by J Palliser
"Sounds good." Steve replied as they came inside.
"Delaara, this is Steve's wife Cindy. Cindy, this is my wife, Delaara", Jacen introduced them. Cindy and Delaara got along like old friends who had known each other all their lives, and Jacen sat catching up with Stephen while drinking some good German beer.
"Wow, man. If your wife hadn't confirmed it, I wouldn't have believed it," he laughed and shook his head. "Trust me, man. I lived it, and I can hardly believe it," Jacen replied, laughing at the whole situation. "Then I look at Delaara, and I have to believe. Because she's as real as they get, man. I look back now and wonder how the hell I could have been with Beth back in the day, or any of the others."
"She's your Cindy," said Stephen. Jacen clinked bottles at that. "Yes, yes she is. I now know how you felt when you met her. Delaara and I are soulmates, and I'm proud to say it." The old friends grinned and drank while their wives talked.
Cindy said "That must have been horrible, being marooned like that." "Not really. After he shot me down and saved my life, Jacen earned my heart and undying love." Delaara smiled and Cindy knew she loved him with all her heart.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Delaara, but you're nothing like anything I've ever heard about the Centauri." Cindy smiled apologetically.
"No offense taken, Cindy." Delaara laughed. "I'm not the typical stuffed shirt Centauri. I'm a figher pilot, like Jacen."
"Are you the reason why Jacen isn't batshit crazy anymore?" Cindy winked.
"I think I had something to do with it, yes." Delaara said with a blush.
Meanwhile, Stephen asked about Rash. "Oh, yeah. Rash hit on our Captain once. He'd just been promoted, and was drunker than shit. So he walks up to Rachel and says "Do the Dracs know you escaped? I heard they like to capture angels", so she slaps the living shit out of him."
Stephen busted up laughing at that. "Only Rash would be that crazy!"
"Well, it ended up working out, though. They're now engaged, if you can believe that," Jacen chuckled.
Stephen thought about it. "Yeah, I can actually believe that. Does he love her?"
"As much as we love our wives," said Jacen and they clinked bottles again.
"I'll drink to that," and he did.
***
Rachel woke up and Becker wasn't there. She picked up her combadge and tapped it. "Weiss to Rash."
"Rash here. Give me a moment. I have a surprise for you!"
Rachel grinned. "Well, don't be too long. I might find some other lonely guy to fuck," she giggled.
"Oh yeah? Well, I hope this is worth it. Look out our port window." Rachel got up and walked over to the transparisteel viewport. What she saw blew her away. 'I love you Rachel' had been set up in lights right outside her window.
"You beautiful man, you!" She felt herself tearing up as she heard the rush of her door opening and Becker walked in grinning. He took her in his arms and turned her to face him.
Becker leaned down and kissed his Captain lovingly and softly. "I just wanted to do something special for you," he said with a slight blush.
"Jacob, you are the only man I will ever love and be with for the rest of my life," she said, crying tears of joy as her fiancee held her close and kissed her with love and passion.
*** Delaara woke up and detected the unmistakable smell of food cooking. She smiled and opened her eyes. She could hear the sizzle of the frying pan and felt a tinge of surprise. With the replicator, there was really no need for cooking like this, anymore. She got up, threw on one of Jacen's oversized t-shirts, and walked out to the kitchen.
Jacen was flipping the scrambled eggs and bacon over when he felt her hands come up under his arms and stroke his chest, her toned yet supple body pressing into his back. "That smells wonderful," she said lovingly.
He smiled. "Good morning, beautiful. Thought I'd fix you something my mom fixed for me when I was growing up", he replied. "Bacon and scrambled eggs. I hope you like it."
She turned his face towards hers and kissed him softly. "It smells wonderful, and if it tastes half as good as it smells, I'm going to want more," she giggled.
"I cooked enough for two, so we should be good to go. Have a seat. Breakfast is served," he said as he cut the heat to the burner and lifted the large frying pan off the stove. As Delaara took her seat on the stool at the counter, Jacen moved the pan over the plates and scraped half the eggs onto the first plate as well as a few good sized bacon strips. After he scraped the last half of the seasoned food onto the second plate, he grabbed two forks from the drawer and brought both plates of steaming goodness over to their breakfast nook. He'd used salt and pepper for the eggs, with a little basil just for the heck of it.
Delaara kissed him when he set her plate in front of her. "Thank you," she said with a smile. "I love cooking," he said. "And I plan on making the food around here for the next 2 weeks, unless you would like to help," he grinned and winked.
"I can cook some Centauri dishes, if we can get the ingredients," she agreed with a smile. "I have a feeling you'd like it."
"So do I." They dug in and Delaara moaned appreciatively with her eyes closed. It was obviously a very simple meal, but the fact that it didn't come out of a replicator and the fact that it was cooked by the man she loved made it even better. She loved the simple spices used, which brought out the full flavor of the eggs. And the bacon! Bacon had to be the food of the gods! "I never thought anything so simple could taste so wonderful," she said with her eyes closed. "Jacen, you should be ship's chef!"
"I'm not that great a cook, Delaara," he laughed. "I love cooking, but I tend to stick to the simple stuff." "This day is starting so much better than yesterday," she said as they finished their meal. "I mean, first the old woman, then your ex-girlfriend... But at least Stephen and Cindy are nice." She smiled.
"I'm sorry. If I thought Mrs. Schmidt would still be alive or if Beth hadn't moved away, I would have warned you," he replied with a grimace.
"It's okay," she said, kissing his lips lovingly. "Steve and Cindy are good people, and this breakfast more than makes up for those other two people."
Jacen grinned. "Well, I still haven't introduced you to Ron and Julia. I think we'll drop by their place and ring the doorbell today. Oh, I have a surprise for you in the garage."
"Well, after we get dressed, I would love to see the surprise," she grinned. Jacen had checked to make sure it was still operational when he'd gotten up this morning. His old hoverbike had started right up. He'd nodded and made sure that both sets of protective goggles were cleaned and ready to go.
"Today, I have a feeling that you're going to fall in love with my little town," he said and winked. They went back to the bedroom and Delaara put on some blue jeans, changed to a regular sized form fitting t-shirt that did absolutely nothing to hide her figure, and some calf high boots. Jacen was dressed similarly with jeans, boots, and a t-shirt.
Jacen looked at her and grinned. "I read an old fantasy novel once with a female Elf as one of the characters. Delaara, you look like her in that outfit!" He grinned, swept her up in his arms, and kissed her passionately.
She giggled. "I like the Earth legends about Elves. Some portrayals resemble the Centauri to an extent." "Well, I hope you like the wind in your hair," he grinned as they walked back towards the kitchen and garage area. As he opened the door to the garage, she gasped in appreciation.
The old modified Harley Fatboy had been refitted with hoverpads instead of the wheels it had originally come with, but that took little away from the sheer power that it possessed. The old V-Twin had been replaced by a VicFive Energy Cell Turbine. Jacen grinned proudly.
"When I found it, it was a complete wreck. I salvaged what I could, but I had to replace the engine and wheels. I figured that since I couldn't restore it to original condition, I could use today's technology to improve it." He shrugged as he explained.
She'd told Jacen on their second to last night on the island that she would love to ride a motorcycle, and he had jus
t smiled and said "I think that can be arranged if or when we get rescued."
"When did you do all this?" she asked. "I found the old frame when I was 16, and brought it home in my dad's old truck. I worked a part time job and saved up enough credits to get the parts I needed to fit it out and make it run again. It took me six months, working on it after school and work. When I finished restoring it, some guys were riding past the day I brought it out for a test drive, and they invited me to ride with them." This was a part of his past that he treasured, and this was the right time to share it with her. "Delaara, I want you to meet my old hover-bike friends. Rash knows them, but I swore him to secrecy when we got back, since I told him that I wanted to take you riding with me on our honeymoon."
"Jacen! You are full of surprises!" she grinned and kissed him passionately. He handed her a pair of the dark tinted protective goggles, and put on the other pair, activating them. "These act as helmets and basic body armor. If we crash, the field they generate absorbs most of the impact."
She nodded and activated her goggles as she put them on. Besides a slight tingling as they activated, it was like nothing had happened.
He mounted up and she got on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He started the Harley, and it thrummed to life. He hit the remote garage switch and slowly accelerated outside when the door had lifted fully. He maneuvered around the bomber in the driveway and hit the switch again, closing the door behind them. "Are you ready?" he asked.
"Ready!" She said with a huge grin.
He opened the throttle and the beast roared forward, and he turned it towards town.
*** They pulled into the parking lot of Big Ron's Bar and Grill in downtown Walker Lake and dismounted the bike as Jacen cut the power. "This is my old hangout between semesters at the Academy and during summer break. This is where Rash got the nickname 'Rash' after a pretty bad crash," he grinned.
"That must have been painful for Jacob."
"Not really. His pride hurt worse than the pain from the crash," he said, grinning.
They walked towards the door and as Jacen pushed it open, he heard "Holy shit!" from the direction of the bar. He turned and saw Big Ron stomping towards them with a huge grin on his face. "Ron!", shouted Jacen in response. The old grizzled Waffen SS veteran was still alive and kicking. He grabbed Jacen up in a bear hug, and then turned to Delaara, smiling.
"How you doin', little lady?" he asked with a genuine smile.
"I'm great, and you?" she asked back, smiling.
"Can't complain," he shrugged. "Ron, this is my wife, Delaara. Delaara, this is Big Ron. He's like the crazy uncle I never had." Jacen was grinning proudly as he made the introductions.
"She's the hottest woman I've ever seen you with. You best not let her get away," Ron clapped him on the back as he said it. "Hell, when did you get married, and how the hell did you get a Centurion Prefect to fall in love with you?" Ron laughed when he saw Delaara's surprise.
"It's all in your stance, darlin'. I can spot a Centurion a klick down the road," he winked. "Ron was Waffen SS special ops." Jason said. "He served for 30 years and saw more than his share of ground combat against Dracs, Trassians, and Centauri."
"Those were the days, kid." Ron laughed, pushing Jacen and Delaara towards the bar. "Sally! Beers are on me for Jacen and his wife here!"
They sat at the bar with Jacen on one side and Ron on the other side of Delaara.
"Okay, Commander," Ron finally said to Jacen. "There's a story behind how you two met. Let's hear it." Jacen and Delaara both grinned. "Well, Rash and I were on a search and destroy mission over NZ8-257 and engaged a flight of Falcons over the planet. We splashed all four when Delaara here showed up with her wing-man and things got interesting...."
He laid it out for the big veteran, and Ron just nodded as the story unfolded.
***
"So we woke up naked with the Dönitz away team standing over us." Ron laughed long and loud as he clapped them both on the back. "You couldn't make that stuff up!" he shouted and laughed some more.
"I know, right?" said Delaara with a smile. "After Jacen and I got dressed and presentable, I declared my intention to defect, and we've been together ever since." She smiled warmly at the memory.
Ron leaned over and looked Jacen in the eyes. "If I hadn't lived it, I wouldn't believe it. She's a keeper, son," he said with a smile under his beard. By the way, your whiskers make you look like one of us now, kid." He raised his beer and toasted.
"Jacen Kruger, as I live and breathe! I thought I smelled a warrior when I walked in," said the harsh yet feminine voice behind him. They turned and Ron grabbed Karlla up in his arms, planting a big smooch on the Drac woman's lips.
As he set her down, Jacen got up and gave her a hug. "Good to see you too, Karlla!" She sqeezed him tight and let him go. "Karlla, this is my wife, Delaara. Delaara, this is Ron's mate Karlla." Ron laughed as Delaara's face showed her shock.
"I said I lived it, little lady. Karlla and I met during the Trassian Conflict, right before I retired. She and I were both trapped behind enemy lines and on opposite sides."
"Ron was trapped by Trassians, and he blasted through most of them before engaging them in hand to hand. He saw me coming and grinned. I'm still not sure to this day, but I stopped short of running him through with my tri-blade," said Karlla.
"Probably because all I had was my Bowie knife. It wouldn't have been a fair fight. She dropped her tri-blade, and went to draw her dagger, but it wasn't there. I nodded to her and drove my knife into the ground before we went at it hand to hand." Ron shrugged.
"I'd never fought a human like Ron, so I was not only impressed, but extremel sexually aroused when we both finally disengaged after an hour long fight." She laughed for a moment. "Then he did something I never thought I would see from a human." She actually blushed a bit at the memory.
"I laid one on her, full tongue", grinned Ron.
Delaara and Jacen were laughing their asses off, even though Jacen had heard the story before.
"Then he took me prisoner," she stuck out her tongue at Ron. "Best move I ever made," said Ron, taking a swig from his bottle with a wink to his wife. "I let her go before I got back to our lines, since we got the word over our comms that the cease-fire had started." He shrugged.
Karlla picked up the narrative. "The next time we met was during the Taurian War, which turned out to be our last war." She wrapped her arms around his chest from behind.
"My unit was assigned to hers as a joint operations group against the Taurians", he said by way of explanation. "So Ron here comes up to me after our second patrol together and says 'Hey, babe. I'm not Drac, but I would love to take you out for a date sometime'. I was stunned, to say the least. My Ron is more Drac than most Dracs I've met," she smiled.
"Yeah, I only had to beat down two guys that were talkin' shit while we were on our date." Ron smirked and swigged from his beer.
"Ron's being modest. He defeated two Strongblade wielding Drac Warriors with his bare fists." Delaara was impressed. "You both are perfect for each other. Now I know why Jacen wanted me to meet you. It's my pleasure to make your acquaintances!"
"The pleasure's ours, hon," said Karlla with a smile and hugged Delaara.
"Well, don't that beat all, kid? Ever think you'd see a Drac hug a Centauri?" Ron grinned.
"Ron, we both know our wives aren't stereotypes." Jacen grinned back.
"Very true. You still a hotshot fighter jock?" asked Ron. "Delaara and I are both still in Fighter Command, yeah. She got the job after she defected." Jacen was proud of his lady, and let it show.
"Well I'll be damned! Hey, Delaara. What was your rank in the CIF?" asked Ron.
Delaara turned from her conversation with Karlla. "Oh, I was a full Commander. Why?" she asked. Ron was stunned. "You gave up two full pay grades to defect. Darlin', you just got yourself two friends for life. You're Jacen's wife, which makes you part of our family. Do you ride?"
"Thank you both so m
uch! Jacen is going to teach me to ride", Delaara informed them.
"Well, hot damn!" Ron grinned. As the bartender handed them some more beers, the door opened and in stepped the hottest redhead in the galaxy, or so she liked to call herself.
"Jacen, you might want to duck behind the bar. You know who is here", Karlla said, but it was too late.
"You son of a bitch!" rang out across the bar. Jacen closed his eyes and said "Oh, shit no." He turned around and saw the gorgeous redhead he had dumped right before joining the Academy move towards him with deadly intent. "Hi, Gina."
Jacen stood up, prepared to defend himself, but Delaara intervened before she could close the distance. "Step back" was all she said.
Gina stopped dead. She looked up at the statuesque woman in front of her with the faint forehead ridges and pointed ears. "Who the fuck are you? No, I don't care. Get the fuck out of my way, bitch!" She threw a punch at Delaara and missed.
Barely seeming to move, Delaara's fist shot out in a blur, sending Gina sprawling backwards. "I'm Commander Delaara, Luftwaffe Fighter Command, 501st Interceptor Squadron executive officer, and if you ever threaten or insult my husband again, I will kill you where you stand." Her voice had never raised above a normal tone. She was in complete control, and her eyes were ice when Gina looked up again.
Gina wiped the blood from her chin and lip as she glared daggers at the woman who'd just decked her. "Fuckin' Centuri cunt!" she screamed and launched herself at Delaara.
Delaara sidestepped her charge, and hit her with a spinning backfist in the face, knocking out a few of Gina's teeth.
"Jacen, if I was you, I would never make your lady mad." Ron grinned and clinked bottles with Jacen. "Ron, you just said a mouthful, brother." Jacen watched in stunned bemusement as his wife, the love of his life, proceeded to beat the living shit out of his ex-girlfriend and known crazy, Gina Lee.
