Much to Richard's displeasure because of the conflict of interest it put him in, Shelly Laumer was the best qualified person to take Brunner's place. If he promoted her, there might be complaints of favoritism leveled against him. If he didn't, he knew he wouldn't be getting the best person in the job. He didn't like his situation though he understood her reasons for placing him in his current predicament. It wasn't easy to begin with since he also loved her. As it was, her actions merely made the conflict of interest visible.
He hoped that a solution might present itself when the replacements arrived. There was always a chance that one of them might be better qualified, though hardly as experienced as Shelly. Still, Richard knew that was only a long shot and a risky one at that since lives were always at stake when they did their jobs. Sooner or later, he knew he'd have to make a decision.
Richard left the ship, stopping briefly at the corridor to speak with the crew member on guard. "I'm going bowling if anyone needs me."
"Yes sir. How are the lanes?"
"Tricky. I used to be a good bowler on Earth. This alley is something else. It'll sure put you through the grinder trying to make a strike on any of its lanes. Still, it can be great fun," Richard answered.
"Well, enjoy yourself sir. I'll see to it that you can be found if anything comes up. Have a good time."
"Thanks," Richard replied before walking down the corridor.
***
Shelly stepped onto the bridge. "Anyone seen the Captain?"
"Last I saw, he was making the rounds."
"Thanks. Let him know I'm looking for him if he returns." Shelly left the bridge to check through the ship. She didn't use the intercom because it was ship policy that it only be used for business since using it often caused everyone's adrenaline to start pumping. She reached the exit leading to the station corridor and stopped to ask. "Seen the Captain?"
"Yes, he went bowling."
"Bowling?" she exclaimed.
"Yes, said he was going to have some fun. I guess he left about ten minutes ago. It should be easy to catch up with him."
"Uh, thanks." Shelly wondered if she should or not. Her mind wondered for a moment at what the guard stated. "Did he actually say that he was going there to have fun?"
"Sure did. Those were his words. Is it important? I can have him paged."
She smiled. "No, there's nothing urgent for you to page him for. Thank you anyway. I'll talk to him later. For now, I think he should enjoy himself."
Shelly left the guard and returned to the common area for Rescue Team One. She entered to see that Jimmy and Alex were in another of their endless discussions on politics and economics among other things. She said, "Guess what? I have good news."
"What?" asked Jimmy.
"Richard went bowling to have fun," Shelly said.
"That's what we were supposed to guess?" Alex asked.
"Isn't it fabulous? He went bowling to have fun. I think his inner wounds are starting to heal," Shelly replied.
"Are you sure?" Jimmy asked.
"The guard told me that was what Richard said," Shelly replied.
"I mean about the healing. After all, he's been the way he was for a long time now. It just seems a bit difficult for me to believe that we helped him this quickly to get over his guilt," Jimmy said.
"Well, it's a start if nothing else. Isn't that something to be grateful for?" asked Shelly.
Jimmy replied, "I'll agree that it's a start. I hope you're right that he's finally healing."
"I do, too. What's the topic this time?" asked Shelly.
"Earth politics. Jimmy feels sure that they're going to have another war," Alex answered.
"It's almost a one hundred percent certainty that it will," Jimmy said.
"With Mars and Venus, again?" asked Shelly.
"No, they're going to duke it out among themselves. This one probably won't involve Mars and Venus if they know what's good for them. In fact, they should make every effort not to get involved and hope for the best," Jimmy said.
"How do you mean?" asked Shelly.
"Until the war of independence for Mars and Venus, the United States was the only superpower. When the US acknowledged defeat at their hands in space, it showed itself to be vulnerable. Now every nation is trying to take over UN leadership, even those who weren't attending any longer. Everyone of them wants the UN to represent their individual nationalistic agenda," Jimmy said.
"So, how's that going to lead to war?" she asked.
"Because this is going to be their last chance to make it happen. Once the world falls under one leadership, it's not likely to break free of it when all the armies and navies are consolidated or disbanded. Whatever kind of government the world agrees to become before joining the United Worlds of Sol is probably going to be how it is for a long time to come. There are a lot of nations on Earth that don't want to compromise their interests. Some simply are unwilling to admit that they failed to take the leadership before now because their individual agendas were wrong, particularly for those with a state religion that practiced hatred of others. The US was in the best position for world leadership because it separated church from state and guaranteed freedom of religion," Jimmy said.
"Okay, I see where you're headed. Any ideas on how it will affect us?" asked Shelly.
"Sure. For one thing, we still have the most powerful armed ships in space. Richard keeps an armed guard on our ship whenever we're docked to make sure that no one takes Space Rescue One over. I can only presume that Captain Reason is doing the same for Space Rescue Three. They're trying to keep us from being used against anyone. Likewise, both stations are putting in supplies so we can outlast whatever happens," Jimmy replied.
"Is that why we don't have any replacements yet?" asked Shelly.
"I'm not sure. It might be why. Your guess is as good as mine about that," Jimmy replied.
"We're monitoring incidents around the world constantly now when we're not on duty or answering a distress call. The number of conflicts is twice as great as before the Venus-Mars-Earth war," Alex said.
Jimmy added, "And it's rapidly increasing. This is going beyond the food riots that happened before."
"We've logged several dozen border conflicts and two wars are already in progress," Alex said.
"They're escalating quickly," Jimmy said.
***
Richard entered his ship and stopped by the showers first to remove the sweat he felt covered in after retrieving a towel from his quarters. Though the shower was somewhat refreshing, he still felt tired. He felt satisfaction at having found a way to tire himself enough that sleep ought to come easy. He made his way back to his quarters and slipped into bed after dropping his towel on the deck. Before Shelly showed up, he was asleep.
***
"Titan incorporated ship Liberty now docking at Corridor Three," chimed over the station's intercom.
Damon barely paid any attention to the routine notice. He was more interested in the other ships that would quickly arrive with their multitudes of passengers to board her. Those were the people who would flock to his bar before boarding while they went through customs. After all, many of them were immigrants and wouldn't be using all the facilities on board the luxury liner with its higher prices.
Shelly wandered up to the bar and sat down in front of him as he cleaned a glass. "Busy, Damon?"
"Not really, Shelly. How's it going with you and Richard?" he replied.
"Well, I'm not sure about that. Richard admitted he loves me after I suggested that we get married to make it look less like any favoritism was taking place with me sleeping in his quarters. Now I'll be hurting him if I'm not sure that I love him and find that I can't stand a long term commitment. You knew he loved me, didn't you?"
"I suspected as much. I'm not sure I remember him stating that to me. Seems to me though that he'll still have a conflict of interest. I've heard that you're probably the strongest contender for Chief Brunner's vacated position," Damon answered.
"Yeah, you're right. It won't make much of a difference whether I marry him or not. He's still going to have a conflict of interest. Guess I made things rougher for him."
"Maybe so, but it appears that he's sleeping better lately since you began doing that. Even I could tell the difference. You must be having some impact on his life. He hasn't even been in here the last two nights."
"That's not my doing. He's started bowling for fun now. Isn't that wonderful?"
Damon exclaimed, "Really? Well, that is an improvement. At least there's one bright spot in the universe what with the way that Earth is heading into another war."
"You see it too?" Shelly asked.
"I've already felt its effect. I lost my mother in a terrorist attack last week. Richard made it possible for me to leave for two days to attend the funeral. Got me a lift both ways on a freighter," Damon answered.
"Yeah, he does care about people. Isaac and I used to think that he didn't before we found out what he was going through. Boy, were we wrong. It's a good thing you were around. You were his only real friend for a long time. He would have fallen apart if you hadn't been here for him."
"Thanks for the compliment, Shelly."
***
Seguma sat stunned as his application was accepted, verified within moments, and returned with an approval on it.
The clerk said, "You'll receive your first credit toward your account by the time you get home. Please remember to go easy on it since it's only deposited yearly. What you receive has to last you a year."
Bea said, "Thank you, Miss. Seg didn't think that he'd get a fair shake. You ready to leave now, Seg?"
Seguma stared up at Bea for a moment before he nodded.
"Aren't you going to thank her?"
"What for? Doing her job?" he replied.
The clerk said, "It's okay. I see that reaction often. You two go ahead and get started on living again now."
Bea said, "No, I'm not leaving until he behaves more like a human being."
***
"Well, here comes the first batch of passengers for the Liberty. Sorry, but I have to get back to work, Shelly," Damon said.
"No problem. You take care of yourself. I think I'll check out the bowling alley."
"Looking for Richard?" asked Damon.
"No, I was thinking that maybe I should have some fun, too. Might be a chance to get my mind off everything. Whether he's there or not doesn't matter. If he is, I really hope that he's having fun," Shelly answered.
"In that case, I hope you strike everyone's pants off," Damon replied.
***
Shelly entered the bowling alley a bit surprised to see that it was nearly dark inside. The six lanes were lit up with glow bars between them for the bowlers to keep track of which lane was which. The pits were illuminated solely by the scorer lamps. She approached the main desk to find out if any lanes were open.
"Hi, interested in bowling tonight?" the woman at the desk asked.
"Yes, if there's a lane open," Shelly responded.
"Well, they're all open so far. We don't have any leagues here yet. Right now, we're about to begin something new. There's still two openings on the lanes for our event."
"Bowling in the dark? Is this anything like the extreme bowling on Earth?"
"Are you sure you want to be here tonight? The bowlers aren't exactly just bowling in the dark tonight."
"How do you mean, am I sure? What exactly is going on?" asked Shelly.
"You're not here for the strip bowling?"
"Strip bowling? Is that anything like what I think you're saying?" Shelly asked.
"You're on the right track, honey. That's exactly what I mean. We put out questionnaires to all the bowlers to find out what they'd like to keep the game interesting. Then we set aside one night each week for one of the top seven entries. Tonight is strip bowling. If you bowl, you have to agree to strip off one piece of clothing anytime someone else on your two lanes bowls a strike. If you're not willing to abide by the rules, then you can't bowl during this event. We don't want any sore losers or problems. Well, do you want to bowl or not?"
Shelly asked, "Is Richard bowling?"
"Richard who?"
"Uh, Captain Richard Saberhagen."
"Um, yes, I believe he is bowling. Fact is, I think he was a bit surprised to find out what the event is for tonight, but he decided to bowl anyway. I guess nothing scares him off. He didn't back off during the space war and he sure didn't back off because of some strip bowling."
"Then I'll bowl too. Is there an opening on his lane?"
"I'll check."
Shelly glanced at the bowling pits while she waited for the woman to check the lane assignments. A moment later, she heard the woman behind her say, "Nope. The next two lanes beside his have an opening though. I can put you on one of those if you want."
Shelly turned back to the counter. "I guess that'll have to do. Do shoes count as an item of clothing?"
"Nope. That's the only thing you don't have to remove. We don't want anyone dropping a ball on their feet and getting hurt. You wearing standard issue?"
Shelly replied, "Yes."
"Then you're fine as far as footwear goes. Lanes one and two. Better hurry up and get yourself a ball. Select from the glowing balls. We'll be starting now."
"What about the other opening? Don't you have to fill it?" asked Shelly.
"I'll take that opening. That's what I like about this job. I get to bowl, too."
Shelly went over to the ball rack. She quickly picked out a ball though it hardly seemed to make any difference.
The desk clerk stepped beside her. "You better get a different color. Try not to match the other people on your lanes."
"Oh? Are there anymore rules?" Shelly asked.
"I'll be going over the rules once I get into the pits. I don't think anyone has a red one on your lanes."
Shelly took the glowing red ball from the rack and made her way to her lanes. As she entered the pit, she noticed that the desk clerk entered the next pit where Richard was bowling. Then she noticed that almost every bowler in his pit was a woman except for him. She bit her lip gently to remind herself that it wasn't Richard's fault that he was surrounded by women. More importantly, she did so to remind herself not to say anything about it.
"Welcome to our second place bowling event. You all voted to have strip bowling once a week, so here it is. The rules are simple. Each pit has four bowlers. If any bowler makes a strike, the other bowlers in that pit have to remove one item of clothing starting with what's visible. Other than that, the person making the strike has the right to specify what item is to be removed. Remember, shoes don't count. That's strictly for your safety. Please remember not to loft the balls. Our lanes curve down and it's very easy to forget that. After the first game, anyone who is naked is disqualified from the second game and has to sit it out like they are. Same thing holds true for the subsequent games until only one person remains with something besides shoes on. That person is the grand winner and will win a prize. Okay, everyone can begin bowling once you select your pit orders. Good luck to you all."
Shelly looked around at the three people with her. She was a bit astonished to see that two others were female like herself. Only one man was in her pit. Glancing over to the third pit, she saw that the ratio was three men to one woman. Somehow, she guessed that a lot of women had voted to hold the event since the men were clearly outnumbered. That or they knew Richard was bowling and decided that they would bowl regardless of the event rules as she was. She introduced herself to the others and found that she would bowl last. Shelly sat down after placing her ball in the return holder.
At the end of the second frame, Shelly bowled without her pants on as the man in her pit bowled a strike and stated he wanted the women to bowl without those. She hadn't even seen his strike as her attention was on Richard's pit. Only when Midge nudged her to take her pants off did she return her attention to her pit and see that the other women were
in the process of removing theirs. Without comment, she removed hers before stepping up to bowl. She barely paid any attention to her bowling as she threw a gutter ball and then knocked down a few pins with a lucky second ball. As soon as she went back to her seat, she watched Richard's pit to see how he was doing.
"Nice going, Amanda!" Richard shouted.
"Pants, everyone!" Amanda shouted.
Shelly watched as Richard dropped his pants and stepped out of them. She hardly cared or noticed that the two women beside him were almost eagerly dropping theirs. She did notice that one of them sat very close to him when they took their seats. The woman's bare legs were right up against Richard's.
Space Rescue One Page 27
