by Jay Toney
"No, you use to use your hands or slurp the food up from your plate."
"Really? I don't remember. It seems strange that I would do a thing like that."
"It was strange, but always entertaining. It was a challenge to try to get you to use a fork. The only one who could was Tanya. You would do anything for her."
"I miss her, the star lady said I would be with her again, and it would seem like no time had passed between us."
"She didn't say when that would be, did she?"
"No, but it won't be until my soul matures and is ready."
"I hope you will be with us for a very long time. We all missed you."
"I know, the star lady fixed my link. I can feel all of you, including Jewel."
"I'm not sure it works both ways."
"Have you tried?"
"I thought it was passive, I never had to try feeling anyone of you. It just came naturally."
"Let me help you." She kissed me, putting her love and compassion into the kiss. Not only did I experience the pleasure from the kiss, I felt her pleasure too. The love we use to share was back. I didn't realize how much I missed it until just now. Looking between Amber and Jewel, I could tell they experienced it also.
"Our love for each other is what the star lady wants. She is love, and more. She cured you, for me, just because I love you. She asked, but I didn't want anything for myself. You all should pray to her and thank her. She will hear you."
"We will all say a special prayer to her tonight."
"Why didn't she appear to us, when she visited us the last time?"
"I don't know, you can ask her when you pray. Maybe she will answer."
We left the restaurant, I made sure I left a good tip before leaving. The four of us looked at the sites, and curios before returning to the ship.
09:00 came early. I was up late with my wives last night. Natty went to the bridge where she could keep track of us with the tactical display and listen to our communications. Mike, Doc, and Red were waiting in the starboard hanger bay. So far we sold 25 pallets of silver freeing up more space, and adding over 112,000,000 credits to our treasury. The credit chips were to numerous to store in the pursers office. Now they were stored in a small storage room down the hall. Only the ships officers had access to the new storage room.
20 Vorg pilots met us here, ready to fly. Six would wait, while the rest of us put the Vipers through several maneuvers, testing them in space and atmosphere.
"We are your new pilots," one of the pilots said. "I hope you have space for us, if not we won't mind sleeping in the hangar."
I thought the pilots Evan sent to me would be here temporarily. When he told me he had pilots, but few ships. I offered to join forces with my ships needing pilots. He didn't do anything halfway, he sent me 20 experienced fighter pilots. They were part of my crew now, and I was responsible for taking care of them.
"Mike, we are going to need 10 more cabins."
"We have some space now. It will eat away a little bit of storage space that we don't need. I foresaw a future need of expanding when I built this ship, so I used modular units that are easy to get. They are modules commonly used in luxury liners, or cruise ships. I should be able to get them and have them installed in the next few days. The plumbing, electrical, and comm lines are already in place waiting for the new modules."
"Thanks Mike, I don't want them sleeping on the hangar floor, even if they are willing to."
We boarded the deadly little fighters and powered them up for the first time in many years. We lined up single file at the ready line. I was first to take off. Mike told me to take it easy, with the flight control computers needing to recalibrate. I took off at full throttle. The controls were wobbly, giving me a wild ride, bucking and fighting my attempts to correct the flight. After what seemed like an eternity, fighting the controls, the ship stabilized.
I heard Mike and the other pilots laughing, in my helmet. "I told you to take it easy. We formed up in pairs and took the ships through a series of maneuvers, testing the responsiveness of the controls. They flew just like I remembered. Next we practiced firing the guns at the targets that were towed out earlier. The Vipers were performing like I knew they would.
Jewel and Amber formed up on my wings, knowing what was to come. Mike, Doc, and Red followed our example. The Vorg pilots joined our formation, in pairs.
"Power dive, or controlled decent?" Doc chuckled. He knew what I was going to do.
"Doc, a little of both. Lets have some fun."
I dove towards the surface, accelerating towards the ground. Plasma glowed, then flames covered my fighters canopy, blocking my view. The ships left fiery contrails as we dove towards the surface. The flames cleared, revealing magenta and yellow patterns burned into the skin of my ship. I started rolling the ship, spiraling towards the surface. I spotted a canyon on the way down. I locked the computer on the canyon, and it started gathering data, creating a map.
The map was projected to me, on my helmets visor. I made small adjustments aiming my fighter towards the canyon. Our ships disappeared below the surface, before we finally pulled out of the dive. Our sonic booms echoed in the canyon, bouncing off of its walls. No one followed the three of us into the canyon. The three of us formed into a single file, inside of the narrow canyon. We turned, rolling and banking in the narrow confines, flying the length of the canyon. We pulled out at the canyons end, revealing that we were still alive.
Jewel, Amber, and I showed the Vorg pilots what crazy was really like. Doc, Mike and Red laughed. They flew with me in the past and knew just how far I would push the Vipers towards their limits. The Vorg pilots were good, they managed to stay with Doc, but they weren't crazy enough to follow me. I gained their respect, and was sure they would be bragging to their friends about my crazy antics. It was a fun and uneventful flight. I led our new squadron back to the Persephone.
Once on board, Mike started making arrangements for the new cabins. His crew started clearing the space in preparation for them. I showed the Vorg pilots what their new cabins would be like, with bunks for two, a shower, ample seating, a monitor, and full comp service. They were extremely happy with the arrangements, It was a luxury they never had. I led them to the galley, telling them we only served prime grade meals. Next I showed them the recreation center, and the holosimulators. Finally I told them about Sally's girls. Even though they were mine, and Jewel was in charge of managing them, I still referred to them as Sally's.
After our tour I gave them 300 credits each as a sign on bonus. I explained their payment as warrant officers, and urged them to open an account on comp as soon as they could. I put them up in a hotel, so Mike could work on their cabins, without interference. I urged them to visit the Lucy, telling them that the Lucy provided first rate entertainment. The girls there were always friendly, and the liqueur was guaranteed to not be watered down.
Lizard Hunt
We departed the Boralis space station, ready as we could make ourselves for the up coming battle. Our fuel tanks were full, as well as the ammo packs for our guns. The Viper's guns were reloaded with a mix of amour piercing and high explosive rounds.
"Natty, set course for the Tau System."
"Aye, aye Cappy."
The Lizards were being held there by what was left of the Vorg fleet. There ammunition was low, and they couldn't hold them off much longer. Evan joined our fleet's formation. Time was critical if we were to be able to stop the Lizards. We were cruising at the Lucy's maximum speed. The ship originally being a freighter, didn't have very powerful engines. When we reached our jump point, we made a simultaneous jump to hyperspace.
Our new crewmen, were a rowdy bunch. When they were off duty, they
were either in the company of one of Sally's girls, or in the recreation center drinking copious amounts of beer and singing battle songs. We were going to get along great. Shar'tu had the watch now, and the girls and I joined the Vorg in their festivities. They had a saying, "Live life to the fullest each and every day, tomorrow may be to late."
The Vorg pilots accepted us as one of their own. They flew with Amber, Jewel, and I. They knew we were elite pilots. They hadn't flown with Natty, but they heard from Red about her heroics. Red was well known amongst the Vorg and had a reputation for never lying. If he told them a story, no matter how crazy it sounded, it was true. We sang battle hymns and drank well into the night, before retiring to our quarters.
It seemed like I had just closed my eyes, when a loud wailing alarm demanded our attention. Natty silenced the alarm while Amber and Jewel pulled me out of bed. There was no time for a shower or coffee. We dressed, strapped on our blasters, and raced to the bridge assuming our stations. Shar'tu and the rest of our second watch joined us.
We came out of hyperspace on course. In front of us, we could see the Vorg in a standoff with the lizards.
"Jewel, sound battle stations."
"Jane, get our shields up."
Reds image came on our viewscreen. "Nathaniel, do you have a plan for this fight?"
"Just one. Kick some lizard tail, and make sure it hurts. We don't want them bothering us again."
"Natty, move us closer to the Vorg fleet."
"Aye, aye Cappy."
"Persephone, start calculating missile trajectories."
"Calculating."
"Natty, lets let them know we are here. Fire missiles one and two."
The missiles launched, streaking across the distance between our ships. There was no answering ECM. The missiles locked onto one of their smaller craft, their equivalent of a destroyer, or frigate. The missiles struck their target unchallenged. Their armor was stronger, than ours. The detonations we not as serious as they would have been on our ships. Still, they caused serious damage breaching the hull astern, and amidships.
The missiles got their attention. The commander came on our screen. His color was a mix of tan and green, with patches of maroon. He looked menacing in his gold colored ring mail, and daggers. Persephone was able to translate his angry hissing now.
"Ape man, finally you face me. I come dressed for dinner and will enjoy sucking the marrow from your bones while you wither beneath me."
"Lizard know this, I rather enjoy the taste of lizard meat. I just dined on one of your cousins the other evening. He, or she, was tasty."
"So, the ape man can hear and speak now." He laughed, at least I thought it was laughter. I had to cover my ears, when he screeched. "Let the hunt begin. I will feast on you tonight."
The screen went blank. "Everyone, I think we have their attention now."
Most of their fire was diverted from the Vorg fleet, and directed at us. Natty, flew the ship, as if it was a Marauder, avoiding most of their fire. She fired two more missiles at the damaged ship. We were rewarded with a huge explosion. The missiles damaged the ships reactor. It went super critical turning to nuclear fission, destroying the ship.
"Evan came on our view screen. "That is the first ship I know of that has been destroyed. We have been able to damage them, but never destroy them."
"Let hope its not the last."
"Natty, I'm going to need you with me, flying your Marauder."
"I'm not sure I can."
"What do you mean?"
"My sister use to help me fly. She's gone now. I don't have a neurolink any longer, so I can't talk to Persephone either."
"You don't need them. I don't think you ever did. Your sister saw how independent you were becoming, and was very proud of you, even jealous of you. Let me show you something." I pulled up the image of Natty's Marauder, on our viewscreen, and focused in on Astrea's portrait.
"Who is that?"
"It's the star lady."
"Her portrait is only on your Marauder. Even she believes in you. This is her way of showing you."
"But I don't know how to fly any longer."
"You were just flying the Persephone as if she was a Marauder. You don't need a computer to help you fly. Just believe in yourself and use the Marauder as an extension of your body. Act on instinct. We all believe in you."
Shar'tu and the other Iniguar took over our positions, all of us but Jane left the bridge, heading to our Marauders. The Vipers were already launching. We would be right behind them. I skipped the preflight, it was becoming a bad habit of mine, and boarded the ship. I powered her up and taxied to the launch tube.
"Jewel, your with me. Amber and Natty you're together, so are Doc and Mike."
We took off. I set my course for the command ship. I could see the Lucy lining up for a strafing run, firing all of her cannon at the ship. The Alien flag ship was in a class of its own. It was easily twice the size as our battle ships, and much faster. Its armor was much stronger than ours, and their shields made most energy weapons useless. Reds main guns, seemed to be an exception. They were huge, and would tear through most shields causing serious damage or destroying the ships. His guns went through the Lizard's shields. Instead of burning through the hull, they heated the hull, making patches of it glow white hot. I could almost smell the lizard meat cooking.
Our mission was to destroy the enemy's guns, and cause as much damage as we could. We were loaded with a mix of missiles and bombs. Our only cannon was the internal cannon, and our particle beam cannons. We would be flying beneath the ships shields, so they might do us some good.
I targeted the first gun turret and fired two missiles. The explosion didn't blow the turret off the deck like I had hoped, but it did destroy it. That was one less gun to fight us with. Jewel fired at two different turrets, each scoring hits, disabling the weapons. Our marauders and vipers were stinging the ship like a swarm of angry wasps. We didn't have the firepower to kill the ship, but we sure could hurt it.
I could here the cheering from the Vorg fleet as we attacked. The Reptilian commander had another message for us.
"Ape man, you sting like nasty bugs. We will take delight in eating such a worthy prey."
"Lizard, I smell your meat cooking. I am getting hungry and will feast on your tails tonight."
"Nathaniel, do you have to keep making them angry? They are ignoring the Vorg fleet, concentrating on us now."
Reds ship fired its main guns again, then fired a full salvo of missiles. The Persephone accelerated towards the massive ship. It fired a full salvo of missiles, then strafed the hull with her PDC. Our Vipers, and Marauders kept on stinging away. Our attack caused a shift in battle. It was no longer a stalemate. We were winning. The rest of the Vorg fleet were energized with new hope. They started attacking the smaller ships, while we concentrated on the flag ship.
"Enough ape man, you are not worthy of our effort."
"I will not go hungry tonight. Red fire on their engines, they cannot be allowed to escape and attack again. We either need to kill them, or make sure they will never come back."
The Persephone and the Vengeance each fired a full salvo of missiles at the fleeing ship. After several explosions from our missiles, most of their drives were crippled or destroyed. The Lucy made another strafing run. Its bullets, pierced the weakened hull in several places.
The smaller ships, I thought of as being a mix of gunboats, destroyers, and frigates, surrounded the Flag ship to form a defensive screen. We were forced to turn our attention away form the flag ship, to these ships. Reds main guns fired on one of the smaller ships, it wasn't destroyed, but it was left lifeless from the heat of his w
eapons.
Both ships fired missiles at the enemy ships. This time we were treated to explosions that destroyed the ships. Our vipers and marauders continued swarming around the flag ship. Most of its weapons were rendered useless, from our relentless attack.
The flagship began to glow getting brighter and brighter. In a flash is disappeared into hyperspace. It was impossible to jump this close to source of gravity, or so I thought. We were within the orbits of the suns inner planets, it shouldn't have been possible.
Jewel and I were out of ammunition. We turned towards the Persephone to refuel and reload, while the other ships cleaned up the lizard fleet. As soon as we could get reloaded, we would rejoin the attack. One of the Lizard ships concentrated its fire on us. My ship was hit by multiple gunfire.
Their weapons were stronger than ours. My ship should have been vaporized, but wasn't. Instead, my pitch controls were out, my throttles were unresponsive, my landing gear wouldn't lower, and several warning lights were flashing for my attention. I tried resetting what circuits I could, but most of them were a charred smoking mess.
"Jewel, land ahead of me and get clear. I'm going to have an ugly landing." I fought with the yawl and roll controls. They weren't very responsive, without my pitch controls, lining up on the landing bay was nearly impossible.
"Cappy, cut off your engines, I've got you."
Natty lowered her landing gear, easing her way over my ship. I flipped the fuel cut off switches, shutting down my engines. Her landing gear latched onto my shuttle with magnetic clamps. She used her ship to guide us together over the runway. Our ships touched down with a jolt, and I was thrown forward when she fired her reverse thrusters. Everything went black.
I woke up, staring at Doc. My head ached and I felt dizzy.
"When are you going to learn to wear a helmet?"
"I wore a helmet when we were flying the Vipers. I don't need one with Marauders. I forgot to lock the inertial harness. If it was locked I wouldn't have hit my head."
I was sure I was going to get a lecture after saying that. Instead Doc said, "You are getting to be a regular in sickbay. This is twice that you have been in here for not wearing a helmet. You have a thick skull, but not so thick that you can't crack it. The next time you don't wear a helmet and get hurt, you will become a permanent guest."
