by Rob Buckman
“At ease, Petty Officer, anyone up yet?”
“No, Skipper, everyone is still sleeping, including me, I think.” He said, getting a little red around the ears.
“Don’t worry about it, we aren’t in a combat zone.”
“No, sir, but no excuse. Shall I inform the XO you are back?”
“No, I’ll surprise him at breakfast.”
“Aye-aye, sir.” Mike saluted the flag, and returned Ridgeway’s second salute and walked aboard.
The ship had a quite, friendly feeling, with just the chirps, pings and small sound any ship makes when operational. He didn’t meet anyone on the way to his cabin, not that he expected to, other than the cooks and the duty watch everyone was still asleep at this hour, even Jenks. He undated his log until 06:00, then walked down to the Wardroom, arriving before anyone else. The mess steward heard him come in and stuck his head in through the service hatch to see who it was.
“Oh, good morning, Skipper, good to have you back, breakfast?”
“Yes, please, coffee first.”
“Aye, sir, coffee coming right up.” By the time someone else came in, Janice, he was elbow deep into scrambled eggs, bacon, and a mountain of fried potatoes. Janice sat down, looking at him grumpily.
“Morning, Skipper.”
“Morning Janice, how come you are looking so glum this morning?”
“Late watch, and how can you eat all that this early in the morning?” She shuddered.
“Because I’m a growing lad, and need the nourishment.”
“God! If I eat that much in the morning I’d look like a blimp!”
“Umm, sound like I should take a look at the exercise program on this ship, to many fat butts around here.”
“I do not have a fat butt!” She exclaimed, looking around the edge of the table and down at her hips. “Do I?” Mike looked around, pursing his lips a moment.
“Umm not so you’d notice.”
“What? You mean I do?”
“No, just kidding, you look great.”
“Coffee.” She mumbled, as the steward stuck his head in again.
“Aye, Ma’am, coffee and skimmed milk.”
“Skimmed my foot, reconstituted powdered milk you mean, you bloody barbarian!” She snorted. Gradually the rest of the officers came in and after the usual good morning, and ordering breakfasts, the conversation settled down to talking about the shore leave.
“I want you to pass this on to all your respective divisions, but here’s the scoop on shore leave.” That brightened the mood around the table considerably.
“Don’t take any money with you, you won’t need it; there are a few bars and taverns scattered around the port, but you just order what you want, but watch out for the local beer, it's strong.”
“Great, I’ve wanted to taste some real beer for ages.”
“The same goes for food, find a restaurant and just order, most of it is family style, or buffet, people like to cook and have people come in to eat.”
“Anything we should stay away from, Skipper?” Gable asked.
“No, not really, but watch the horseradish, it’ll take paint of the bulkhead.”
“And the local female population?” Adam piped in.
“That’s what you will need to clue your people on. Here, the females will tell you if they are interested in something more than just companionship, the same goes for the males.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Skipper.” Janice sounded sarcastic.
“Hold on Jan, it's more a question of courtesy, not hormones.”
“Oh?”
“Genetic diversity.”
“It might just so happen that a particular female has a license to have another child, and she might be looking around for someone beside her husband.”
“Oh my!” Janice blushed slightly.
“When any human ship comes into port they get the same message, and it's a way to increase the genetic diversity of the population.”
“Um, is there any, um, difficulty with, how shall I put this.” Adam said, looking round at Janice.
“Finding a willing bed partner, you mean, Adam?”
“Yes, sir.”
“None in the least, sex is viewed differently here, but beware, they do not tolerate rape, in any form, if the lady says no, she means no.”
“I take it the consequences are rough.”
“How about the father, husband, boy friend or girl in question challenging you to a duel to the death with swords or pistols?”
“That’s about as rough as it gets, Skipper.” Pete sat back in surprise.
“There is no recourse to any higher authority, either, you do the crime, you pay the price,” he looked around the table, “so, with that in mind, have fun and enjoy what Avalon has to offer, the ship will pick any expenses you incur.”
“How long, Skipper?”
“Open ended at the moment, but at least three days, after that everyone is on a 24 hour call back.”
“Aye-aye, sir.”
“Pete, I hope you have the list of fresh supplies we need.”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“Good, let me have it, and I’ll drop it off at the Port Captain’s office on my way out, he’ll arrange for delivery of the supplies.”
“I hope you put fresh milk at the top of that list, Number One?” Janice muttered, giving the steward an evil look.
“It is.” Pete chuckled.
“Did everyone get the message about the lizards, Number One?”
“Yes, Skipper they did. Had a few come aboard and ran around for a while, poking their tiny little noses into everything.” Mike just smiled.
“Yes, they would.”
“Are they harmful, Skipper?” Janice asked.
“Their bite is lethal, and can kill you in about three seconds flat,” he negated to tell them the rest. They were off worlders and didn’t need to know, “but they only use it in self defense.” Everyone looks around uneasily to see if any were running around the Wardroom. There was, somehow Mike’s friend had stowed away on the Land Rover and hitched a ride to the ship.
“Don’t worry, they are very tame and very friendly.”
“Right, just lethal, is all.”
“You can pick them up, hold them, play with them and do just about anything you want, and they have a passion for sugar or honey, it’s like catnip, drives them nuts.” He laughed. He wet his finger and dipped it in the sugar bowl, then held it out to his friend.
His little friend immediately scampered down his arm and quickly licked up the sugar before retreating to Mike’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about them biting you, they won’t. It’s more a means of self defense against a few of the indigenous birds and animals that like to try and eat them.”
After breakfast, the crew turned out for the shore leave inspection parade. Mike left this in the capable hands of his XO and Conner Blake, who he knew would read them the riot act first, then wish them all a great shore leave before dismissing them. If he thought he was going to have a restful time here, Mike was mistaken. No sooner was breakfast over when the first group of visitors arrived. These were the design teams from the Avalon shipyards, and immediately wanted to look around the ship, and assigned a Marine to accompany them. Mike gave the group leader a copy of the new ship's specification and drawing he’d been working on in his spare time, enlarging on the existing specifications. If Gravatronics was correct, Avalon could in fact build him the mini Battleship he’d envisioned. Once they departed, the next one to arrive was Admiral Cunningham. As he was in civilian dress, hereby avoiding the usual ceremony of being piped aboard. Not that anyone could tell he was an Admiral with the shirt he was wearing. Blinding would just cover the description.
“Oh my lord. Where are my sunglasses!” Mike laughed as he shook hands.
“Glad to see you again, Mike, it's been a long time.”
“Yes, sir, good to see you as well.” The Admiral sat down and accepted a mug of coffee, then got down to bus
iness.
“Tell me about this ship of yours, as I’m not sure if Gordon was pulling my legs about it or not.” He chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ship quite like this before.”
“No, he was telling the truth, sir, she looks like a Corvette, but has the fighting capacity of a light Cruiser.”
“Good God! That is an improvement.”
“Those are my sentiments, and with a few additional modifications, such as the coating and ‘smoke screen’ she’s one tough little ship.”
“Smoke screen? Haven’t heard about that yet.” Mike told him about it in brief, and he saw the Admiral nod, seeing the implications immediately.
“I’m sure our people can come up with a few little extras like that themselves, once I get them thinking, and I’ll make sure they incorporate them in the design and construction.”
“So, how soon can you start building, sir?”
“I’d say within a month, it’s just a question of getting the solar furnace up to speed and gathering the raw material to feed it.”
“Can it handle the increase?”
“Don’t see why not, at best we only use about a quarter of its capabilities for our ship building program, even with the demand to build more Free Trader ships.”
“Good, that will make a few people back home happy.”
“And a few unhappy Free Traders when we tell them their ships will be delayed.”
“I take it you have considered the security angle?”
“Did you teach your Grandfather
don't to suck eggs, Mike?” He laughed.
“Sorry, sir, force of habit, and I wouldn’t dare.” Mike felt his ears get red.
“No need, son, I’d have said it myself in your shoes, and to answer your question, yes, I have, deeply, and taken precautions.”
“The Sirriens are going to get wind of this not matter what we do, I just hope they don’t stage a raid or something.” Mike scratched the back of his neck, looking pensive.
“As of now, I’ve doubled the number of ships on patrol at all the warp points and put the ground based and satellite defense system on active alert. The first unidentified ship or scout probe that finds its way through the Rift, and pokes its nose through our rabbit holes is going to get it shut off, and I’ll ask who the hell he is later.”
“It sounds as if the President and the Government is taking this seriously.”
“Mike, I know the King, and His Majesties Government don’t want to admit it, but we are at war, it's just that the shooting and the dying haven’t started yet, but it will.”
“Yes, that's the conclusion I came to after seeing the inside of a Sirrien Star base.”
“The Sirriens have been itching for a fight for a long time, so don’t think we are unprepared here, unlike Earth.” The Admiral winked and stood up. They shook hands again and he left. After the Admiral departed, Ensign Cooper knocked and entered.
“Officer of the watch ordered me to bring you these, sir.” She said, coming to attention and saluting, her eyes fixed on the lizard looking over Mike shoulder. His friend perked up the moment she entered, raising his crest in greeting. A restraining finger stopped him from scampering across his desk to introduce himself.
“At ease, Cooper, and don’t be so formal in the future, relax.” He smiled.
“Yes, sir.”
“How are you getting on?”
“Running my butt off, sir.”
“Good, keeps you fit.” He chuckled.
“It’s a lot different than I expected, Captain.”
“Oh, in what way?”
“Um, much more informal than I was lead to believe at the Academy.”
“Oh that, yes, they do pour it on, but as I told you when you arrived, in a small ship like this, some of the usual pomp and ceremony goes by the board.”
“So I’m learning, sir.”
“Oh?”
“Your last assignment, sir.”
“Oh that, yes, that was a little outside normal Naval routine.”
“I have the feeling that this ship is outside the normal routine, sir.” She smiled.
“Yes, but it’s not every day that we run around the galaxy on secret missions.”
“Or penetrate heavily defended star bases and destroy it, sir?”
“You heard about that, huh.” Mike pulled his earlobe for a moment.
“Yes, sir, I’ve been talking to some of the crew.” She smiled.
“Carry on, Ensign, glad you are settling in, and not too disappointed with your posting.”
“No, sir, thank you.” She saluted and left, looking more cheerful. Mike began opening the stack of mail she’d delivered, finding invitation after invitation.
If the President said he’d keep it down to the minimum, he’d hate to see what it would be like if he didn’t. In the end, he wrote a note back to the President and asked if he could arrange one party for all, and include his crew. The leader of the design teams came back then, looking pleased, and he and Mike spent an hour talking over possible modification, and the prospects of getting construction under way.
“That’s all ready in the works, Captain, and the words gone out that we need people to help, so far the response has been great.”
“Glad to hear it, I’d like to get those ships built, and delivered as soon as possible.”
“Things looking that bad at the other end?”
“Worse, if the Sirriens decide to attack now, Earth and the colonies are in big trouble.”
“We’ve had a few run-ins with the Sirriens here, mostly at the Rift warp points.”
“Any idea what they are up to?”
“Seems like they want to establish control over every colony they can by putting a choke hold on all warp points, is my guess. So far we’ve managed to chase them back to the other side every time they poke their nose in, and made it clear we wouldn’t stand for any interference of our shipping.”
“That doesn’t sound good, that means they will be waiting for us when we go through.”
“You didn’t encounter any on your way in?”
“No, we came in by way of the Excelsior warp point, and there wasn’t anyone else there.”
“That one is a little outside the normal trade route.”
“That’s what they are after, I think, stopping the flow of trade between Avalon the colonies and Earth, but even one of their heavy Cruisers hate tangling with a Free Trader.” He chuckled.
“Could be, but I’m surprised they dared attack any of our Free Trader ships at all. They’d paid the price the last time, and lost a Heavy Cruiser in the bargain. We had the Trader ship repair and on its way again before he were half way back to the Star base.”
“That should make them think twice.”
“You’ve got that right, we upgraded their weapon and targeting system recently, and they now pack a real punch.”
“Good, that should keep the Sirriens in check for a while.”
After the engineer left, Mike got back to his paperwork, looking mournfully at the amount of message pads in his ‘IN’ basket. That occupied him for three hours, then he took a break and headed ashore for a meal. It was pleasant to walk through the yards, waving and calling out to people. He found a restaurant that specialized in West Indian and Caribbean food, and stopped in, ordering the curried chicken. While he ate, a few people that recognized him stopped by and said ‘Hello’, and by the time he departed, he’d had more than a few glasses of wine. The balmy night air felt good, and he slowly strolled back to the ship, taking his time. It was a relaxing interlude before getting back to the rush, and the constant stream of question that any Captain has to handle.
“Hello, sailor, looking for a date?” The old, soft, sensual greeting floated out of the shadows of the park he was walking beside.
“What?...” He asked, as a tall, slim figure of a woman glided towards him out of the shadows.
”I was wondering if you were lonely and looking for company.” She almost wh
ispered, looking around at the empty street. Her hips swayed back and forth in slow motion to the music drifting across the park from a nearby café.
Mike stopped, smiling slightly. She looked and acted like a hooker, but that was impossible. There weren’t any on Avalon. She was just close enough, even standing in the shadows that he could see she wore heavy makeup, and her thin dress barely came to mid thigh. Entering the park he walked slowly towards her, seeing her back slowly towards some dense bushes. It was her perfume that gave her away, as Mike had three long years to remember. More than one morning he’d woke up with it on his pillow at the Academy. He walked into the circle of her waiting arms, feeling them close around him in a loving embrace, lips finding lips in the darkness. His finger felt for and found the thin shoulder straps of her dress and slowly inched them off. A moment later, her dress fell to the ground with a soft sigh to nestle around her feet like fallen leaves. He pulled back a moment and looked down, seeing her almost naked except for a pair of tiny white lace panties. She sighed deep in her throat and his hands ran down her body, pushing her small breast out for him to caress the nipples. These were hard, begging to be kissed, and he did. Gently sucking them into his mouth, one at the time and swirling his tongue around them. She groaned, thrusting herself against him. His hands carried on down her body, over her flat tummy, feeling her suck it in as he reached her mound. One hand slid down inside as the other gripped her bottom as she began rotating her hips. His hand encountered smooth skin, her sex warm and alive under his caressing fingers.
