by Dave Bara
“Sir—” interrupted Daniel.
“Hold on, Ensign,” he replied with a wave of the hand. “I guess this kid’s been through training on the longscope but I don’t want to let him near ours until we’ve had a chance to observe him in action. Could you arrange for him to have a ‘tour’ of the ship before we leave and have Chief Arnold check out his skills? Hopefully without him knowing?”
“Sir!” said Daniel again, this time nodding ever so slightly in my direction. Maclintock turned to look at me. I was still at attention. He crossed his arms and sighed.
“And I suppose . . .” he trailed off and I picked up the conversation.
“Lieutenant Commander Peter Cochrane reporting for duty, Captain,” I said. He rubbed his hands on his face again and sighed, looked straight at me, and then extended his hand.
“Welcome aboard, Commander,” he said. I shook his hand for a moment and then he broke off and walked away without another word. I picked up my bag, cabin pass in hand, then looked back at Daniel once more. He seemed as embarrassed as I was. I shook my head.
“Thanks for your help,” I said, then wandered off alone.
Aboard H.M.S. Starbound
Four hours later I was ensconced in my cabin, still too embarrassed by my first meeting with Captain Maclintock to walk the deck alone. I could have paged Layton and done a tour of duty stations but he deserved the rest after all we’d been through. Besides, I didn’t assume my duties for a day yet so there was no real reason for me to be prowling the decks. Most of the crew would be on liberty anyway.
I had glanced through the manifest to see how many of my old friends were still aboard and found it was a lean list. There was just Duane Longer, who I didn’t really like, and a handful of others I didn’t know too well. Serosian, it seemed, was still on Levant finalizing negotiations on implementation of Church doctrines and wouldn’t be returning until Starbound had a scheduled departure.
Maclintock had called his staff together for the morning but I hadn’t really looked at the note. I figured it would be typical welcome type stuff for Dobrina and me. I was happy that they had transferred her commission to Starbound, if only temporarily, until Impulse was rescued. No doubt Navy Command was still formulating that rescue plan based on our reports of the actions in the Levant system. The way these bureaucracies usually worked I figured that it would take at least a couple of days for them to get us our new orders.
My com buzzed at 2030 and I was surprised to see it was Layton, prompting me to join him for some recreation and a pub crawl. I wanted to refuse but I really didn’t have a good excuse, so I prepped myself and by 2100 we were off the ship and heading for the undiscovered pleasures of Artemis Station.
“I hear there’s a restaurant here that has belly dancers!” said Layton, far more excited by the prospect than I was.
“I’ve heard that myself. I take it you’re wanting to indulge?” I said.
“Well, unless you’ve got a better idea?” I shook my head no. I liked Layton a lot, and I felt some responsibility toward him as his superior officer. I was flattered he had chosen to follow me from assignment to assignment as a career path. I didn’t question his choice. He was a good man, smart and versatile, and I was happy to have him in my employ.
“I think we need to go one level down from here,” said Layton, pointing to an escalator. We went down from the main military level and soon found ourselves in a world very different from the one we had just left.
Rather than the rich Mediterranean luxury of the upper decks of Artemis, we had entered the seedy underbelly of the station. No view windows or com-ports needed here. This was a cash-only market with every kind of exotic pleasure a man or woman could desire available for a price.
We passed kiosks filling the main hall so thickly that you could hardly walk between them. Spices and perfumes tugged at our senses from every angle. The sound of lilting music, exotic and foreign, wafted through the air. The buzz of the crowd, the sound of glass breaking, a merchant and customer haggling over the price of some trinket, colonnades of blinking lights on every support post. It was indeed what the Levantines called a bazaar, and it was delightful.
The outer walls of the broad deck housed restaurants serving local fair. Goods and services from every corner of Levant were proffered at small storefronts, while female merchants of human pleasure offered their wares in small-windowed rooms no bigger than an ensign’s berth.
Within a few minutes the sensations began to feel overwhelming. Layton pointed to a side “street” in the open market, a small corner away from the mayhem. We made our way there and I was happy to follow him. We stopped in front of a place lit up with the name “Mamouna.”
“I heard about this place from the midshipmen who got liberty,” said Layton. “Dinner, good drinking, and the most beautiful women in the Known Worlds!”
“If you say so,” I said. I was trying to match Layton’s enthusiasm, but I was skeptical. And if I had to admit it to myself, I was somewhat depressed about the day’s events with Maclintock.
Once inside, my mood was soon lifted by the ambiance of the place. We were asked for our preference, dinner or the bar, and we chose dinner. It turned out to be a wise choice. An older woman in traditional Levantine dress with gray hair and a wizened face showed us through a “door” of colorful hanging fabrics and beads and into a room full of low-set tables. Huge pillows for reclining surrounded the tables and the area was lit with candles and hanging oil lamps. Fabrics reached from all corners of the room to a canopy high above us, giving the impression we were in a desert tent. The room was crowded with patrons—some businessmen, some military, and a good number of them Quantar sailors on liberty. Exotic music played in the background.
A stunning, caramel-skinned girl with huge brown eyes and a bare midriff came up to us, wearing a glittering traditional beaded headdress above an orange and black gown. She had a dangling jewel in her pierced belly button and streams of colored fabric flowed from her hips. She bowed ceremonially, hands in front of her, and then went to her knees facing us. She reminded me more than a bit of the Princess Janaan.
“I am Gimona,” she said.
“I’m Peter, and this is George,” I said, motioning to Layton. Gimona bowed slightly and smiled at Layton before returning her attention to me.
“If you like, I will be your hostess for the evening. If you would each like a hostess, I can arrange for another girl to join us,” she said. Her voice was sweet and her accent was alluring, combined with an amazing smile and beautiful white teeth. I cut to the chase.
“How much?”
“My services are free. If you choose to have a second dinner companion join us, the price is twenty crowns for each of you.” I exchanged glances with Layton. I could tell what he wanted to do, but I wasn’t willing to concede just yet.
“So what do we get for our twenty crowns?” I said. Gimona smiled broadly.
“I shall be your servant, bring you your dishes, serve you, and entertain you,” she said. Layton couldn’t contain himself.
“Sounds like a great deal to me!” he blurted out. Our negotiating position was now ruined and I conceded the point.
“Let’s see your friend,” I said. Gimona rose and bowed again, then departed behind a curtain. As I looked around the room I saw that most tables had companions, excepting those where business was obviously being done. Gimona came back with a petite girl in tow, just as beautiful as she but several shades darker in skin tone and dressed in a blue gown.
“This is Channa,” she said. Channa smiled at Layton. Layton smiled back and extended his hand, clearly pleased.
“Welcome, Channa. I’m George,” he said. It was strange, but yet here it was again—Gimona had clearly brought out a younger companion for Layton, even though he was older than me. I guessed my duty rank had something to do with it. Channa sat next to Layton while Gimona departed to
see to our service. She returned in a few moments with a tea set but only two glasses.
“You’re not joining us?” I asked. Gimona smiled that stunning smile as she poured for me, then passed the pot over to Channa. She shook her head.
“Our service is our trade,” she said. “We are here to serve you, not the other way around.”
We proceeded this way for more than an hour, the girls alternating bringing us different parts of our meal. Bread and hummus, a kind of spiced lamb or beef with flatbread, yogurt to cool the spices, and fresh vegetables that I was unfamiliar with. Gimona dutifully poured my tea, and then later pomegranate wine and ale. She wiped my mouth with a soft napkin when I had food on it, gave me fresh mint leaves to chew on between courses, and dipped her finger in rose-scented “blessing water” to douse me each time she served me something. Her attention to me was total, and I felt like a king. She was always close enough for me to feel the warmth of her body, and I wondered how much I had actually bought with my twenty crowns.
As we drank our after-dinner ales the entertainment started. We reclined back on our pillows, each of us with a woman at our side, and watched as the room filled with loud music, fire pots, and belly dancers in thin veils swaying to the beat of the music. Gimona gently rubbed my temples while the performance went on and made sure my ale cup was never empty.
The show lasted for almost an hour. The veils came off, of course, and the dancers came to our table to entertain us, shaking their hips in amazing ways to receive well-earned tips, with which we were happy to oblige. Then the dancers bowed and were gone. The live music continued, however, and in a flash both Gimona and Channa were up and dancing for us. I looked once at Layton, and saw his face was covered in a smile, oblivious to anything but his dancing companion. I turned my attention to Gimona, who rewarded me with a slow, sensual dance. She drew me in with her eyes first, never taking them from mine, then her hands went to her voluptuous body, enticing me with swaying arms running over her gown and exposed skin. As the music picked up faster and faster she spun into a whirlwind, coming to a stop above me just as the drums, cymbals, and horns crashed for a final time.
I applauded her enthusiastically and then the music resumed in a much softer tone. She went to one knee and bowed to me, a glow of sweat covering her body, her chest gently heaving as she breathed deeply from her dance. I took her by the hand and lay her down beside me and we faced each other on the pillows, her dark flowing hair framing her face. The drink and heady atmosphere of the evening had had its desired effect on me.
“I want to kiss you,” I said quietly. She smiled and laughed a bit and bowed her head before looking back up at me.
“You might have kissed me anytime you wanted,” she said.
“Is that part of what I paid for?” I asked. She looked at me very seriously.
“No. When I do that, I do it for love.”
“I see,” I said, then felt embarrassed for asking. “I need to apologize—” She cut me off by putting a finger to my mouth.
“Quiet,” she said, “no need for that.” Then she pulled her hand away and kissed me sweetly. I looked over at Layton, who was similarly engaged with Channa. I leaned in, resting my head on her softness while she gently stroked my hair. It was absolute bliss.
I woke up on the pillows, Gimona snuggled next to me, still glowing from my evening’s entertainment. Layton was already gone. I disengaged myself from Gimona’s arms, being careful not to wake her, then slipped out and made my way back to Starbound in the quiet of the early morning. My blissful recollections of the evening, however, were broken when I turned the last corner to my cabin and found Commander Dobrina Kierkopf waiting in the hall for me, arms crossed in a very serious pose.
“There you are!” she said, obviously agitated. I looked at my watch. Twenty minutes after five in the morning.
“I’m sorry, did I miss the staff meeting already?” I said sarcastically, then wobbled a bit and put out a hand to the wall to support myself.
“No,” she said back, “it starts in ten minutes. And you’re drunk.”
“What?” I said, not sure if I’d heard her correctly.
“Maclintock’s staff is at 0530 every morning, or didn’t you know that?”
“I sure as hell didn’t!” I ripped past her and keyed in the entry code to my cabin. She followed me in as I rifled through my clothes, searching for a clean shirt and jacket. The ones I was wearing smelled of blessing water and spices.
“You need to read your status reports. The outgoing XO sent them out last night at 2100,” Dobrina said, leaning against the doorframe and watching me scramble about.
“I was out by then,” I said.
“So you were,” she watched me for a few more seconds as I stumbled helplessly about the cabin, trying to shave, wash, and find fresh clothes all at the same time.
“Oh, for God’s sake!” she finally said, starting the shower for me and pushing me into my small bathroom. “Get those clothes off and I’ll see what I can do with your uniform,” she called from behind the door. I peeled off my clothes and tossed them to her as I jumped into the shower, turning it cold to try and wake myself up while I cleaned. She handed me my shaver over the shower stall and I started in on my beard. Another second and she gave me a hangover pill, which I took and washed down with the shower water. There would be no napping today; the pill contained a twelve-hour stimulant.
I heard her spraying freshener on my clothes, the kind of thing only a woman would think to do, and then shaking them out. “These are pretty randy,” she said from the cabin. “I hope she was worth it.” I said nothing to that, but it was easy to pick up the tinge of resentment in her voice.
I was out and dressed in a few minutes, or so it seemed to me, and we were on our way to the captain’s briefing room at 0528. We stood together in silence as the lifter took us up five decks to the conning tower and the nerve center of Starbound.
“How do I—” I started.
“You smell like roses and paprika,” she said. I let that sink in for a second, then started to laugh. She resisted for a few seconds, then joined me. I lost it at that point, giggling as if I were still drunk, which I supposed I still was despite the hangover pill. She elbowed me to get me to stop. When that didn’t work she slugged me hard in the upper arm.
“Oww! Goddamn it, that hurt!” I cried in mock pain, still laughing. She cocked her arm to hit me again, but this time I was having none of it.
I grabbed her arm as she swung and pulled her in to me, pressing her close with a hand in the small of her back, all the giggling gone in a second. We stayed that way for several seconds, feelings present that had stayed unspoken between us. Then I kissed her.
It was long and passionate, and she matched my inappropriate advance with plenty of enthusiasm of her own. After a few long moments of this, she pulled away from me, looking up into my eyes.
“You’re still drunk,” she said softly.
“Perhaps I am,” I said, refusing to release her. She tried to step back then, but I held on.
“Goddamn you, let me go!” she said as she shrugged free of me, untangling herself from my grip. We both took a moment to straighten up our uniforms at the last second as the lifter slowed to a halt and then opened onto Starbound’s Command Deck.
There were three rooms on the deck: the bridge, Captain’s Office, and here at the rear of the deck, the Command Briefing Room. I looked down the hall toward the bridge with longing, then stepped off the lifter and went left into the Briefing Room. I snapped to attention and saluted upon entering, and at the head of the table Captain Jonas Maclintock saluted back to me without getting up. It was 0532.
“I was beginning to wonder if you were going to make it, Commander,” Maclintock said, then motioned to the chair next to him on his left. “Have a seat.” I did and tea was passed around promptly, which I took as I looked about the room at t
he other officers. There were six, all men, none of whom I recognized. There were three lieutenant commanders, one of whom was a chaplain, and three first lieutenants. Serosian, I noted, was still absent. Dobrina took the seat next to Maclintock on his right as he introduced me around the table, showing no indication that he disapproved of my scent, and then he started in with the briefing.
“Our orders, gentlemen,” began Maclintock, “are clear. We are to activate the jump gate on Levant B and proceed via the jump point to determine the status of H.M.S. Impulse. There, we will perform a rescue if possible, and destroy her if she cannot be salvaged.” The last part hit me hard, like a blow to the chest. I had never considered that we might not recover Impulse. I was also surprised navy brass had been so decisive and so quick to respond. Perhaps I’d underestimated Admiral Wesley.
“Both Commander Kierkopf and Mr. Cochrane here have experience serving on Impulse, plus Mr. Cochrane trained here aboard Starbound as a cadet. They will both be vital to our success. The Admiralty has seen fit to name Commander Kierkopf as XO for this mission, and though I know you all have some misgivings about losing Commander Tannace to the First Contact mission on Levant, I have full confidence in our new XO,” he said, nodding to Dobrina. It was what he had to say, whether he believed it or not, and I suspected similar words of false praise were coming my way.
“Lieutenant Commander Cochrane will serve as our longscope officer, and I believe he will do a fine job in that capacity. Historian Serosian has assured me he’s more than up to the task.” He nodded my way while I wondered what about my behavior so far had given him that impression. The faces around the table all eyed me, but their expressions gave away nothing. These were experienced spacers and to them I must have come off as a child, the overprivileged son of a royal family that they didn’t even officially recognize yet, though they all knew it was likely the monarchy would be reestablished soon.
The door buzzed and then opened and a striking red-haired woman in a green Carinthian Marine Corps uniform with the rank of colonel entered. She saluted Maclintock and then took the seat directly opposite me, which had been left open.
