by Dave Lemel
As they made their way through the rows of vehicles, many of which were being worked on by mechanics in dark green coveralls, Simon grinned and turned to Todd. “So, I hear things could’ve gone better with your latest temporary partner,” he said.
“Oh, you think you’re funny?” replied Todd. “Went about as well as your attempt to follow in your grandpa’s footsteps.”
“Hey! Low blow!” exclaimed Simon through a widening grin. “Must’ve really touched a nerve, huh?”
“It’s not funny, Simon,” said Todd. “I almost left the big idiot on Titan to find his own way home. ”
Simon was laughing now as he asked, “So, where exactly did the pulse get you?”
“Hit me right where the sun don’t shine, Simon. Which, I’m sure—like everybody else around here—you already heard. Everybody seems to think this is so damn funny; meanwhile, I still can’t sit on the toilet without feeling it.”
Simon’s laugh slowed to a chuckle, and he asked, “Was it just a terrible shot or what?”
“No!” replied Todd. “We were tucked up against a corner trying to avoid incoming fire. The kid was breathing down my neck and so tensed up that when I bumped into him he squeezed and fired a shot, and, well…you know the rest,” Todd wrapped up as they approached a cruiser that looked very much like a late fifties Cadillac Eldorado. “Doesn’t matter, anyway, now that you’re back. You may be a crappy marshal, but at least you’ve never shot me.”
“We ready to rock, Josh?” Todd asked a mechanic who was staring at the black and chrome cruiser while wiping his hands on a filthy towel.
“Yes, sir. Just finished up,” he replied.
“Anything we need to keep an eye on?” Todd asked.
“No, she’s in great shape. Just keep bringing her back to me in one piece,” said the mechanic as he ran his hand down the rear corner of the cruiser and up one of the two back fins. “She’s always been one of my favorites.”
“You got it, buddy,” replied Todd as he tapped an icon on the screen of his link. The two scissor doors of the cruiser unlocked and opened upward.
Todd and Simon climbed in and closed their respective doors. Todd fired up the surprisingly quiet engines and lifted the cruiser vertically out of its spot in the hangar. He turned it ninety degrees in place while it hovered. The cruiser then slowly made its way toward and out the large hangar door before accelerating rapidly out and over Lake Michigan, then up towards space.
Chapter 9
The first stop on every O.E.A. was the dock. The dock was the marshals’ massive orbiting space station. This was where the main transport vessels were constructed and maintained. It was shaped like a large cylinder with spokes sticking out all over the surface. At all times there were dozens of transport vessels of varying shapes and sizes docked along the spokes. The particular ship Todd steered the cruiser toward looked like a scaled-down version of the upside-down cruise ship vessel the original Bopecans had arrived in. As they approached the rear, the name Henrietta became visible on the back of the ship. Todd flipped a switch on the dash of the cruiser, opening communications with the Henrietta .
Todd grinned at Simon as he asked, “You in there, old man?”
After a few seconds, a gravelly voice came through from the other end. “Who’s askin’?”
“I can see you looking at us from the bottom observation deck. I brought you a present,” said Todd.
“Oooooo, now you’re talkin’,” said a still rough but now noticeably perkier voice. “I’ll meet ya in the garage.”
The entire lower portion at the rear of the ship opened like a giant jaw. This revealed a very large hangar-like area inside the ship. Todd gently maneuvered the cruiser through a transparent gel-like layer known as pass-through gel that covered the opening. The consistency of aero gel, it temporarily sealed areas to maintain atmosphere while still allowing access to them. He landed near the center of the room next to a blue and white cruiser that looked an awful lot like a 1967 Camaro. The garage door closed behind them.
The scissor doors of the cruiser opened, letting Todd and Simon out. A bear of a man with a thick brown handlebar mustache and wearing an orange and green Hawaiian shirt walked in from the hall. “How the heck are ya, kid?” he said as he embraced Todd.
“Awesome, Ben,” Todd replied. “So, did you miss me?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“My present,” replied Ben with a big toothy smile under a mustache that appeared to still have crumbs in it.
“Hold your horses. We got a long trip. Let me unpack, and I’ll give it to you once we get moving.”
Every marshal transport ship had two engineers on board, one human and one Bopecan. Ben Thurston was the oldest human engineer still going out on O.E.A.s. He had been Douglas Jordan’s engineer for the last five years before his death. He requested to be assigned to Todd’s ship as soon as Todd and Simon were given their first assignment.
Ben put his arm over Simon’s shoulders and looked down at him as they headed into the hall. “And how is that beautiful wife and newborn daughter of yours, Simon my boy?”
“Outstanding,” replied Simon with a smile. “Where is Foggen hiding?”
“Dunno. Last I saw him, he said something about an electrical problem in the upper decks. I went down to the lower observation room to watch for you two hooligans.”
“Well, see if you can round him up and head to the bridge,” said Todd. “Simon and I can drop our bags in our rooms and meet you guys up there for our pre-castoff pow-wow.”
“Will do, boss,” replied Ben as he saluted and stepped into an open freight elevator.
Todd loved space travel. Nothing quite satisfied the adventurous part of his soul like walking onto the bridge of the Henrietta to start a new assignment. In his opinion, the views from the bridge were unparalleled. He could see just enough of his ship along with the Earth below. The marshal dock, the moon when it wasn’t on the other side of the Earth, and all that space out there to explore. As if that wasn’t enough to get the hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention, the bridge itself was not too shabby. The screens, the controls, the lights. The first time Todd had set foot on a transport ship bridge, it had exceeded even his wildest expectations of what it would feel like. He still got that feeling every time.
“Hello, Todd,” said a noticeably more slender for his species than usual Bopecan. “How was your flight up? Any specific concerns with your cruiser you would like me to take a look at?”
“No, Foggen. Nothing unusual to report that I noticed. How is the Henrietta ? Ready for departure? ”
“There was a minor problem with the flinx converter.”
Todd shook his head. “English, Foggen! English!”
“He said electrical problem,” Ben said as he entered the bridge. “He means electrical problem, and it’s taken care of.”
“So we’re good to depart?” asked Todd.
“Yes, sir,” replied Foggen. “Ready for departure whenever you are.”
“Foggen,” said Todd. “You know I hate when you call me sir.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Foggen. “I mean, I apologize, Todd. Force of habit, as you humans say.”
Simon entered the bridge and joined the others around the side by side horseshoe-shaped control desks at the center of the room. “As we all know, we are headed to Callisto on this O.E.A.,” began Todd. “It will be a ten-day journey for the initial portion of this assignment, and from there we will see. Foggen says we are ready to rock, so if there are no questions, I would love to get moving.”
“I just want my present,” said Ben.
“Well, then you two head to the engine room. Simon and I will take our positions up here, and let’s get the good ship Henrietta up to speed!” exclaimed Todd.
Simon and Foggen moved toward their respective destinations, but Ben remained anchored to his spot. He stared at Todd with raised eyebrows.
“And as soon as we’re comfortably
in transit and locked on auto-pilot, we can meet for dinner and you can have your present,” said Todd.
“That’s all I needed to hear, boss,” said Ben, grinning as he headed for the door. “That’s all I needed to hear.”
Chapter 10
“Ready down there?” Simon inquired through the all ship intercom. The gruff voice of Ben Thurston responded, “You betcha, boys.”
“You know,” said Simon to Todd. “After all these years, I still get goosebumps every time we’re about to unlock from the dock and head out.”
“Me too,” replied Todd with a big smile. Todd ran a final course check on a screen by his left arm on the horseshoe-shaped control desk he was seated inside of. “And I hope it never stops.”
KA-CHUNK! The anchor arms detached from both sides of the Henrietta . Todd slowly rose her up and above the dock arms. He rotated the ship 180 degrees and swiped the destination coordinates from the screen on his left to the screen in front of him at the center of his console. “If you’re not strapped in, speak now or forever hold your peace,” Todd said through the intercom. After a few seconds passed with no response, he smiled and counted down, “Three…two…one.”
The artificial gravity and interior environment stabilizers made for very comfortable conditions on marshal transport ships. However, there was still a bit of a jolt with the initial acceleration. After a minute, the ship was up to speed, and conditions aboard had regulated. “Gentlemen,” said Todd, “we are on our way.”
“If we’re good to unstrap, I need to hit the can, and then let’s eat ’cause I am starving,” said Ben .
Simon chuckled and chimed in, “Yes. Your captain has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign and you are free to move about the cabin.”
“Right on, boys,” replied Ben. “See you upstairs in a few.”
The kitchen and dining area of the ship were located in the upper deck observation room right behind the bridge. Simon enjoyed cooking and had been the main chef for this crew since their first assignment together. By the time Todd had made it back up to the observation room from his cabin, Simon had already begun prepping. He diced vegetables next to a stove where a pot of water began to boil, and a pad of butter slowly melted in a pan.
Ben and Foggen sat in the arched bench portion of a booth against an exterior wall. The table was set under a large transparent domed area in the room. Todd strolled through the middle of the large room, up to the table, and slid a box across the top to Ben as he slid into a seat.
“All right!” exclaimed Ben. “A box is good. You can fit fun things in a box.”
Todd crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. “Well, I know it was your birthday last week, and you must be like a hundred, so I figured I should get you something.”
Ben smiled. “Actually, it’s a hundred and one. And what’s the deal, kid? You couldn’t even take five minutes to wrap the box?”
“Ha!” Todd stood up and leaned forward, arms out toward the box. “Well, if it’s not good enough for your highness, I’ll just take it back and… ”
“Oh, no you don’t, boy!” said Ben as he slapped Todd’s hands down. “I see a bottle in here, so you’re already forgiven for the shoddy packaging.”
They all laughed as Ben pulled the bottle out to take a good look at it. “Rum. One of my favorite brands to boot.”
Todd sat back down and said, “Well, I figure you probably have a dozen or so more on board, so I thought maybe after dinner we could use that one to celebrate your birthday as well as Simon’s return.”
“Absolutely fabulous idea, boss,” replied Ben as he winked at Simon, who had just looked over from the stove where he was sautéing a sizzling pan of Brussels sprouts.
Ben dug back into the box. “Ohhhhh, now this is a real beauty,” he said as he pulled a folded Hawaiian shirt from the bottom. “If I’m not mistaken, this is the original pattern from the first Hawaiian shirt ever made.”
“Not only are you not mistaken,” replied Todd. “But that is an original. Authentic, from the first run ever made.”
Ben’s eyes opened wide as he looked back and forth from the shirt to Todd. “Where did you find this?”
“My grandparents took a trip to Hawaii years ago. They stopped at a famous Hawaiian shirt store where they sell collectable ones. He thought that one was cool and liked the history of it. I couldn’t think of a better person than you to have it.”
“Awww, c’mere, kid,” said Ben as he made his way out from behind the table and gave Todd a bug hug. “Now, hurry up with dinner,” Ben said to Simon over Todd’s shoulder. “And let’s get to drinkin’ the rest of my present.”
Four hours later, the dishes were put away, and the bottle Todd had given Ben stood empty in the middle of the table. Next to it stood a half-empty pitcher of margaritas Ben had whipped up from his secret stash. “Son of a Son of a Sailor” played over the ship’s intercom system, and Ben sang along. A noticeably inebriated Foggen carefully rose from his seat, found his balance and belched, “Enjoyable as this has been, I really must go regurgitate most of my after-dinner drinks and then head to bed.” Everybody laughed as Ben said, “Night, Foggen!”
Foggen stumbled his way out and off to bed as Simon took a sip from his tumbler and asked, “So, Ben, seeing as he was a bit before your time, how did you end up such a diehard Jimmy Buffett fan?”
“Well, I grew up on a farm outside a little town southwest of Milwaukee called East Troy. Down the road a bit from the farm is a large outdoor concert venue called Alpine Valley.”
“I went to a few shows there!” interrupted Todd. “Hell of a good time! How come you never told me you grew up right down the road from that?”
“Guess it never really came up.”
“Shut up, Todd,” said Simon. “I’m actually interested in this.”
Todd smiled and leaned back with his hands up, palms out. “I do apologize. Please continue, sir. ”
“Yeah, so as I was sayin’, most of the people living right by there would get side jobs workin’ a few of the shows in the summertime. Well, my folks were no exception, and Jimmy came every year. They enjoyed his shows and his fans more and more as the years went on. By the time I was growing up, his music was played in my house quite a bit. Well, as I got into my late teens, I started to work a few shows a summer and was lucky enough to be working as an eighteen-year-old when Jimmy came through on his farewell tour. Now he was up near his mid-seventies at this point, and everybody said, well, you shoulda seen him ten or twenty years earlier, but to this day—and I’m sure till the one I die—it was the best show these eyes have ever seen. I know he didn’t have the greatest voice. He wasn’t the world’s greatest guitar player. But there was just something about the atmosphere at a Buffett show. All those people havin’ so much fun. So happy before, during, and after the show. Everybody singin’ along to all his songs. Well, after that day, I was hooked, and I’ve been a fan ever since.”
Todd leaned forward with his mouth slightly agape. “Wow…now I think I love Jimmy Buffett, too.” All three of them laughed, and Ben slid down the booth and out from behind the table. “Thank you for the wonderful birthday, boys. Now that we’ve broken countless regulations about drinking aboard a ship in transit, I think it’s time for me to stumble my way back to my quarters for some shuteye.”
“Happy birthday again, Ben, and one more question,” said Simon. “You never said how old you turned.”
“Oh, never you mind, young Simon. And boys…”
“Yes, Ben?” said Todd.
“Do an old parrot head proud and finish that pitcher.”
“You got it, old man,” replied Todd.
Ben shuffled out of the room whistling “A Pirate Looks at Forty.” Todd poured a little more from the half-empty pitcher into both Simon’s glass and his own. He put the pitcher down and raised his glass with an outstretched arm toward Simon. “To getting the band back together!” he exclaimed.
“Hear, hear,” Simon responded, and th
ey both slugged down their portions.
Simon was not certain whether the moment just felt right, if it was the liquid courage in his system, or the combination of the two, but right after putting his glass down he blurted out, “And how ’bout one more for the band’s farewell tour?”
Todd grabbed the pitcher and poured some into Simon’s glass. He began pouring into his own and suddenly stopped. “Wait…” He put the pitcher down and looked at Simon from under a raised eyebrow. “What do you mean farewell tour?”
Simon took a deep breath and sat up straighter. “I have put a lot of thought into this, and I want you to know it was extremely hard for me to come to this conclusion.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Simon?” interrupted Todd, confused.
Simon looked down then back up and right into Todd’s eyes. “ This will be my last O.E.A.”
Todd just stared back at Simon, blinking. Finally, he responded, “What…the hell…are you talking about Simon?”
“This is it, Todd,” replied Simon. “Our last O.E.A. together. I have really struggled with this, but after thinking about it for months and talking it over at length with Sasha, I have made my decision. I don’t want to be away from my family for such long stretches of time, and I don’t want to constantly be in situations that I may never come home from.”
Todd’s shock was slowly turning to anger. “So what? You’re just quitting star marshals? Just like that?”
“Not quitting,” replied Simon. “I am going to request to be switched to a ground-based job. Actually, Sasha is submitting my request the next time she goes into headquarters. I don’t want to leave the marshals, I just want to stay on Earth, contribute in a safer way, and go home to my family every night.”
“Simon, this is ridiculous,” said Todd. “You are not…you can’t…NO!”
“I’m sorry, Todd,” replied Simon. “I’ve made up my mind. It’s not like I’m going away forever. We’ll still see each other plenty, and we can hang out whenever you’re home from assignments. Heck, I’ll be pissed if we don’t. Penny will love her Unky Todd.”
