by Jay Toney
As a rule, the Iniguar did not lie or bluff. The concept of telling a falsehood is offensive to them and beyond their understanding. Elaunae managed to keep a straight poker face throughout the exchange between Doc and Captain Thornton. The only time she showed surprise her face was when she heard about the inspectors going through her bolts of cloth. Her people didn't steal, but she understood that it is a part of life for some humans. Her surprise was genuine. She would have gladly shared her good fortune with the people. All they had to do was ask her.
Two days later, they were ready to separate and leave. Doc didn't need to replace any ammunition speeding things up. All they had to do is carefully transfer the spacecraft from his shuttle bay to the Ajax's hangar. That didn't take long. What took most of the time was making room inside of the Ajax's shuttle bay for the spaceships.
Admiral Mavis's image appeared on the viewscreen. Not surprisingly, Captain Thornton is absent from the bridge. The admiral was still pissed off at his junior officer for embarrassing him. Doc would love to know what type of shit detail the pompous ass is being forced to do as punishment, but he didn't ask. He imagined that the officer is spending a great deal of his spare time scrubbing the ship's heads. That was good enough for him. In fact, the thought of Captain Thornton wearing gloves or maybe not wearing any and using a scrub brush to clean the starships toilets put a smile on his face that had been absent since he first met the future commander of the Ajax.
"Admiral Mavis, our hatches are sealed, and we are ready to begin undocking procedures whenever you are ready," Doc informed the Ajax's commander.
"Now that you have a little time on your hands, what are your plans?"
"I plan on returning to Antares IV. The crew deserves a little time off for shore leave, and I haven't had a chance to enjoy a honeymoon with my wife yet." Doc also needed to get the Queen Anne's Revenge repaired. Jane's patchwork would hold up, but it wouldn't pass the scrutiny of a thorough inspection. It would be difficult to explain the undocumented battle damage that she repaired. Doc didn't tell Admiral Mavis about it. It would cause suspicion that he didn't want with the loss of the Achilles. The damage wasn't caused by the destroyer, at least not all of it. It was from a lucky missile hit from a frigate patrolling the Corriban star system moments before the Queen Anne's Revenge made its escape into hyperspace. The Alliance policy is to shoot first then interrogate the survivors before executing them. Circumstances being what they are, Doc couldn't afford to slug it out with the Ajax, at least not yet. Even in death, the thief that commanded the Achilles is still haunting him. May he burn in hell, Doc thought.
Doc continued with little pause for thought, "After a short break, it is back to work. I still have a payroll to make, and a starship costs credits to maintain and operate. I'll stay busy enough. There are still plenty of pigeons to pluck."
"Pigeons? Plucking? I don't get it," Admiral Mavis said to Doc.
"People to relieve of their credits," Doc explained.
"The admiral nodded, understanding the cliche. "Commence separation procedures," he ordered.
The magnetic clamps released the docking tube from the Queen Anne's Revenge's airlock. Natasha fired the cruiser's port side thrusters. When they were 200 meters apart, she engaged the hyperdrive.
Antares
Jadsia split the primary viewscreen into three panes. The left side shows the forward view. There isn't much to see. We are too close to the planet to see the stars. Its reflected light made only the brightest stars, its moons, and the solar systems primary sun visible until our orbit changed to the dark side of the planet where we would be in its shadow.
The center of the viewscreen shows the planet below us. From orbit, we could see the tallest mountains, the green forests, the blue oceans, lakes, and rivers through the wispy white clouds. The planet is a tropical paradise. Its weather is constant with the planet's eleven-degree axial tilt. Even the polar regions are covered with trees leaving only small patches of snow and ice.
The last section of the viewscreen is a computer-generated image showing the planet, its six moons which are still a mystery, and our projected orbital flight path.
Captain Roberts only planned on staying here for a month while permanent repairs are done to his starship. The affected decks and bulkhead areas are evacuated and sealed off until the repairs are far enough along to pressurize them. Teams of mechanics in repair pods are in the process of removing the patchwork that my chief engineer, Jane, put in place to make the ship livable in those areas.
"Natasha, you are in charge. Contact me immediately if there is anything that needs my attention," Doc ordered the starship's AI.
Her avatar rose from the helm seat and sat in my now vacant command chair. "Enjoy your vacation," the Avatar said shooing Elaunae and Doc off of the bridge.
The two of us headed to the topside shuttle bay. Our bags were packed and already loaded aboard my private launch. We could have taken a transport shuttle or a Marauder to the surface, but Doc felt safer taking the bigger, slower transport ship. This time, he is going to pilot the spaceship to the spaceport. The thought of his wife flying the launch like she flies Marauders in simulation makes his stomach uneasy.
Elaunae and Doc spent time together most days of the week flying Marauders in a holographic simulation. She learned how to use the starfighter's weapons and subsystems fast but she was slow at learning basic and battle damage repairs. He felt confident that she could handle the starfighter in most situations.
Elaunae is still working on trying to make her husband an instinctive pilot. The other Marauder pilots often watched their training simulations. At first, they were fascinated by the way she flew the starfighter. After the newness wore off, they replayed the simulations in virtual reality (VR) for entertainment, often betting on how long I could refrain from throwing up, pissing myself or soiling the diaper like garments pilots typically wore under their flight suits. Doc's personal record is three minutes and two seconds. He would like to see any of the other pilots in his wing do better with his wife at the controls of a Marauder.
Doc and Elaunae boarded the transport ship, and Doc ran through the preflight diagnostics while the hangar is depressurizing. He rarely used his private launch. It still looks new even though it is at least 85 years old.
After the hangar doors opened, Doc lifted the small ship on its repulsor field and eased it out of the hangar. When he was clear of the shuttle bay, he used the ships thrusters to maneuver away from Queen Anne's Revenge. Then he started the main engines and headed towards the planet.
The entry angle for reentering a planet's atmosphere is critical. If the angle is too shallow, the spacecraft will not shed enough of its velocity to enter the planet's atmosphere. It will gain altitude and continue its orbit, missing its reentry corridor. If it is too steep, the heat shields could fail resulting in the spacecraft could burning up during its reentry or the forces could cause the spacecraft to break apart.
The autopilot typically uses a twelve and a half degree reentry angle, but that varies with the density of the planet's or moon's atmosphere. The descent angle didn't feel quite right to Doc. If felt too shallow, even for the launch which uses a much shallower angle than his Marauder. He is in a hurry to get down to the surface and start his honeymoon with Elaunae. It is long overdue. Doc overrode the autopilot, increased the entry angle to seventeen degrees, then he and diverted a little more power to the heat shields.
The nose and wing leading edges glowed red, then flames obscured the cockpit windscreen. The lifting body design of the ship fought the controls trying to enter the atmosphere at a shallower angle, but Doc is in control. He held the descent angle through the troposphere and the stratosphere. When the launch hit the thicker layers of the planet's atmosphere and slowed to supersonic speeds, he eased back on
the controls decreasing the pitch angle to give the spaceship more time for aerobraking.
The view cleared and Doc corrected the launch's course to the starport. "Finally, you are learning to feel what needs to be done when piloting the ship," Elaunae commented. She is right, Doc is piloting more by feel than using the instruments and navigation aids. During the reentry, he ignored the autopilot and the navigation computer.
After landing his spacecraft, Doc's friend General Sherman greeted him and his wife. He has a ground car waiting for the three of them to take his friends into town. Doc put their bags into the ground car. Elaunae's bag is full of clothes that she made and some of her custom jewelry. Doc's bag is a lot lighter, containing only a few pairs of pants and undergarments. Before they left, his wife tossed all of his clothes into the ship's recycler. She was determined to get her new mate to wear something other than black. Doc has little choice. His wife decided that it is her place to ensure that he has an assortment of colorful and stylish clothing to wear. She is determined to do the shopping for him from now on.
After checking into the suite at the hotel, they are staying at and dropping off our bags Doc rented a land car. He and Elaunae drove up a winding road that led to a health spa on top of the mountain that bordered the starport's town.
The mountain is a dormant volcano, but it still had some activity. Slight tremors shook the area daily. The locals are used to them and ignored them. The volcano's caldera is mostly covered by a large lake. The locals use the lake for recreational activities like boating, fishing, water skiing, and camping. There is also a hot spring open to the public and a health spa.
Doc parked the land car at the spa. He thought his wife might enjoy a visit there before they soaked in the hot spring waters. Elaunae is immediately attracted to the health spas mud baths. She bent over a tub filled with mud and inhaled its earthy scent deeply. "This soil smells much better than the mud we use back home in our baths. It doesn't have the smell of bog and peat. What is it?"
One of the attendants politely answered, "It is a mix of volcanic ash, ground pumice, and mineral water from the volcano's hot springs."
Elaunae undressed and eased her body into the mud. "Oh, this bath feels so good!"
Doc had an embarrassing moment when his wife undressed. She was wearing a pair of his red boxers under her skirt. Except for a few Iniguar women living around the spaceport on Elaunae's homeworld of Trek'eet, the women of her planet do not wear undergarments. Elaunae found wearing them strange at first, but she decided that she liked them after trying on a pair of Doc's underwear. They are comfortable and keep her modesty covered. She typically wears them when she is in the privacy of their cabin, or she is alone in her sewing room.
No one said a word about her choice of underwear or the fact that she is an alien. Undoubtedly, the people here had served other humanoid species in the health spa, but rarely a mixed species couple, especially a married couple. They also recognized who and what Doc Roberts is and knew the reputation that comes with his line of work. Even though Doc considers Antares as his personal property, it wouldn't stop him from dealing with anyone who insulted him or his wife. They were given the VIP treatment.
Doc never would have considered taking a mud bath on his own, but seeing how much his wife is enjoying it, he decided to give it a try. Besides, he has nothing else to do while he is waiting for Elaunae. He undressed and eased his body into a tub filled with warm mud. Immediately, its warmth began relaxing the tension and aches from his body. The special mud also gave his skin a tingling sensation. He saw that his wife is slowly rolling her body to the left and right in the dirt. He imitated her movement, and the tingling sensation increased as well as a slight scrubbing feeling.
Attendants brought Doc and his wife cold, fruity drinks to sip on while they soaked in the mud. After half an hour, Elaunae stood in the tub. Doc did the same. Spa associates rushed to them and gently scraped the excess mud from their bodies. Then the associates led their guests to showers where they could wash the remaining soil off. After they were clean, they were led to tables where other attendants rubbed aloe and therapeutic oils into their skin. Doc decided that he liked the bath and added it to the list of things he will do again. The pumice and ash in the tub exfoliated the top layers of skin leaving their skin looking clean, healthy, and shiny. His wife absolutely glows.
They dressed, and Doc paid for their bath giving the workers a healthy gratuity for their treatment. Elaunae offered to pay for her share of the price, but Doc wouldn't let her. He saw the coins that Elaunae carries in her pouch. On her world, they are considered of little value. Here they were precious. The money from her homeworld that she carries in her sack are disk-shaped coins averaging in size from 2cm to 5cm with a few considerably larger. All of her coins are made from stamped gold or platinum disks. Doc didn't want her cheated. Besides, she needs something to remind her of the home that she left. Other than her sack of coins, her only possession is a black knife that she keeps in her belt.
They drove back to town after soaking in the hot spring located next to the spa. Instead of going to the hotel, Doc parked the car outside of the cities market square. Most commerce on Antares is conducted in open markets instead of inside the confines of buildings. Doc rented a cart from a vendor at the market's entrance. He didn't need to worry about returning the vehicle. After he is finished with it, all he had to do was touch the menu option that says, "business complete." The cart will return to its owner on its own.
Elaunae is overwhelmed by all of the sights, sounds, and smells coming from the marketplace. Vendors stand outside of their booths barking their wares. Elaunae did her best to look into each cubicle that she and her mate passed by. There is nothing like this on Trek'eet. Everything that she could think of is for sale in the open market and much more that she never thought of. Doc did his best to steer her away from the grayer areas of the market where weapons, drugs, and other services are routinely sold. He guided her clear of the entrances that he knew led to the black markets where illegal narcotics, weapons, slaves of different species, and other illicit services are traded and sold.
The government knew carefully regulated what is sold and traded in the market and issued the necessary permits for all areas of it. It is better to keep the darker areas of the markets open where they could be watched than it is to force them into hiding where the dealings are less difficult to monitor and control, especially the criminal elements.
After learning what to look for to get the appropriately sized clothing for Doc, Elaunae quickly pulled shirts, vests, pants, and a few jackets from clothing racks and shelves. She put a respectful amount of clothing into the cart that followed them.
Elaunae filled the cart with styles and colors that Doc would never have chosen for himself. He likes keeping things simple. He didn't have to worry about matching coordinating colors or styles. All of his black shirts, vests, and pants matched no matter which ones he grabbed out of the closet.
After his wife was satisfied with her purchases, she thought their shopping was done for the day. Doc let her to another area of the market that catered to lady's fashions. Elaunae had plenty of skirts, blouses, and vests that she made to wear, but she lacked proper lingerie. She typically wears her husband's boxers. Admittedly, they look cute on her. Cute isn't what Doc wants. He is looking for sexy. His wife's body is beautiful, and what he has in mind for her will make it more so.
Doc is fascinated by her breasts. They are smaller than human breasts, but there are more of them. He also enjoys the sight of her long, athletic legs. They are muscular and firm but still look feminine. They have the shape and roundness that he likes, but seeing his wife in his boxers spoils the image he has of her in his mind. Elaunae also needs a robe to wear when going between their cabin and her sewing room. Nudity isn't a taboo aboard starships and is commonly se
en, but he will feel better with her being clothed in more than his boxers when she is unaccompanied.
Doc is more of an expert than his wife when it came to underwear. He knows what he likes and quickly bought Elaunae several undergarments to choose from. He also found her a robe and some purses and handbags to replace the pouch that she ties to the cloth band that her pockets were sewn to. After they are satisfied that they got what they came for, Doc and Elaunae left the market with their purchases. They could go back another day to buy more if there are other things that they need.
When they got back to the hotel, Doc ordered dinner for the two of them. "There is no need to spend your money on room service. I can cook our meals for a lot less. I am sure that I am a better cook than the strangers preparing our meals," Elaunae told her husband.
"Don't worry about the price. I can afford it. We are here to enjoy ourselves, not work. You can cook for me after our honeymoon is over if you wish," Doc told his wife.
"I do wish it. It is my place to please you. I will not let anyone interfere with my giving you pleasure. While we are speaking of this, stop staring at Natasha. Am I not beautiful enough for you?"
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. I am lucky to have you for a wife." Doc took Elaunae in his arms and kissed her ending the conversation. Then he led her into the bedroom.
Doc and Elaunae spent three weeks together on Antares. It didn't seem like it to either one of them. Time passed by too fast. Doc has a surprise for his wife. He booked the last few days of their vacation on the third moon. It has spacious subsurface caverns that are used for luxury resorts, microgravity flying, and other industries. Doc enjoyed flying in his youth and felt sure that Elaunae would like it too.
