he was writing, but I didn't think he had anything published. Why were they so short on money all the time?”

  “He wasn't published in the traditional sense. All of his work was published on the Internet. Most of it was free, and they lived off of the donations made from his web site.”

  “Do you know where? I'd like to check it out,” she asked.

  Jed smiled softly at his daughter. “I don't think you'd like anything he wrote. It was mostly science fiction, but it had a lot of graphic sex in it. He told me once that he used a few sex scenes to get the reader hooked on the plot, then slowly phased out the sex.

  “I don't mind reading about sex. I'd still like to read some of it.”

  “Well, he said there was a lot of incest, underage sex, and polygamous relationships. He said it got pretty graphic, which is why I didn't read any of it.” He opened the major social networking site that everyone was a part of, then clicked onto his friend's page. After a short time looking, he found what he was looking for. He wrote down the URL and handed it to his daughter.