"Never get tired of seeing that..." commented the Professor with a wave of his pipe. "Well, Jack," he added, "time for a dash of sleep. I return the bridge to you, Captain."
"Thank you, my good man," responded Jack, bowing stiffly. They laughed as Walt turned to leave.
"Oh wait! I almost forgot." He turned to Brian who was standing just behind him at Raulya's console with the other pilots. "Remember that joke you used to tell about the dog and the Siamese cat?"
"Yeah..." said Brian, unsure where this was going, "what about it?"
"I don't know why, but it just came to me earlier and it made me think of this other joke..." Fritz jumped up onto Jack's command chair and wagged his tail. He was paying close attention.
Walt paused on the stairs. "So tell it..." Everyone on the bridge was listening closely.
"Well," began Jack, "this guy walks into a bar with a dog at his side and they both take a seat at the bar. Hey! Says the bartender, no dogs in my bar. So the guy says, but this is the smartest dog in the world! The bartender says, oh yeah? Prove it and I'll give you both a free beer! So the guy asks the dog what's on top of a house and the dog says roof! So? Says the bartender. Then the guy asks the dog to describe sandpaper and the dog says rough! That doesn't prove a thing, grumbles the bartender..."
"So?" said Paul, impatiently.
"So," continued Jack, "the guy gets the dog to do a bunch of other stuff, none of which impress the bartender. So finally, the guy pulls out a twenty dollar bill and hands it to the dog, telling him to go across the street and get a pack of cigarettes. He'll have the right brand and the right change, brags the guy. Twenty minutes goes by and the dog hasn't returned, so the guy and the bartender go outside to see what might have happened. They find the dog in the back seat of the guy's convertible, screwing the local hooker. What are you doing? Yells the guy, you never did that before! and the dog says..." Jack motioned to Fritz.
"I never had twenty bucks before..." said Fritz, annunciating slowly.
There was a smattering of laughter as everyone looked from Jack to Fritz then again back and forth in obvious confusion. Jack and Maria, who was standing on the other side of Raulya's console, laughed the hardest, but not at the joke. The confused expressions of everyone on the bridge was almost too funny to stand. Jack gripped his sides. Fritz stood on Jack's command chair facing backwards, with his front paws clutching the headrest, tail whipping from side to side. He looked from Jack, to the pilots and back, his tongue lolling casually out the side of his mouth. This was great fun.
"How'd you do that Jack?" asked Brian, shifting his eyes from man to dog and back again.
"Yeah," added Mike, "I didn't even see your mouth move!" Jack was in tears and Maria was holding onto the console for support.
"I'm not sure I understand..." said Walt, "did he get the cigarettes or not?" That's when Paul lost it, he had just begun to understand what Jack thought was so funny and the laughter was contagious.
"I say," quipped Derrik "it wasn't that funny..."
"Laf! Laf! Laf!" Barked Fritz as he bounced on the command chair excitedly.
"Good Heavens!" yelled the Professor, laughing, eyes agog.
Jack and Maria were both sitting on the floor, tears streaming down their faces. Brian's eyes were like saucers, "Did HE say that?" he asked, pointing at the dog. "Did YOU say that fuzzball?"
"Laf! Laf! Laf!" barked the dog again, even louder than before.
“Holy crap, your dog talks...?” Brian and Mike fell down they were laughing so hard. There wasn't a dry eye or straight face on the bridge. The laughter had spread across the bridge like a tidal wave and like continuing waves of water, spread back and forth as one side or the other slowed to catch their breath.
"What the Hellion is going on over there?!" Jack looked up to see Gantarro's face on the view screen. "I've been trying to reach you!"
Red faced and out of breath, Jack rose from the floor, wiped the tears from his face and tried desperately to compose himself. "I'm sorry, sir," he stifled a chuckle, "we learned last night, Fritz was developing the ability to talk," he glanced at Pappy and began to laugh. "Ahem, so, well we..." he laughed when he looked at Brian gasping for air.
Gantarro found himself laughing as well. Yet he did not know the reason. He glanced at his first officer who chuckled with him, but shrugged. He didn't know why either.
"Anyway," continued Jack, taking a deep breath, "I played a practical joke on my bridge crew, who didn't know of this sudden development. It was quite funny... I guess you had to be here."
"Aaaahh! Well... my congratulations to Mr. Fritz! We just called to wish you luck and thank you for the escort."
"You're welcome, sir," Jack was forcing composure, despite the sounds of controlled humor behind him. "Good luck and God's speed." The screen went blank and the external view returned. The Princess Hedonist turned away on its new heading and began its departure. Jack turned back to the others who had suddenly grown quiet. They were all staring at the screen, watching the image of the cruise liner as it moved away.
"Ok, boys and girls..." said Jack, startling half the crew on the bridge, "it looks like we're on our own now..." He reached over to the console on his command chair and turned on the monitors. Fritz, still sitting in the chair, watched intently as Jack's fingers danced across the flat keyboard. The musical beeping made him tilt his head in a curious fashion. Jack found what he was looking for. "Helm, steer a new course, one-five-one, point seven-three-nine, point zero-six-six."
"Yes, sir..." the young bridge officer paused as he entered the course into the computer, "course laid in, Captain."
"Take us there, Ensign. Best speed."
"Yes, sir!"
Jack reached over and rubbed Fritz's head. "Off you go, kid, go sit on that one," he pointed at the empty first officer's chair. The dog switched locations and curled up comfortably on Walt's chair, his chin on the console. Jack plopped into the command seat and swiveled around to face the pilots. "Time to go liberate some parts, from our friendly neighborhood pirate supply store..." he wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "Why don't you guys go get some shut eye, I'll call you if anything comes up."
■ ■ ■
It had been over seven hours, and the screens were void of ships, planets or Gates. Jack was bored. Maria was sitting with Myomerr at the weapons console and Raulya was off duty. Jack spun his seat around. "You want to go for a flight?"
Maria sat up straight. "Can we?"
"Sure, why not." Jack called the flight bay and told them to ready two fighters, then he called Trigoss and asked him to come to the bridge. "You don't mind playin' Skipper for awhile, do you?"
"Certainly not!" he exclaimed, "I'll be right up."
After a brief chat, the two pilots left the command to Trigoss and headed to the flight bay. Fritz stayed on the bridge. "What kind of pattern will we fly?" asked Maria as they walked down the corridor.
"Pappy came up with a thing he called a double diamond, it makes a pretty thorough pattern." Jack went on to describe it in detail.
"That's a four ship pattern though, right? How will we do it with only the two of us?"
"We go deep while we're together, then shallow when we're apart so we're not too far from each other. So instead of a fat, even diamond, we make a long, skinny one." Maria nodded in understanding as she pictured it in her mind.
Jack was cheerful as he picked his helmet off the rack of his locker. Whistling, he rubbed the fingerprints off the fresh artwork on the sides and admired the shine. The logo looked like the Medieval battle shield on his bedroom wall back at home, black shield, fiery-red rising sun with the gold Pegasus silhouette over it, and a gold skull, square and compasses at the bottom tip of the shield. He tossed
his flight gloves into his helmet and strode toward the doors to the flight bay.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Maria snatched her helmet off the bench in front of her locker, the cartoon of an angry hornet looking like it was about to fly off of its shiny white surface. She caught Jack as he passed through the doors into the flight bay. "Don't forget me," she reminded him.
"I didn't." He smiled then continued to whistle as he walked. The fighters were already sitting in the launch tubes, waiting only for their pilots. "I'll take the other one," he volunteered. She nodded and began sliding her gloves on as she headed for the closest Warthog. Jack used the walkway through the base of the tower to reach the other craft in the far launch tube.
"Hello, Captain, didn't know you'd be flying today..."
"Hi, Chief, sure, why not?" He took his gloves but handed the man his helmet. "I'm allowed to have some fun too." With a grin he climbed the ladder to the cockpit. It was snug, comfortable, and he felt like he belonged there.
Setting his helmet on the dash, the Crew Chief went about securing Jack into his seat and connecting his comm and power leads. The Chief's headphones were already plugged into the nose of the fighter so as soon as Jack's gloves and helmet were on, he checked the connections. "Can you hear me, Skipper?" Jack nodded. "Ok, sir, you're all set!" He began to descend the ladder. "Go ahead, close and latch your canopy."
Jack followed the Chief's instructions and the tower's pre-flight prompts as the Line Chief sealed the launch tube. "Brian's right, I feel like a torpedo..."
"Excuse me, sir?" inquired the tower.
Jack smiled and shook his head, "Nothing." The catapult fired, sending Jack's fighter screaming through the launch tube. It flashed by in a nanosecond.
Jack looked to his left and could see Maria's fighter slightly behind his. "Boy," he began, "that was fun! So, whaddya' think? Wanna' go back and do it again?" There was silence. "Arroyo, you Ok? Is your comm on?"
"I'm here," she breathed, "I'm just trying to swallow my heart. Now I know what a bullet feels like." Jack figured it would make a thrilling ride for an adult amusement park. It was quiet again until she caught her breath. "I never dreamed it would be this beautiful..." her voice trailed off. They both spent the next few moments staring at the stars.
"I always wondered what it would look like from out here," recalled Jack. "Even as a kid I used to think about that."
"I bet you never thought you'd find out first hand."
"No..." He remembered laying in the grass as a boy and staring up into the stars. "But I used to dream about what it would be like if I did."
"So," deduced Maria, "this is sort of a dream come true..."
Jack glanced down at his sensors, there was nothing but their fighters and the Freedom. "Yeah, I guess it is."
"Maybe you were always supposed to end up out here... Y'know what I mean? Like the saying, everything happens for a reason?" She thought for a moment and continued. "You used to dream about it because someday you'd really end up out here... in fact, everything you've done all your life seems to have prepared you for it..."
"Like what?" he interrupted.
"Your police career gave you certain knowledge and skills. You left that to be a pilot... your values, your ideas, your beliefs. They're all needed out here. Then several sets of circumstances all collide and connect to actually bring us together and deliver us all out here. That doesn't sound like destiny to you?" Jack admitted it did. But he always believed that a man had more than one destiny and could choose which path he wanted to take. To him this sounded more predestined. "No," said Maria, "don't you see? This is what you always wanted, ever since you were a little boy. And you did everything you needed. Destiny just provided the right circumstances to complete delivery."
Jack offhandedly wondered if she'd been talking to Voorlak. "When did you think of all this?" He had to admit it though, there were too many coincidences to be just coincidences.
"Over the last couple of days when I was thinking about you and me and what's happened, or should I say, what's been happening..." She went on to explain that she suddenly realized where destiny was taking him. That she was not the right woman, because the right woman would have to be someone who could sit by and wait until he had time to need her. Someone who had the right devotion and patience. "I'm not the right person," she admitted. "Maybe I'm selfish, but I want it when I want it. I don't like to wait, I want first priority."
Jack glanced at his sensors screens and back up. "Well it sure sounds like you thought this out thoroughly..."
"Well, when I have a revelation, I don't fool around!" she boasted.
"Are you Ok with it?" They were nearing their break off point.
"Yeah, but I still love you, you jerk."
"Me too... I mean you, not me..."
"Yeah I know what you mean. Listen, I don't know Alité very well," continued Maria, "but she seems real nice, maybe the right one, y'know? So be nice to her."
Jack cracked half a smile. "Cut it out, will ya'? You sound like my mother." He looked over at the fighter next to him and could see Maria's silhouette bathed in the glow from the electronics in her cockpit. "We're at point, you ready to go?"
She looked over at him and gave him a thumbs up. "Ready."
He returned the signal. "Ok, break." The two fighters split and banked away from each other. Soon they would only be able to see one another on sensors. "Switch to Comm One."
"Roger," came her reply. They had been talking on a short-range, low-power frequency. They would now switch to a long range frequency to keep in touch, though now they would speak only if necessary. This would prevent giving away their location to an enemy.
Jack felt a queer sense of loneliness as he looked at the emptiness around him. Nothing to be seen but the twinkling points of light. Except for the constant rumble of the engines vibrating through the hull and the occasional beep of the sensors as they made their sweeps, it was too quiet for him. He switched off his mic and began to whistle a tune. Then he hummed. Finally he sang. He longed for some familiar rock-n-roll. He was nearing his outward point.
"Bird Two to Leader."
Jack switched his mic back on. "Leader, go ahead."
"I've got some kind of debris floating out here, some large, some small. Please advise."
"Is it ship debris or organic asteroid stuff..."
"I'm on the very edge of it, it's hard to tell from here... ship maybe?"
"Roger. Stand by, hold position." Maria acknowledged the order and pulled the throttle back into the idle position. "Power your shields up," added Jack, in an afterthought. "Leader to tower..."
"Tower, go ahead."
"Wake Commander Smiley and Lieutenant Warren, I need them on stand by." The tower acknowledged. "Leader to bridge, please wake Commander Edgars."
"I'm already here, Jack," responded the Professor.
"Roger." Jack swung the nose of his Warthog fighter to the new course heading he set and pushed the throttle forward until it stopped. "Leader to Bird Two, I'm on my way, full burner." He thumbed the boost button.
"Hurry, Leader, I've got movement out there."
"Hold on, I'm comin'! Arm guns, Bird Two." Maria acknowledged. "Leader to Bridge, go to yellow alert!" Jack flipped the switches for his shield generator and heard the whine as it kicked on. He armed guns at the same time. The defense and armament screens winked on.
■ ■ ■
Paul and Mike were heading down to the flight bay when the warning lights in the corridors flashed yellow and the alert horn sounded twice. The two pilots exchanged quick glances and broke into a hurried trot for the ready room. These men were pros at readying for launch, they had plenty of experience and were two of their country's best. In a time any Car
rier Captain would be proud of, Paul and Mike were suited up and heading for the door. Paul snatched up the helmet with the Desert Storm logo on it and Mike grabbed the one with the cartoon of the Mad Wolf.
The fighters were already loaded into the launch tubes. "Take that one," Paul pointed at the far tube.
"Right, Pappy!" Mike hefted his helmet under his arm like a football and sprinted off.
Paul reached out and grabbed a passing mechanic. "Ready that shuttle," he commanded, pointing at a small, ten man work craft. "Get it ready to launch and see if you can get some guns on it, we might need it for recovery."
"You got it, Commander!" He ran off in its general direction and grabbed another mechanic on the way.
Paul sprinted to his fighter and went up the ladder one handed, still holding his helmet. "So far you're still on hold, sir," his Chief informed him.
"That's Ok, Chief," said Paul, "I got a feeling..." He flipped on his comm unit ahead of schedule. "Tower?"
"Tower, go ahead."
"Find Lieutenant Commander Brighton and Lieutenant Carter. Advise them to prep, there's a shuttle being readied for emergency recovery." The tower acknowledged. He pulled on his gloves and began going through his pre-flight by memory while the Chief strapped him in. "Mike, you ready?"
"Ready, Pappy." Mike pulled the canopy lever and the perspex bubble began to drop, all his systems were on.
Paul glanced at the mechanic as he descended the ladder. "Thanks, Chief." He pulled the canopy lever.
"Good luck!" shouted the Chief as the canopy closed. Pappy waved.
"Tower, we're ready for launch."
"Right. Stand by, Leader Two."
■ ■ ■
Ahead, Jack could see the soft glow of Maria's engines on low power as she coasted closer to the field of debris. His scanner picked up intermittent sources of power, but the drifting debris kept interfering with the computer's ability to make an identification. Jack thought he could make out the silhouette of a sizable hull amidst the wreckage. "You get anything yet, Bird Two?"
Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) Page 33
