by Ben Winston
Behind the captain’s chair was a set of sliding doors into the guest bedroom. There were curtains for privacy in here as well. Along both sides of the room there was storage, as well as an entertainment suite that would slide up out of the cupboards lining the lower half of the wall. The upper half was windows, but spaced apart. There were two doors on each side of the attached queen bed centered on the aft wall. One led into a closet, and the other into a private head complete with a standing shower.
Moving aft on the patio, past yet another set of steps, led them to a good size outer deck with a raised area that Harvey said was a hot-tub large enough for six people. Patio doors opened into the true wonder of the barge, the master suite. An attached King-sized bed sat on a pedestal in the middle of the room. What looked like a headboard extending up to the ceiling, hid access into the master bath and dressing area.
The master bath not only had the commode, but also a bidet, a large shower, and another large semi-sunken tub. There was a massage table that rose up out of the floor, and a full selection of oils and heated stones available.
In the dressing area, there were shoe racks, a revolving hanger area, and an eight drawer dresser. Grinning, Harvey touched a button, and a table dropped out of the wall. On it, you placed whatever garment you needed either dry-cleaned or pressed. It finished it in about thirty seconds. The barge itself was completely amazing. John thought to himself, that he could have saved the kingdom a ton of money, and simply had them give him one of these to live on.
When Harvey showed him the top area, John couldn’t help himself. “What? No VTOL Pad?”
“Oh, those come on the larger models, however, in an emergency, a VTOL can land on this deck, if you clear the deck gear. Did you want one with the pad installed?” Harvey asked before he even realized John had been making fun. Once he did, he chuckled again. “You got me with that one! I have to admit, you had me going. I can see your point though, when you see something like this, you almost expect something like that don’t you?”
When John joined the chuckle and nodded. Harvey opened a hidden compartment. “Seriously, if you do need to land a VTOL that isn’t hydro-capable, the flares and lights are in here.”
John shook his head as they stood. “Mr. Eisel, this is the most amazing craft I’ve ever seen. But, how do we get her on the water?”
“Of course, as you can see, none of her systems are powered up yet. Would you like to accompany us over to Glass Bay so we can christen her?” Harvey asked. “Of course, we could christen her here, and float her down to the lake once her systems are powered up. She is fully amphibious for those nights the water is too rough. But, if you would indulge us, we find that we have a bit more interest in our business if the public gets a chance to get a good look at these luxury units.”
John nodded understanding, and he certainly wasn’t averse to helping this man and his crew out. “Sure, but I need to grab a couple of things from the house first. Would that be okay?”
“Certainly! You might wish to invite your wife as well, or you’ll end up sleeping in the bunk room!”
John grinned. “I’m not married; don’t even have a girlfriend yet, although I do know two young ladies locally. You see, I just got off the ship myself yesterday!”
The older man looked concerned a moment when John had said he wasn’t married, but when he heard the rest of the explanation, he grinned like a Draconian Flying Tiger that just spotted a fresh fish vendor. “You do work fast! One day, and you already know two of the local girls?”
As John climbed down, he replied. “I’d like to take the credit for it, but the truth is, they found me!”
On their way in, they drove past the preserve and saw the sections of destroyed fence, so the firefighting gear could get to the fire. From the looks of things, it had grown into a conflagration that still wasn’t under control.
The delivery crew had to wait for the local constable to allow them passage. While they were waiting, John walked down to talk to the tired looking man.
“You look tired, how long has this been burning?” John asked.
“We got the call early ta’ mornin' that the preserve had caught. We still don’ know how er why, but it's pretty dry in there. We’re just trying tah keep it from jumping the fence, and gettin’ ontah private land. It’s touch an’ go. We’ve e'vacuated the southern section of town. This road is supposed tah be closed, but we’d have tah close it down anyway tah get that monster through.” he nodded to the barge. “Is she yours?”
John nodded and held out his hand, being very careful of his grip. “I’m John Ashland, I just moved here yesterday. Yes, this big monster is mine. Uncle Mark said he was sending me a fishing barge. I had no idea this is what he meant!”
The officer took his hand and shook. “Dep'ty Constable for th' Crown Bailey Saint. It’s a pleasure tah meet ya.” Then his face lit up with recognition. “Oh yeah! The boy that moved intah Axel's place! Say, I’m really sorry 'bout your uncle, son.”
“Thank you, Sir, But I didn’t actually know him. Although my Dad talked about him all the time, I never actually got to meet him. From what I gather, he was a good man; well respected by his neighbors.”
Bailey nodded his head. “That he was. I can see a lot o’ him in you. Its good tha' the farm is stayin’ in the family. That’s the impo'tant thing.” He placed a hand to his ear, to let John know he was receiving a call.
“Roger Ellis, I’ve a big hover barge that needs tah git tah the landin', can I let 'em go?” After a moment’s pause, Bailey smiled. “Roger.”
“I can let ya go now. You gonna have that monster out tah the cove this weekend?” Bailey asked.
“I wouldn’t miss it. Although I think it’s gonna break me just to stock and provision her!” John replied.
Bailey nodded agreement as he looked at the big barge again. “Would ya mind if I tethered tah you? I have the EMT's and all their gear, but not really any room to work on anyone if they do get hurt. Mind you, it almost never happens, but it was one of old Axel's rules, and it’s a good'un if ya ask me.”
“Tell you what, that thing has a bunk room on the lower deck with two bunks in it. If you bring them out, the EMT's can just come aboard, and stow their gear in there. There’s a head and a galley too. However, I think I’ll keep my bedroom off-limits for now,” John replied.
“Hah!” Bailey barked. “It sure won’t stay that way long if I know my Gloria! You’re about all she talks about anyway, so I’d expect a guest in that bed were I you!”
John just chuckled and shook his head as he turned away. “See you in a few days, Constable!”
“Yes you will. Calm waters, young John!”
The Glass Bay landing just happened to be in the middle of town, right next to the one place John really didn’t want to see: Memorial Park. However, there was also someone he did want to see. When he’d ran into the house to change, and grabbed his phone and tried to call Gloria and Mary. Gloria excused herself with regrets, she was already in Threshold, waiting for the Royal Post ship. However, Mary was at loose ends, and agreed to meet him at the landing.
Luckily, he was off to one side, and didn’t have to look at the statuary in the park. There was something seriously unnerving about looking at statues of yourself. He knew they were in there too, he’d gotten a glimpse when he’d walked past the park yesterday. It gave him the creepy-crawlies.
He did see a smiling Mary off to one side when they pulled the hover truck onto the ramp. She was certainly beautiful, John thought to himself. He knew he was very attracted to the young woman and not just because of her looks. He did feel a pang of guilt because of the missing Gloria though.
However, she wasn’t the only one that had come to the launch to see the new barge. But before John could go over and greet Mary, Harvey and another man pulled him off to the side. However, it was Harvey that spoke. “Legally, we can’t get her off the trailer until she’s been christened. Have you thought of a name?”
J
ohn nodded. “My family has always had the utmost respect for those that choose to surrender their lives so that the rest of us can live freely and with dignity. So I’d like to name her ‘Remembrance’.”
“That’s beautiful, Mr. Ashland. May I quote you for the news?” the other man said.
“Sure, I can’t see the harm in that. But, please be sure to let folks know that this monster was a gift from my mother’s great-grand uncle, Mark Fillbert. He’s on Centauri in the Royal Guards.” John said, knowing that Captain Fillbert would back him completely. Besides, he was ‘recording’ this whole event, for the real ‘Uncle Mark’.
John also knew that there was no way that anyone could trace the families of long serving soldiers. Hell, even the crown had problems. However they did manage to discover that Old Axel had actually been John’s thirtieth generation grandson. Since his family had used some of the sperm samples he’d left on file, they had a place to begin the search. The four remaining members of the Temporal Guard hadn’t been offered that option prior to enhancement.
Of course, he could actually claim ties with most of the planet, because once you got so many generations out, it’s hard to differentiate between family and regular people. So for most soldiers, they foreswore their immediate family for the much larger one of humanity as a whole.
When Harvey took out a bottle of Altarian Brandy, John grinned and waved to Mary to join them. “I’d like Mary to do the honors, please.”
When she joined the men gathered by the bow, Harvey handed her the bottle and indicated the strike plate. As soon as she realized what they wanted her to do, she looked up at John. “Are you sure you want me to do this? Gloria ...”
“... isn’t here. If she was, then I’d ask both of you to do this together,” John said, smiling.
She gave him a shy, sexy smile. “I guess we’ll just have to christen her the right way, a bit later, then!”
While John blushed, the other two men laughed. Mary made a show of grabbing the bottle of expensive brandy by the neck, rearing back and then smashing it on the strike plate while she yelled, “I Christen thee; Remembrance!”
As soon as the bottle hit the contact plate, all the systems on board the barge began powering up and self-testing. John could feel a tingle in his enhancements that told him the barge was tuning itself to him just like a suit of power armor, or a weapons system.
The crowd clapped as the systems started-up. Off to one side, one of the delivery crew had plugged in a shore unit, and activated the lifter field. As the big boat lifted off the bed of the truck, the dry-land struts could be seen to retract. Very slowly, the craft began to move backwards toward the water.
The area of the landing wasn’t large enough for the man to turn the craft, so when he got over the water, he climbed aboard, and using the shore-unit, slowly spun the craft, so the front was facing out to the water. Then he gently lowered her into the water, barely making more than a ripple. The Remembrance had been launched.
John signed the delivery receipt, as Mary signed the Official Christening Document. Then he shook hands with all of the delivery crew before leading Mary out to where the barge sat at the end of the launching pier awaiting her new Captain.
Before casting-off, John led Mary around the barge on a tour of exploration. They ended up in John’s Master suite. Since the curtains were pulled, Mary turned and reached up to put her arms around John’s neck. “I really look forward to getting to know you better, John.”
John held her gently, like she was made of the most fragile Talosian Crystal, and softly kissed her lips. “I do too Mary, but I need you to know that I’m attracted to Gloria also. And, while I appreciate the offer to properly christen the Remembrance, I think we should wait awhile. I guess I’m a bit old fashioned, but I don’t want our relationship based on sex.”
Mary kissed him back, returning the earlier kiss, before she let go of him, and took one of the comfortable lounge chairs. “John, before we go any further, ethics force me to admit that I know who you really are.”
Through his enhancements, John reached out and secured the barge. All doors were closed and locked, preventing the girl from escaping. He also sent an alert to Mark. The alert was acknowledged, but no connection was made, that would be up to John to make if he needed it.
John cocked his head and looked at her funny. “What are you talking about, Mary?”
“Johnathan Jacob Aster, Born on Hasper 35th, in the fifteenth year before the fall. Joined the United Earth Star Marines at the age of seventeen, and was immediately accepted for a full core enhancement at the Rocky Mountain Molecular Biology Lab.
“Shortly after completing the initial enhancement, the lab was destroyed in a raid by agents of the Tammerian Empire. Aster was then taken to the New Radion lab on Titan where he received his secondary enhancements.
“John Aster went on to have a long and successful career defending the human race from the Tammerain Empire, as well as two civil wars. Once a true peace was reached, Only John remained from the original two hundred soldiers that were enhanced with him. In the text books, they say that your survival is a testament to the will of the human spirit.
“Personally, I feel it’s a testament to the horror that all of you had to go through for four thousand years. No one could ever commit a crime so heinous as to deserve such a sentence. However, the fact remains that three men and two women remained in the service even after such a sentence.
“Here on Bethel's Anvil, the planet whose liberation is credited to you alone, your ‘de-enhancement’ was very big news. Governor Yastlin sent an open invitation to you, to live anywhere on the planet you wished, for as long as you wished, completely free of all costs.
“We all hoped you would accept, but instead, the message we received was the announcement that the crown had declared a kingdom-wide day of mourning; you hadn’t survived the de-enhancement procedure. I had always had an interest in your case, John. Did they tell you that your secondary enhancement procedure should have had catastrophic results?”
John shook his head. She didn’t seem like she was accusing him of anything, or threatening to expose him; she was simply explaining how she knew who he was. So he decided to take a wait and see attitude. “No, but I do remember going a bit crazy for a time. I remember that I destroyed my enhancement chamber, and the techs had tried to terminate me, but I had already disconnected from that system. Command got the Techs out of the lab, and simply let me burn my rage out.
“I asked to be placed into a battlesteel cocoon so I could apologize to them for freaking out like I did. They were pretty shook up, and even a little leery of me, but they did thank me for trying to help them relax. After I did that, precautions were put in place to protect them from any other overloaded soldiers that lost control. Apparently it was a wise decision, since it became a common result of secondary enhancement.”
Mary nodded agreement. “Even for minor procedures, the labs are still built out of duralloy and battlesteel, with a panic room for the enhancement team to jump into. But, since I had been studying you for years, I couldn’t help but recognize you when we met. Since you’re trying to back out of sex with me, I assume you’re still fully enhanced?”
“His Majesty couldn’t bring himself to order my destruction after all the years I’d served. So, he ordered I be declared dead, and ‘retired me’. I still have unlimited funds, but I’m supposed to make sure no one knows I’m still fully enhanced,” John replied. “Mary, please swear you won’t tell anyone about me. I really like it here, and I’m starting to feel at home.”
“John, I would never tell anyone. I’m one of the few people that believe enhanced soldiers are still human beings. I wanted to offer myself as your ‘girlfriend’ to help with that aspect of your life. However, I think you should know, Gloria will also try to claim that title, and she has no clue about who you are.”
“I don’t want to cause a problem between the two of you. I mean this shouldn’t wreck your friendship. I
could tell the two of you were very close,”
Mary smiled. “We’ve been very close since we were thirteen. I think this would be the ideal situation for her. But, we really can’t include her in our relationship. I understand about the intimate contact part of a relationship with you, Gloria won’t.”
“Mary, you know as well as I do that sex with me is lethal, both physically as well as chemically. How do we build a real relationship when we can’t even express the love we feel for each other?”
Jon held up his hand, “My contact, ‘Uncle Mark’, is calling. I think he should be a part of this conversation.”
A new voice joined the conversation, surprising Mary. A hologram of a sitting man, took form in one of the empty chairs. “John mentioned to me he had an idea about the intimate contact thing, but told me he would tell me about it later. It’s a pleasure to meet you Mary, I’m Mark.”
“The pleasure’s mine, Sir. Pardon me, but you look really familiar, have you ever been here, or to the Royal Medical University on Bolovier's Planet?”
Mark looked thoughtful, “I’ve been to the University once, but that was years ago. I don’t think we’ve ever met though, and I get the ‘you look so familiar’ thing a lot. Please, just call me Mark. So, John, what was your idea?” Via the internal comm, Mark told John that he had granted the young doctor a security clearance sufficient for the knowledge she already had, and he would have the appropriate forms sent for her to sign. Until then, she would make a good ‘girlfriend’ just in case he needed repairs or a hardware upgrade.
John smiled at Mark as he down played his real identity. He hadn’t lied to the girl, but he sure didn’t give her a clue as to his real identity.
“You had an idea? I would love to hear it! Hell, I’d be happy to help you with it anyway I can!” Mary grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at John, causing Mark to laugh.
John chuckled and shook his head. “Well, the first idea was a basic core enhancement for a permanent partner. But getting to that point in a relationship would most likely kill the girl, so I thought of writing a subprogram for the controller that stepped down the enhancements to almost normal, and directing all nanos away from the reproductive organs.”
