END of LINE: Humanities Last Stand - part 3

by John Short

  “Does it really matter what I think? You love her. Why would you care what anyone else thinks?” Phillie asked him.

  “Because, I know you refuse to believe me, but its true. You are the very first female other than my own heart-mother who ever allowed herself to be seen with me in public. That makes you somehow special in ways I can't explain. Your opinion matters to me. Not just for things like how to fix a slipship but in the stupid stuff like is my hair combed right... you know?”

  “Yeah, I think I do.” Phillie said, “Jon, I like her. She's not like the other Royals I've had the misfortune to meet. She's a real person with her own hopes and dreams just like all of us. When you called me I was in her room inspecting her stuff like you asked me to and do you know what I found?” When Jon shook his head in the negative Phillie continued, “I found one entire piece of luggage that was nothing but different gowns all in such vibrant colors I could not figure out whose family they belonged to. She told me that the gowns displayed your family colors and you should have seen her eyes when she told me! That female is so proud of your family colors I can't begin to describe it to you. She can't wait to be able to wear them at court!”

  “Thanks Phillie. It means a lot to me that you like her.” Jon reached out and pulled Phillie in close for a gentle hug and a quick brotherly kiss on her forehead.

  “Jon there is something else I want to tell you.” Phillie had to think how to tell him and she only had a few seconds. “Jon relationships between males and females take a lot of work. They don't ever just happen. It can't be one person doing all the work either. I know you've been hurt and chances are you'll be hurt more before you two figure out how to make each other really happy. Jon, all the work is worth it and all the pain forgotten in the end.” Phillie paused to let what she had said sink into Jon's thick skull. “I once had a mate. He was tall, handsome, and proud. He had a beautiful coat of fine red hair that covered his body. We loved each other totally. Then his family sent him to live on their farming colony to drive us apart. Our love found a way for us to be together. He snuck me onto their colony in a crate marked spare parts no less! We were blissfully happy for many cycles. He was killed when one of the farm machines blew up with him on it. That's when I became an Engineer, so I could see trouble before it took another life.

  It was not easy for me, the pampered daughter of a rich machinery broker to be a farmer's wife with two sets of parents who did not want our relationship to exist. We had many things we had to find our own way through. Sometimes I hurt him, other times he hurt me, but we always figured out a way. You and Satrina are like we were. She is the Crown Princess and you are the owner of a transport company who is also under contract to the Peacekeepers. You need to know that things are never going to be easy for you two. You also need to know that if your love is true, it will survive, but only if you are willing to fight to make it so. You can never give up that fight, no matter what comes at you.”

  “All I can do is love her Phillie.” Jon softly whispered. “I may not be strong enough to fight every Royal Guard they can throw at us.”

  “You may not have to. You have a very unique quality Jon Connell. People trust you once they know you.” Phillie told him. “There is not a person working for BBITCo who wouldn't follow you through a black hole if that's where you decided to go. Some of the Royals will be on your side. Just be you and they'll love you for it. Now I gotta go fix the ship or we're never going anywhere.” Jon helped her secure her helmet and she entered the air lock, cycled it to the outside and was gone from view as she and Bendy muscled the repair panels over to where Jon had cut away the device from his ship.

  He was halfway to the command center when his COM badge called to him. “Wrenches to Connell.”

  “Connell here. What's up Wrenches?” Jon answered.

  “I just figured out what your radio call sign should be.” Phillie told him and everyone else on the Pluto.

  “Wrenches, I swear, if you come up with something insane I'll see to it that you really do burn your butt in the engine room!” Jon admonished her.

  “No sir, but looking at this cut job you did on the hull you're a pretty skilled cutter, just like a good Butcher.” Phillie told him. “So from now on, that's your BBITCo call sign, Butcher.”

  “That sounds a little gruesome doesn't it?” Jon replied.

  “Only a skilled Butcher could make cuts this clean.” Phillie said. “Putting the new panels in place will be a breeze.”

  “Well at least it isn't anything to do with cheeks” Jon kidded her. “It does sort of sound ferocious though. Which I guess is good considering I'm still under contract to the Peacekeepers. Butcher it is then. Thank you Wrenches.”

  “Any time boss.” Phillie acknowledged.

  They had come through the slipway five hours ago without any trouble for the rest of the three week trip. Everyone was breathing a lot easier. The Princess had been met by a contingent of Royal Guards who promptly escorted her to a waiting shuttle for the trip down to the surface. She and Jon had managed to spend several days together because of the secret doorway between their rooms and had already said their good-byes before the Pluto docked at the orbital station. He had managed to catch her eye as she walked through the corridors and waved to her. His heart felt totally filled when she smiled and winked those gorgeous emerald green eyes with the tiny golden specks at him. He had treated the entire crew of the Pluto to mid-meal at Jamie's Place and now he was sitting alone on a bench near the entry hatch waiting for the transport to take him to the Peacekeeper training center when his tablet announced that he had a call incoming from Haven. “Connell here, go ahead.”

  The screen came alive and the faces of BBITCo's Chief Commander and his new Financial Officer came online. “Hi Jon. We received your order for the new ships and everything is all set up. The surplus yard is even willing to buy our ships. Seems there is a demand for those tuned up engines Wrenches has designed. I can't wait to see what she does to the new ones. Anyway, Pluto is on route to the yard with Mars and Venus due to arrive two days after the Pluto. We're planning to salvage the old ships but keep the names for the new ones. Some kind of company ties back to the old Earth system where the humans came from. We decided on Mercury for the fourth ship. Legend says it was the planet closest to their sun and traveled the fasted in its orbit. Maybe the name will influence the actual ship's speed. For what it's worth, the legends say Mecury was the messenger of the gods. Lets hope the ship lives up to its name sake. Wrenches has her instructions on what the company needs given what you've asked for. We're getting four, fully armed Nova class carriers minus the attack craft. They are bigger than our old FTL ships, but smaller than battle carriers. These are more the size of a destroyer. They are still considered top of the line combat boats and a lot of them are still in service. We were lucky enough to get all four of them that were being offered at auction. Aside from having zero hours on their drives each ship will have one surface shuttle in case we need to drop to a planet's surface faster than the public system can get us planetside and back up. They also have functioning transport plates to help make loading and unloading even faster.

  No status yet on who sabotaged the Pluto or why. We're still working on that and will let you know what we find. Whoever did that is guilty of attempted murder of a Royal. Its one of the few crimes that still carries a death sentence.

  Save this message link, it will let us communicate across the galaxy if something comes up. By way of us being thankful to you for adding from your personal accounts to cover the cost of the fourth ship, we've decided to officially authorize you as that ship's Captain with the call sign Butcher. Wrenches will be your Flight Engineer and will have full authority to hire a crew. Mercury will be a productive ship once we get her outfitted, crewed and on the roster of BBITCo vessels. We've got everything under control here Jon. You be careful out there. Its getting dangerous along the rim. They didn't even blink when we told them we wanted the ships fully armed and loaded
ready to fight if they needed to. BBITCo. Out”. - End of Message.

  A young Lexonian male wearing dress whites had sat down unnoticed next to Jon as the message played. When the message ended he started a conversation. “That sounds interesting, you own your own combat ready carriers. Why are you waiting to board the transport to Peacekeeper advanced training?”

  “What I own or don't own is really none of your business.” Jon told the youth. “I'm going to training because I'm a certified FTL pilot who just happens to be in the Peacekeepers Corps.”

  “Sorry if I got off on the wrong ground, asking about your carriers and all. Its just you wouldn't think that a guy heading for shuttle training would be buying combat ready ships.” The male apologized. “Let's try this again. My name is Zeprik. Lieutenant Zeprik. I'm heading to the same training camp but I'm a grub. Not a certified pilot.”

  “OK. I enlisted to satisfy a court case. Had no idea where I'd end up but by the time I finished basic combat, they had figured out that I was already a certified FTL pilot and assigned me to flight training. I'm just hoping they don't bore me to death. System FTL is exciting when you're under the gun to meet a delivery schedule. One screw up in the calcs and you slip inside a planet or the system's star. This thing I'm going to now is a complete unknown for me. At least you know what you'll be doing. Drop in, subdue, lift out. Name's Jon. Call sign Butcher. Pleased to meet you.”

  “You already have a call sign? Who named you Butcher?” Zeprik asked.

  “Long story. End of story is an expert Engineer saw some of my metal work and started calling me that. Said she'd never seen anyone who used a plasma cutter like me.” Jon didn't tell him it was Wrenches twisted sense of humor that gave him the name. She'd actually complimented him for his work, but still called him a butcher because like a butcher makes clean cuts of meat, Jon had made clean plasma cuts in his ship's hull.

  “ATTENTION ON DECK!” The overhead announcer called. “Transport Zetta 5 has docked and is now opening. All trainees take positions according to your rank and position in preparation to board the vessel.”

  “I guess that means us.” Zeprik said as he stood and offered his hand in a friendly expression. “Maybe I'll see you again.”

  “One never knows.” Jon told him as he stood. Zeprik immediately knew who this other male was the second he stood. No one in the galaxy was that tall and well muscled except one man. Zeprik had stumbled on the owner of BBITCo. The company that had gotten his sister home safely even when someone in the Palace had wanted her dead. His sister had told him about the entire episode and how this male now towering in front of him had risked his own life to save the lives of everyone onboard the FTL transport ship that day. Of course he would be buying combat ready ships. He was taking his company out to the rim worlds where the pirates ran without any enforcers to stop them. Zeprik made up his mind to get to know this Jon Connell much better.

  Boarding the transport was done quickly and with little in the way of talking. The transfer tubes opened, one near the forward area of the ship floating outside the view ports and another nearer to the rear. Pilots where marched to the forward tube and loaded in single file while the infantry, or grubs as they called themselves, loaded double file into the rear.

  “This is so unfair” the male loaded in next to Zeprik complained. “Here I am, the son of one of the wealthiest of the lower Royals at the Summer Palace and I'm stuck with this bunch, while that freak is made a pilot.”

  “What are you bitching about now Helios?” another of the males asked.

  “Did you see? They made that freak Connell a pilot! He should have been sent to the penal colony back in Haven system. My Sire paid good credits to have charges brought against him for what he did! Is he sweating in some mining cave? NO. He's a pilot! And here I sit a grub. Why, because the Enforcer who brought him to the Magistrate watched the tapes and filed his own charges against me! That freak must think that he's as important as his ancestor!”

  “What did he do?” Zeprik asked.

  “He assaulted me, in public. In front of the Crown Prince and Princess no less! The freak broke my nose right there in front of all of them at the Reunification Day ceremony! My father paid over ten thousand credits to bribe the Magistrate! That sneaky human requested Option 3. The Magistrate claimed he had no choice but to assign him to the Peacekeepers.” Helios almost screamed out with his face turning red from the anger inside him. “He never even returned the credits! That Magistrate should be removed!”

  Zeprik remembered that day well. He'd seen the whole thing happen. He had heard the insults this angry grub had flung at Connell's heart-mother and seen Connell defend the tiny Lexonian female's honor. He was also the direct descendant of the original Jon Connell who had kept the Royal Family safe for many cycles. Zeprik determined that he liked this male, Jon Connell, more and more with each new piece of information he learned. So here was the last of the pureblood human beings going off to learn the techniques that his ancestor had taught and had proven to be effective in combat. No wonder Connell was twice the size of the other males. He also decided that he did not like this angry grub seated beside him in the least. He did agree with one thing the grub had said, the Magistrate would be removed as soon as he got home on his first leave.

  As Jon entered the transport he handed his tablet to the officer who met them at the hatch. “I see you're already FTL certified. Take one of the seats in the front row.” the officer ordered.

  “Yes sir.” Jon responded as the male returned his tablet. Picking a seat next to a large male, Jon lifted his sword to let it lay across his lap then settled in for what he thought would be a long boring ride to their training camp. Looking around the cabin, he took in the rows of large, comfortable seats arranged with a center isle and plenty of legroom. It was unusual for a military ship, Jon thought as he gazed at the overhead rows of different colored pipes and conduits running through the bulkheads with their dull gray paint, to have what seemed to be luxury seating. He was stunned to find that the seats reclined and that a built in footrest was provided. Even his favorite chair at home didn't have a footrest. He had a small bench that he used to prop up his long legs when he wanted to recline in that chair. Soon it seemed that all of the pilots had boarded and taken seats as the chatter increased and became more the sound of white noise to Jon than that of several voices speaking in hushed tones. The being that took the seat on Jon's other side was not your typical bi-pedal form. It had four legs and six arms! Still it managed to fold itself into the seat without any apparent effort and even commented on how comfortable the seat was compared to the one it had been forced into on the passenger vessel he'd flown on to get here.

  “I wonder if we'll have seats like this on the birds we'll be assigned to fly?” the being commented. The words were slightly slurred as it tried to speak the standard language through its bird-like beak instead of a mouth. “Name's Pabki. Expert Navigator, and certified FTL pilot. I enjoy flying, but I love navigating. I can plot a slip directly into any planet's atmo from deep outside a system. I hope they let us choose.

  “I'm Jarrieal” the male on Jon's other side told them. “I'm a top notch pilot. Got my certification when I was just nineteen cycles. Been flying small pleasure craft for the rich folks on my home world of Libri. Its a heavy gravity planet. That's why I got all this muscle. Fat lot of good muscles do in deep space where there is either zero gravity or Lexon standard inside a ship. The females seem to like them though, so I guess that’s a good thing.”

  “Guess that leaves me.” Jon introduced himself, “Names Connell. Call sign Butcher. Haven is home for me. I've flown inter-system FTL ships since I was a youngling of 16 with my uncle. Carried power crystals from our mining planets to the markets on Haven.”

  “Haven power crystals? Those are the best in the galaxy. Everyone wants those but few can afford them.” Pabki told him.

  “Just let me know and I'll bring you some of the small ones from home next time I'm there. N
ot a whole ship full, but a few of the smaller ones won't bother anyone.” Jon told him. What he didn't tell him was that he owned many of the mines where the crystals came from. He could have gotten each of the males a gem the size of a small shuttle and no one would complain. “I'm told they make great decorations for female jewelry.”

  “Are you serious?” Jarrieal asked. “With a handfull of those I could win any female in six systems! Of course I want some! Back home a male can't even think about having a mate unless he offers her Sire a suitable present first. I could have my pick of the most beautiful of our females with those crystals.”

  “If we manage to stay in touch after training, you can consider it a done deal.” Jon joked, “I'll have you married before you know it.”

  “HOLD ON NOW! Who said anything about getting married? You better forget I said anything.” Jarrieal exclaimed and all three of them laughed. Jon found himself already liking these two. At least he didn't feel like the lone stranger anymore. These two alone were so different from the people of Haven that he almost felt that he'd finally found asomeplace where he belonged.

  Soon enough the hatches closed and locked, the trainees all heard the hissing of air as the ship began to compensate for the difference in pressure between the station and the passenger areas and they slowly moved out from the docking tubes.

  “Sit back and relax men. You are onboard the finest troop transport in the feet. My name is Captain Hijkoly and for the next few days I'll be going over some of the introductory and integration info. It will take us three days to reach your homes for the next 6 Lexon II months. You may as well get used to the idea that everything we do in the Peacekeepers is geared to Lexie time. A cycle is 400 days long, each day has 24 hours, and each hour has 70 minutes. That will make some of you older than you thought you were and others will suddenly be cycles younger."

  So it went on for the entire three day trip with the exception of the sleep times. The Captain made it a point to speak with each trainee in private so when it came to be Jon's turn he started out with, “Its says here that you are both a certified FTL pilot and a Master Swordsman and a qualified sniper. Is there anything you don't do Lieutenant?”