by Ben Winston
“Excuse me, Mark, but what about William?” John asked.
Mark sobered up quickly. “Major William Curran has requested permanent deactivation upon completion of the current mission. Holly's death has gotten to be too much for him. Although it pains me greatly, I've approved his request.”
John closed his eyes at the news. Then looked at Chloe. “Chloe, please let Will know that we will take him on his last mission. Once he's cremated, the Guard will ensure his ashes are dropped over Onaris 9 so he can be with Holly.”
“Will do, Major.” Chloe said nodding.
“Well, since I'm going to be doing research on fixing them, why don't we find something here for the other two? We could park the Flyer at the space port somewhere, or even out here for them, if they're needed someplace,” Mary suggested.
“That might be a good idea considering the issues we're having with the Empire. Chloe, could you talk to Carl and Alice about it and see what they think? It would mean that they would be 'retired' too,” Mark said.
“Of course, Majesty,” Chloe said.
Mark sighed. “At least I'll finally be able to get rid of that damned protocol programming in you!”
John snorted. “Retire them now, and give them the same order you gave me.”
“That's another good idea! But I won't do it without Carl and Alice agreeing to it first, Chloe, please speak to your team mates as soon as you can, and get back to me. Minimum priority, just bring it up at dinner or something,” Mark asked. “And when it's just us, please call me Mark. You're retired, as I told John, it not only gives you the ability, but the right to tell me no. I would also like you to simply be my friend, not just a subject I command.”
Chloe rose, and nodded. “As you wish, Mark. I always did like you, so as far as being your friend, I always have been. We'll be making planetary insertion in a few hours, so I'll get those answers for you before we drop.”
John looked confused. “I haven't done the math, but that's not for hours yet. I won't be picking you guys up until tomorrow morning, local time.”
“Hyperbolic drop, John. Don't you remember? You invented the damn thing!” Chloe replied.
“No I didn't, that was William. He was the one that suggested if we dropped early and 'coasted' in we'd be mistaken for normal debris,” John replied.
“You put a name to it, and it got recorded under your name in the manuals. William laughed his ass off when he saw that,” Chloe replied, but then looked sad again.
“I thought the two of you were on a mission to kidnap one of your fellow citizens?” Mark asked.
“I’m delaying us, I cornered him about Chloe before we left, and felt we needed to take care of it first,” Mary said.
Mark grinned. “Ahh, well, you have to deal with the important stuff first. But, now that it's settled, I need to get back to that trade meeting. I swear these two idiots are going to strangle each other!”
“Well, you could always classify it a strategic asset, Mark. That would shut them up!” John said.
“Hah! That it would! Take care, all of you, and we'll talk more this evening, before Chloe drops,” Mark faded out quickly to the sound of good-byes from the three new friends.
“I need to go too, I have a lot to do before we climb in the pods tonight. Take care of our man, Mary, and thank you for fixing this.” Chloe said.
“No thanks are needed, Chloe, it was just the right thing to do, Talk to you later,” Mary said.
“Be careful, Chloe,” John said before Chloe could speak to him.
“I love you too, you big idiot. Remember, never assume - even if you know the answer to be yes, I will still like to be asked,” Chloe said as she began to fade as well.
“See you soon.” John said as she disappeared completely.
John turned to Mary. “Well, should we go kidnap a young lady?”
“You do know I was kidding when I suggested that, right?” Mary said.
John grinned like a shark. “Of course you were.”
“I better call and tell Geoffrey we're coming, at least for lunch.”
“Sounds like a plan. Better ask him if we can moor to his dock again too,” John said.
Mary nodded and began making calls.
As soon as she got off the comm with Geoffrey, she was about to call Gloria, when Gloria called them.
“Good Morning! How are you and John doing?” Gloria said by way of greeting.
Mary smiled at her friend. “We're great! I was just about to call you!”
“Really? I guess what they say is true then, great minds do think alike!” Gloria said cheerfully. “Say, the reason I was calling is that Daddy asked me to ask if the two of you would consider coming to dinner tonight.”
“What time should we be there?” Mary asked looking over at John who grinned and nodded his head.
“Around six, like normal. If you ask me, the whole thing is slightly strange. I think he might be a little miffed at John for his choosing you over me. I told him it was alright and explained everything to him, but he still wants to invite you.”
“I'll tell you what, call in sick today, and we'll pick you up at your dock in about an hour. I just made reservations for lunch at Geoffrey’s. Come spend the day with us at least! It just isn't the same out here without you!” Mary pleaded.
“Well, okay, but Daddy was really insistent about tonight, so we have to be back here for that. Let me call in and I'll meet you out there,” Gloria said. “See ya in an hour!” She disconnected so quickly that Mary didn't get to say anything in return.
“You know I have to go drop a marker for the rest of the team, right? It's a long way out there, I had planned on dropping the marker, and just waiting for them,” John replied. “If Constable Saint wants me to have dinner with him, we're going to really have to haul ass to get back out there to pick them up.”
“How far out are you going to drop the marker?” Mary asked.
“At least fifty klicks. We don't want the lizards to get too curious about the drop zone and come to investigate. They hit the water between one and two a.m. I want to be there so they don't have to float around out there waiting for us.”
“Hmm, we might have to put off Bailey until tomorrow night. The problem there is, what kind of excuse could we use? He knows you're not doing anything except enjoying your new toy right now,” Mary said.
John chuckled. “Maybe I'll just have to call in sick!”
An hour later, Mary caught the dock, as the Remembrance settled beside it. Gloria was there with a huge grin on her face waiting for them. She had a small bag of clothes with her and she jumped aboard and Mary followed her. John grinned down at them from the fair weather bridge, and began backing the barge away from the dock.
John quickly set the course for the Glass Bay Marina and the mooring at Geoffrey’s pier. The lunch was almost as good as the company, and John thoroughly enjoyed himself and, from appearances, so did the ladies.
As soon as lunch was over, they got back on the barge, and John quickly set course for the landing area where he wanted the team to arrive. As they were clearing the bay, they girls brought up some drinks and sat in the loungers on the upper foredeck near John.
They chatted until they cleared the bay, and John rechecked their course before sitting down with the girls. The serious discussion he wanted to have with them was going to be hampered by the very distracting bikini's they were wearing.
“It looks like we're heading for the open lake, how far out are we going, John?” Gloria asked a little too innocently.
“Pretty far, actually, there is an errand I need to run for some friends before dinner with your father tonight, so I thought it would be best to get it handled as quickly as possible,” John said taking a sip from his beer, he sat it down on the table beside him. “Gloria, although we really wanted you out here with us, we did have ulterior motives for kidnapping you today.”
“Oh?” She asked coyly. “Did you change your mind about the premarital se
x thing?”
John coughed, and cleared his throat. “Not exactly, no, but that was a lie, I can’t have sex with anyone yet.”
Gloria looked confused. “Huh? Why?”
“Gloria,” Mary said gently. “I’ve fallen in love with John Jacob Aster. Formerly Major Johnathan Jacob Aster of the Temporal Guard. He didn't die as was reported, but he wasn't decommissioned either, he's still a fully functional Marine.”
“Bullshit.” Gloria said. “He can't be a Marine!” She looked at John, “Please tell me you're lying! You aren't a Marine!” She had tears in her eyes, and she was almost frantic. “You can't be a Marine! They'll kill you!”
“What? Who'll kill me? Gloria, what are you talking about?” John asked.
Mary was confused too, and had moved over to try to comfort her lover. “Shh, Baby, what are you talking about?”
It took a few minutes for her to calm down, she eventually did. “Daddy and some of the others from town. I'm not sure of exactly what's going on, but I overheard him talking to one of them earlier today. He was saying how the ‘Masters’ had ordered that John be brought to them tonight so they could make sure he wasn't a Marine.”
“Do you know who your father was talking to Gloria? When did this happen?” John asked.
“I was still upstairs getting ready, and didn't see who it was he was talking too. They were at the front door and Daddy was really scared. I thought they were talking about someone's daughter, but then I heard them say your name and tried to get closer, but they left before I heard anything else. It was shortly after that Daddy called and asked me to make sure you came over for dinner tonight so he could talk to you. He said Mary and I were to go to Geoffrey's since it was a man to man thing. He sounded so much like himself that I didn't think anything of it. John, I think Daddy and his friends are going to try to kill you tonight, if you're a Marine, and they try, you'll kill them!”
Mary got up and opened up a drawer. She pulled out one of her small cases, and opened a pill bottle. She gave one of the capsules to Gloria and had her swallow it. “This will help you, Sweetheart.”
“Gloria, I don't want to kill anyone, and I won’t if I don’t have too,” John said. “But I do have a mission to complete. Do you know who these ‘masters’ are that they were talking about?”
Gloria shook her head. “No, I don’t. I’ve never heard about anything like this before. I have no idea what’s going on, but I do know they will kill you if they can. They have to, or someone else will take your place with their ‘masters’, I don’t know who though.”
Through his implants, John contacted the Flyer. Chloe once again appeared on one of the loungers. “Wow, missed me already?”
“Chloe, I’m ordering you to abandon your stealth approach. I need you down here as quickly as possible. We’ve had some developments.” John said.
Chloe nodded. “Yes sir. Altering course, and engaging engines. Orbital insertion now in... one hour, seventeen minutes.”
John nodded. “Engage the cloaking field and bring the ship down at my farm. Do you have that location?”
She nodded. “Water landing?”
John nodded. “We’ll get back there and clear the lagoon. It’s deep enough for you to submerge the ship and remain hidden.” Via his implants, John instructed the barge to alter course for the ‘home’ bay.
“Understood. May I ask what’s changed?” Chloe asked, looking at the new girl.
“Chloe, this is Gloria Saint. She’s a friend of mine, and Mary’s best friend. She just told me that her father and his cohorts are planning on killing me tonight, on the order of the Lizards. We need to be ready to respond when that fails.”
“Lizards? You mean the Tammerain Lizards? Here?” Gloria asked. “Why would Daddy call them ‘Master’?”
John sighed, and looked at his new friend. “Gloria, You’re family hasn’t been on this planet as long as you think it has been. You’re grandfather, Gustav, immigrated here as the Royal Postmaster. However, before that, he was listed as missing and presumed dead a year before that, your family was lost during what was assumed to be a pirate raid.
“Tammerain forces are amassing an invasion force less than ten light years from here, as we speak. Royal Intelligence has tracked an enemy spy base to this planet. The first night I was here, I killed a Lizard in the Royal Preserve, which tells me that the base is located nearby. We think it’s in the old lizard base underwater between Glass Bay and the cliff known as the plunge in the preserve,” John explained. “I did intend to retire here, but I was asked to check this out while I was here. Since I’ve found something, I have to make sure it gets shut down.”
“What about Daddy?” Gloria asked. “You’re going to have to kill him as a traitor aren’t you?”
John shrugged and shook his head. “Maybe not. Gloria, if I can prove he was forced into this, than we can clear him of culpability. That being said, I will have to defend myself, and others. I hope you can accept that.”
Gloria nodded. “I understand John. I don’t like it, but I do understand it. There is far more involved here than just our small town.”
“John,” Chloe said.
“Yeah?”
“Neither of them can leave the barge until this is dealt with, one way or the other,” Chloe suggested. “For their own safety, they will have to stay there.”
“What? No! I have to get back to work, I can’t stay here without letting someone know where I am!” Gloria said.
John sighed. “Gloria Saint, by order of the Temporal Guard, you are hereby remanded into custody for your own protection from the forces of the Tammerain. You will be held here until such time as your safety is no longer a concern, or a safer place is found for you.”
“No!” Gloria said, crying. Finally, she seemed to sink in on herself. “Okay, I understand. But you forgot to arrest Mary.”
“I don’t have to, Gloria. She’s bound by other agreements to follow my orders with regards to the mission,” John explained.
“Major Aster, do I get a call?” Gloria asked, somewhat coldly. “I would like to inform my mother that I won’t be coming home.”
John sighed. Her using his rank told him their friendship was gone. “No, I’m afraid that isn’t possible at this time. We don’t know for certain that your mother isn’t involved. Gloria, I’m really sorry about this. I hope you can find it in your heart to eventually forgive me for this.”
She just nodded, and rose. “I’m going to go lie down.” With that, she left the deck down the steps, and entered the guest cabin.
Mary looked concerned. “She’ll come around eventually, John. This is all just a shock to her. I don’t think she ever expected anything this big to ever happen to her.”
Chloe nodded. “This is a rather back-wards, out-of-the-way place for something like this to happen. Which is why it’s such a good place for it.”
Mary nodded. “I’m gonna go check on her.” She rose and gave John a kiss, before leaving the deck.
“You certainly have a way with the ladies, John,” Chloe said, grinning slightly. “I need to go brief everyone and get them ready for planet-fall. What do you want us to do when we arrive?”
“I’ll want you and the rest of the guards to come on the barge so we can figure out how to handle this. Keep the kids on the ship for the time being,” John ordered referring to the ‘young’ marines they had on board. “See you in a couple of hours, Major.”
Chloe nodded, and dropped the connection. John sighed and mentally began composing the operation change report for Mark and the intel folks.
Chapter 09
Unknown to John, Mary had already called Mark. He had just finished up with the two mining concerns, and was on his way back to his office.
At first, it was audio only.
“What’s wrong Mary?” he said.
“We got Gloria and talked to her. It turns out she knew more than we thought. Her father is going to try to kill John tonight on the orders of the Lizards.
She didn’t know anything about the lizards, or her father’s involvement with them, and she’s taking it pretty hard. She pretty much ended her friendship with John over it, and I could tell it was bothering him. I was wondering if you had a moment to talk to her for me?” Mary asked.
“She has no idea who I am does she? Won’t she recognize me? Besides, what could I say to her that would help?” Mark asked.
“I don’t know, but could you try?” Mary asked. She had gone down to the dining room area to make the call, so no one would overhear her.
“I’ll try, but I’m on my way to my office. Let me get there, and I’ll call you back. That way, I can use the holo-suite and it won’t seem so strange,” Mark replied.
“Thanks Mark, I’ll go and talk to her for now, just call in when you’re ready,” Mary replied. “We’ll be in the guest suite.”
“Okay, it should only be a couple of minutes,” Mark replied. “Don’t tell her who I am, we’ll see if we can just get her to talk first.”
“Alright, talk to you in a few minutes,” Mary said, and heard the comm click off. She grabbed a soda, and headed up to the guest room and Gloria.
She found her friend sitting on one of the comfortable lounge chairs, looking out the front windows.
“Hey glow-bug, are you okay?” Mary asked.
The girl snorted. “Not really. I love my Daddy, it’s really hard to believe this about him.”
“John isn’t making it up, sweetheart,” Mary said. “He has no reason to.”
“I know, that’s the hardest part of this to accept,” Gloria replied. “He is still enhanced. Even after the conversation we had about soldier’s rights. I guess he would have a better point of view than most, huh?”
“Yeah, he does, but I don’t think it’s something that’s as important to him as your friendship,” Mary said.
“My friendship?” Gloria said and finally turned to her long-time friend. “Friends don’t arrest other friends. Friends don’t accuse other friend’s father of treason against the race!” Gloria said as tears began to form. “Friends don’t kill their friend’s fathers and lie to your face about it.”
