I stared at Chief Kana in surprise. I hadn’t known that he had been married, hadn’t known much of anything about his personal life. He said, “Sir, to answer the question you are about to ask, I was married twenty years ago, for a brief time. My wife lost her life at the battle of York.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I said nothing, couldn’t have said anything. I asked, “Senior Chief, where are you currently stationed?” She said, “Sir, I have just arrived at Lubya. I’m stationed on the battle cruiser Redoubtable, which has just come out of the yards.” I nodded, wanting to talk more, but I thought the chief, and the chief, might want a little privacy. I expressed my pleasure at meeting her, shook her hand and took my seat, moments before our shuttle launched.
It took over an hour to descend to New Novosibirsk. On the way down I talked to my wife, who assured me that she would be able to get some time off and meet me at the hotel.
I arrived ahead of her and rented a room for the night. She had been delayed for some unknown reason, but in fact, we were both extremely lucky to get time off, much less time off simultaneously.
She came into the room, almost running and leaped into my arms. She appeared to be happy to see me, although her exuberance almost broke my back. We spent the next couple of hours attempting to add to our joy.
Afterwards, we dressed and headed out for some supper. My pad beeped and I answered. It was the chief, inviting us to dinner. I was surprised, but after checking with my wife, I accepted. The chief, who knew things he was not supposed to know, told me a tale, which brought a big smile to my face.We were given brief directions and then the chief terminated the call. We had an hour, so we went shopping for clothes. Neither of us had much in the way of a wardrobe, and all of that belonged to Nastya. We shopped in an expensive store and with my wife’s gentle help, we picked out a nice civilian suit for me, the first I’d owned since graduation from high school.
In turn, Nastya picked out some clothes for her to wear, but really for me, if you catch my drift. We were neophytes at this game, but we didn’t lack for enthusiasm. We asked the shop to deliver them to our hotel, another expensive breakthrough for Mr. Tightwad.
For the first time in our marriage, we actually had two days together. We met the two chiefs at a very nice restaurant. I introduced Nastya to chief Cadiz, whose first name turned out to be Mona. She smiled at Nastya and they hugged emotionally. Mona said, “Congratulations on your betrothal sir. I hope that one day you and your husband will have the opportunity to spoil your children’s children.”
Nastya kissed Mona gently on both cheeks and then said, “Mona, you are the very first person to wish us this great good fortune. In turn, I will pray for you that you – that we all – survive the next few years.”
Women, what can I say? It was just a dinner, yet here they were, praying and talking about grandchildren. We hadn’t even sat down yet.
It turned out that the dinner we had been invited to was to be attended by quite a few other people. Elian and Carolyn showed up a few minutes later, looking like a couple trying not to look like a couple, while not really certain they were a couple. All together, we ended up with fourteen people. The chief liked to organize things, although it turned out that he had some assistance from Nastya, who turns out to have been less surprised than I first supposed. That said, she didn’t know everything.
It amused me that the chief and I were with marines, which organization rarely fraternized with lower, more sentient species.
The food was wonderfully expensive, and the evening memorable. All of us, save for Senior Chief Cadiz, had served in most or all of the missions against the bugs, so the evening was largely a celebration of life. I paid a little attention to the two chiefs, who seemed to be getting along quietly well. They participated in the general conversation, but spent a lot of time getting to know each other as well. Both seemed to like what they saw and heard. I was interested to see that the Chief was not actually a master in the area of social niceties where those niceties featured a female person. He was enjoying the evening greatly, but one got the impression that for this man, much depended on the outcome, and he was at least partially at sea.
At one point, Elian rose to his feet and announced a toast. Prior to my military service, I had never toasted, been toasted, or seen a toast, save for the odd piece of bread. I assume it was the same for Elian, who spent much of the previous two years in my company. Howsomever, he took to the tradition the same way he took to everything, with unswerving focus and a great deal of intelligence.
He raised his tea glass – we were in a Russian restaurant – and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, and Master Chief Kana, I wish to propose a toast!” Everyone cheered and then quieted down expectantly. Elian said, in a mushy deep baritone, “To the Fleet! May she recover her luster and lose her bluster! May she gain some teeth, and no longer be so long in the tooth! May her officers be true of heart, and her enlisted know their place!”
Loud booing greeted this particular portion of his toast, but he merely grinned and waited a second before continuing, “May her heart be stout, and her men be stiff!” Laughter broke out, interrupting his speech. He paused again, then continued, “May her ships be unsinkable, her guns shoot straight, and her ammunition never run out, unlike her enemies.”
To much applause and not a little cheering he sat down, receiving a demure kiss on the cheek from Carolyn. I assumed it was not the first that evening although I could have been wrong. It may have been that her hands and her hips – the ones that kept gently bumping into Elian were doing so unintentionally, although the statistical probability for that many accidents was particularly low.
Elian looked at me and grinned and blushed at the same time. I smiled back, and said, just loud enough for Nastya, Elian and Carolyn to hear, “May your grandchildren know our grandchildren.” Carolyn looked at me and asked, “Is it that obvious?” Nastya leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She said, “No, not unless you’re a woman, who can interpret for her man.” Carolyn’s eyes misted up and Nastya pulled out a delicate handkerchief from God knows where, and handed it to her. A hankie?
In a momentary lull, I stood and banged a fork on my glass, which seemed to be a tradition all by itself. Everyone quieted and I said, “I have the great pleasure to announce that as of this moment, ETech4 Carolyn Kwan is severely out of uniform.”
Carolyn looked up sharply and half stood. I waved her back to her seat and produced a small box which Chief Kana had slipped to me just moments earlier. I opened it and then asked Carolyn to stand. She stood, a little uncertainly. I leaned over and handed the box to Elian and asked, “Elian, will you do the honors?”
He pulled out a shiny piece of metal and smiled hugely. He stood up, positively beaming, and said, “ETech4 Kwan, according to this little bit of metal, you are now Warrant Officer Kwan. Unfortunately, I can’t pin these on you, as you’re in the wrong uniform. However, if you will follow that young man, standing behind your chair, he will lead you to a dressing room, where you will find your correct uniform.” The chief was highly organized.
Everyone cheered loudly except Carolyn, who looked embarrassed and proud and relieved. Relationships between officers were less likely to explode than those between officers and enlisted. Nastya stood and held out her hand. The two women walked away, following the young man who held a garment bag in his hands. I wondered if in the far distant past, women had been able to go off to the services alone.
Fifteen minutes later they reappeared, Carolyn was now dressed in a brand new uniform, which just happened to fit her perfectly. Upon their return, Elian pinned on her new Warrant Officer’s insignia, once again to applause.
After they sat down, Carolyn turned to me and asked, “How long have you known this?” I grinned and said, “We have all known this was going to happen. In fact, I assume that one day I’ll have to salute you.” She grinned and said, “I can live with that.” Nastya laughed delightedly.
Another chief st
ood and raised her glass. Aha, another toast. She said, “May Warrant Officer Kwan continue to have the good sense and sound judgment God gave enlisted men and women!” To good-natured cheering, and some jeering Carolyn stood and raised her own glass. She said, “May I be fortunate to have at my back good officers and enlisted men and women. If any of you know any who fit the bill, please let me know!” More cheering followed.
To my surprise, Senior Chief Cadiz stood and raised her glass. Silence descended and she said, quietly yet forcefully, “To the Fleet!” We all stood and shouted, “To the Fleet!”
Shortly after, we paid our exorbitant check and en masse transferred several blocks away to a convenient Fleet bar where we were welcomed with a shout as we entered. We appeared to be home.
A small musical group was playing a song as we crossed the dance floor. Nastya squeezed my hand – she had hardly let go of it the entire night – and put her lips next to my ear, “Will you dance with me, my love?” I gulped, not having danced since I was thirteen, but nodded my head. In a twinkling, Nastya came into my arms, immediately transforming my attitude concerning this particular activity.
We moved slowly around the floor, sort of dancing. She seemed capable of following, no matter how ineptly I led. I could feel her body pressing against me, and, well, my body eagerly pressing right back. Before the dance finished, I wanted to adjourn to our hotel. She sensed this, somehow, and whispered, “My lovely husband, I would like to stay here with our friends for a little while longer. We have all our lives for the sort of dancing you seem to be thinking about.”
I stopped and looked at her in a little surprise. She giggled and pressed her lips to my ear once again, “My innocent young husband, do you not think I can tell when you want to make love to your wife?” I blushed, suddenly realizing what she was saying. I gulped and tried not to look down. She giggled again and said, “Let’s go sit down before one of us explodes.” Complete idiot.
The evening progressed, becoming louder and in some cases, inebriated. I was interested to see that neither Elian nor Carolyn drank very much. They were obviously a couple, but they were also obviously not sure how to behave with each other. I smiled at Elian and said, “Payback, my brother, payback.” Carolyn looked puzzled and Nastya leaned over to say, “What my charming husband means, Carolyn, is that Elian’s career as a bachelor seems to be coming to an end, and you are the reason.” Carolyn asked, blushing and smiling at the same time, “Do you think so?” Nastya kissed her on the cheek and said, “Yes, I very definitely think so.”
About an hour later, Nastya kissed me on the cheek and said, “Robert Padilla, take your wife home to bed.” I stood, perhaps a little quicker than usual and turned to leave. There was a roar of approval and I suddenly realized that everyone knew we had just married, and where we were going. I grinned and acknowledged their cheers, but I didn’t stop.
We arose at noon and had breakfast in bed, just a little later – six hours - than was usual for us. At Nastya’s suggestion, I put on my new suit. It felt strange to be wearing something not a uniform. Nastya came out of the bathroom wearing a long and shapely dress and I almost fell over. She was most assuredly not a stick. She said, “Honey, would you like to meet Carolyn and Elian later and go shopping?”
I nodded my head, not taking my eyes off that dress. Nastya blushed and asked, “Robert, haven’t you ever seen a woman in a dress before?” It was my turn to blush and I said, “I have seen any number of women in dresses, but never, so, um, eloquently as the woman standing in front of me. Nastya, you are incredibly beautiful!” It was Nastya’s turn to blush. She said, “I’m no such thing. But I have to admit, this is a nice dress isn’t it?”
She looked critically at herself in a full-length mirror, then turned to me and asked, “Robert, do you think your family will approve of me?” I stared at her in surprise, which surprise exploded into shock, realizing in that moment that I had not actually thought about the fact that I hadn’t told my family of my marriage. As soon as I realized this, I wondered how on earth I could have neglected such an important responsibility. Nastya looked at me intently, seeming to read my mind.
Finally, she said, “Robert, you should be ashamed! How could you have neglected to tell your family?” I suddenly realized just where this conversation could end up, and I held up my hand in supplication, “Nastya, my love, it is not you. Please believe me. I have lived for the last five years cut off from my family, and our marriage, as you no doubt remember, came upon us so suddenly. Right upon the heels of our marriage was the mission, and now, finally, I am, well, returning to life. I will immediately send my family a message. And to you, I promise that if they will consent to allow me in their home, I will introduce to them my love, my savior, my wife, my Nastya. If not, I shall not step foot in their home.”
It was just enough over-the-top sincerity to prevent what most assuredly would have been our first problem, our first fight. Worse, it would have been my first sin against her. I sat down and looked at my feet, feeling as if I were not worth the powder to blow me up.
Nastya came up to me and knelt at my feet. She took my face in her two hands and lightly kissed me. She said, “Robert, my dearest husband, I am not hurt. I understand what you have been attempting to accomplish, the pressure you have been under. I tell you this: I admire you greatly. You are a good man. I do not believe you have it in you to even attempt to hurt another person you care about. I love you, and finally, I love learning to make love with you. I think that if I had married an experienced man, I would not have enjoyed it nearly as much, the love making.”
She giggled and said, “I do not say that I would not enjoy being with an experienced man, you understand.” This made me laugh, which is precisely what she was striving for. She rose to her feet, looking incredibly graceful, and looked down. I rose and said, “Anastasia, if ever I hurt you, I pray that you will love me enough to tell me, rather than merely turn your very large and well armed family on me.” She giggled and said, “No promises.”
We made our date with Elian and Carolyn, both of whom were in civvies. I looked at Carolyn, realizing that some communication had been passing to and fro, and not with or between Elian and I. I had just returned from a mission which I led and which contained hundreds of men and women, yet I was now out of the communication loop in a group of four.
We walked around an outdoor shopping area, looking at clothing, jewelry, art work, kitchen ware and other oddments whose use or value I frequently had not a clue. After an hour of browsing without making any purchases, we sat down at an outdoor cafe and drank some extremely expensive coffee. When I ventured to complain, Nastya shot me down. With a grin she asked me, “Robert dear, it appears to me that you have lived a very protected life. Do you know where the beans that made this ‘expensive’ coffee were grown? No, you do not, my dear husband. They were grown on another world, picked by hand and shipped to Lubya, where more hands roasted them, ground them and brought out the lovely cups we are holding in our hands right this minute. The cups were made on yet another planet, also shipped to Lubya. We live on a new planet, and we do not export very much, so imported goods are very expensive for us.” I looked thoughtful and asked, “What does Lubya export?”
She grinned and gently nudged my pad a little closer to my hand. I grinned in return and made an inquiry. It took a few moments to extract the data, during which moments my companions looked expectantly at me. I looked intently at my pad and said, “Aha! Lubya has vast mineral wealth! It exports gold bullion, um, platinum, molybdenum, boron, and numerous other minerals.”
Nastya asked, quite innocently, “And, my lovely husband, where does Lubya export these minerals to?” I looked at her with a touch of bewilderment. I grew up working on shuttles and small commercial space vehicles. My family paid no attention to anything save the continuation of its existence just on the edge of the brink of bankruptcy. I went from working on spacecraft directly into the Fleet, and hadn’t looked back since then. To say that
Nastya’s questions surprised me was an understatement.
I looked at Nastya and said with a grin, “My love, you have married an idiot!” Carolyn and Nastya giggled and Elian leaned back with a complacent grin. I asked, “Is there by any chance a purpose to these questions?” Nastya and Carolyn looked smugly at each other and then Nastya asked, “Robert, how long do you expect to live? I mean, what is your expected life span?” I said, “Um, maybe one hundred years or so, maybe more.” She nodded her head and said, “And how old will you be when you leave the Fleet, assuming you survive the bugs and whatever chased them?” I looked thoughtful, and said, “I expect what you may be getting at is, ‘what will I do with my life after I leave the Fleet?’ and if that is what you actually are getting at, I have no idea. None at all.” After a short pause, I added, “Zero cubed.”
Nastya said, now serious, “Robert, dearest, we must begin now to think about what we will do with all those years after we leave the fleet. I do not want to retire to a tiny apartment in a bad part of town, with little or no money for the important things in life, which I tell you right now, are our children and their children. We must prepare for them a future, a good future, a better one than the one we inherited. Is that not so?”
Hawk Seven (Flight of the Hawk) Page 49
