Mission to Sector ZZ1219

by Jerry D. Young

  With the redhead under tight control, he turned her to Willi. “Marilyn, I would like to introduce you to my sister, Evangeline Richardson.”

  “Sis, this is Miss Marilyn Monroe. My fiancée.”

  Willi, pleased suddenly that the woman was Johnny’s sister, was a bit put out when the woman said, obviously disappointed, “Oh. You’re being Sir Guy, aren’t you? You’re on another mission. I hate it when you are doing all that superspy stuff. When are you coming home for a while? We all miss you, you know.”

  That, Willi could understand, and even felt a bit of sympathy.

  “I will explain, but later, Evie. We need to get moving. Scanlon.”

  “Oh, no,” sighed Evangeline. “Not there again.”

  “Yes. Now get us moving.”

  Another sigh and Evangeline floated toward the flight deck.

  Johnny just shook his head when both Sydney and Clyde drifted forward, obviously intent on getting acquainted with his sister. Evie could take care of herself around flirtatious men, so Johnny decided to not intervene. Evie did not like it when he did. Usually, anyway.

  Cherokee, on the other hand, went looking for the rest of the crew. He was not about to pass up an opportunity to check out a Speed Demon III.

  Johnny eased back into one of the comfortable seats and strapped in. Normally he would be doing a few things until the acceleration began, but the way he was feeling at the moment, he did not want to risk any knocking around. And if Evie was in the mood to show off to two Space Navy Lieutenants, she just might make the transition to full gravity flight a bit more quickly than usual, such as when she had paying guests aboard.

  Seeing Johnny’s wince, Willi went looking for some food and water. With the heavier than normal use of the pain medication injector, he was going to need something in his system.

  She luxuriated in the real smile Johnny gave her when she handed him a free fall meal and water bottle before strapping into the seat beside him.

  “Thank you,” Johnny said. And then nodded at her in the seat. “Smart woman. Evie might just show off a bit for your brother and Clyde. She is not immune to a couple of handsome young men, despite her attempts to prove otherwise.”

  Willi just grinned. And then grinned more widely when the craft maneuvering warning chimed and they went into hard acceleration right off the bat.

  “I think I am going to like your sister,” Willi said then.

  “You would,” Johnny replied, trying to sound disappointed, but failing. He was rather fond of her, himself.

  Willi let Johnny eat. It took him a while, as he was obviously in thought as he consumed the meal mechanically. He checked his communicator regularly, but from the quick return of it to the hiding place she still could not figure out, he had not received anything he was obviously expecting.

  Not even realizing she was as tired as she was, since she had slept on the shuttle, Willi suddenly woke up, not having noticed she was doing it, as she had begun to doze off.

  She grunted slightly when she started to get up. “We are at more than one-gee,” she said, looking over at Johnny. He was braced carefully in his seat. “Way more,” she added.

  “Yes,” Johnny replied, this smile rather more wan than the one he had gifted her when she fed him. “I checked with the others and asked their permission first, and when they all agreed, I asked Evie to push it. To two point two gees. That is about all I can handle, I discovered.”

  “Oh, Johnny,” Willi said softly. “I will go ask her to…”

  “I would rather you didn’t,” Johnny said, interrupted her.

  She was able to get up and make it to the ship’s head and back, but she was panting a bit when she dropped back into the seat. “I will never, ever, gain weight,” she muttered.

  Johnny managed a chuckle. But that was all. As Willi buckled in again, for basic safety on a high-speed flight, in case the ship had to maneuver to avoid anything in their path, it suddenly occurred to her what Johnny had said when he asked her not to ask Evie to slow the acceleration. “He did not ask me not to,” she thought to herself. “He said he preferred I not.”

  His eyes were closed and Willi studied his face while she had the chance. “That is a major change, for him,” was her next thought. “Hm…”

  Apparently, Johnny was one of those people that seemed to sense when someone was looking at him, she decided, for he stirred only a moment later and cut his eyes over to her. “Something up?” he asked quietly.

  “No,” Willi hurried to say. “Just exercising my neck. Been a while since I have been under two gees.”

  Johnny smiled, checked the communicator, put it away, touched the pain controller, and then closed his eyes again. When his hand lifted, rather slowly, to the armrest of the seat, Willi took it firmly in hers. She saw the smile widen slightly, and then Johnny was asleep. Thankfully.

  It took two days, with most of it under two point two gees acceleration. The last third of the trip, however, was deceleration at two point four gees, which Johnny, at Willi’s insistence, slept through with enough pain medication to keep him from hurting, and keep him asleep. He did make Willi promise to bring him out of it with a dose of the counter-active medication the medication dispenser also carried.

  The others, for the most part, also slept for most of the trip, due to the high gee forces. The short periods of one gee allowed everyone to do what was needed, without the stresses of the high-speed travel.

  Willi was about ready to apply the medication to bring Johnny out of his slumber a few minutes after Evie notified everyone they were approaching their destination, now coasting closer at slow speed, putting everyone in zero-gee conditions.

  But Johnny had timed his last pain medication well. He was already coming around on his own. Willi watched him carefully for any signs of distress. When he winked at her, she blushed, and said, “I take it you are okay, then.”

  “Very much so, Marilyn,” Johnny replied.

  Willi turned in her seat when she heard Evie speak behind her. “Johnny, I thought the others might want to see our approach to Scanlon…”

  “Yes, I suppose they might. It is rather out of the ordinary.”

  That was all it took for the others to float over to the view ports rather quickly, including Willi. She was used to being around and in the large Gravity Wheel ships that the trader families used, as well as some other private enterprises, and government agencies to a much less of a degree. Almost all government facilities were planetary based, or on High-Mass-Core Moon-Ship bases orbiting planets.

  Only the military had a few free space bases, and they were few and far between. And when the others saw the Scanlon deep, free space facility, they realized, after a bit, that it would dwarf even the largest free space military base.

  Only as they came closer and could see some other ships near the facility to get a true perspective of relative size, did the rest realize just how big the place was.

  Sydney turned wide eyes on Johnny. “That’s… That’s… That’s a High-Mass-Core Moon-Ship base!”

  Johnny shook his head. “Look closer. I think you will see the gravity wheel, turning slowly. It is gravity wheel ship. Just very large, and with the entire framework of the ship enclosed, not just the wheel support section.”

  “Just how big is that thing?” Cherokee asked, awed despite himself.

  “Only three times the standard dimensions of the Type Three gravity wheel ships,” Johnny said. Willi turned to look at Johnny when he absently added, “Which does, of course mean nine times the volume inside the framework. Which is all used, unlike the standard gravity wheel ships.” Willi saw him looking at his communicator.

  He let himself float out of his seat, and a flick of a foot had him headed for the flight deck. Willi left the others to their excited discussion of the Scanlon facility to follow Johnny into the flight deck. Easing to a stop, she floated beside Johnny as Evie and her co-pilot went through the docking procedures.

  The Speed Demon III did no
t do an external dock. Like other gravity wheel ships, the Scanlon facility had a pair of flight decks ‘above’ and ‘below’ the flight deck bays located outside the wheel framework on opposite sides of the gravity wheel.

  Evie eased the ship inside, and brought it to a gentle stop, perfectly placed for the grappler arms to latch onto the connection points on the Speed Demon III. Looking ‘up’, Willi saw a flight deck bay airlock door opening, and the arms began to lift the craft inside the bay.

  When it reached the appropriate point, another set of grapplers took hold, and the external ones retracted so the airlock bay door could close. It took a few minutes to re-pressurize the bay so they could exit the craft without resorting to space suits to make the transfer inside the main part of the ship.

  Willi had to hide her chuckle when at least a dozen men suddenly showed up, apparently just to see Evie. “I hate this place!” Evie mouthed to her brother, which Willi saw.

  When Sydney and Clyde went to ‘protect’ Evie, Willi started to call them back, but Johnny smiled and shook his head. “They might actually come in handy for her. Let’s go see Commodore Scanlon.”

  “Commodore Scanlon?” asked Cherokee, who had decided to tag along. “I didn’t think there were any Scanlons. Didn’t the family line stop when…”

  “Jennifer,” prompted Willi.

  “Yes. When Jennifer married the Sandusky guy? She was the last relative of the man that created Scanlon. I can’t remember his name either.”

  “Quincy,” supplied Johnny. “And that is true. It is a courtesy title, if you will, for the commanders of Scanlon Galactic’s outlying facilities.”

  “They have more than one of these?” Willi gasped.

  Johnny chuckled as they drifted down a corridor. Every once in a while someone would greet Johnny by name. Usually as Sir Guy. But Willi noted one woman ease up her progress as they approached. “Well, hello there, Johnny? Staying long this time? I wouldn’t mind…”

  “Tabitha, let me introduce you to my fiancée, Miss Marilyn Monroe. We’ll have to catch up later. All of us.”

  A frown appeared on the woman’s face, but it was gone as quickly as it formed. She gave a curt nod to Willi, but pushed off again, heading the direction from which Johnny and the others had come.

  Johnny just shrugged when Willi looked over at him. “Guess I can’t say much,” she thought to herself. “It isn’t like it doesn’t happen to me once in a while.” However, after the fifth time, she was beginning to revise the thought. But they reached their destination and Willi turned her attention to the man that greeted Johnny.

  Willi was trying to remember the last time she had seen anyone with only one leg. Prosthetics could be produced for almost any need. It was seldom a person went without one.

  Her attention went back to the man’s face as he spoke. “Well, well, well, there son. I see you have banged yourself up once again.” Then he turned piercing gray eyes on Willi. “And seemed to have snagged the most eligible young lady in the galaxy as your wife-to-be.”

  When he addressed her, before Johnny or she either one could speak, he surprised her even more than his comment about her eligibility. “And as pretty as her momma.”

  Although it seemed to be next to impossible in free fall, he made a bow to Willi. “Miss McKindrick, it is my pleasure to finally meet you.”

  Willi turned wide eyes to Johnny. “Now, now, Miss McKindrick. I will address you as Marylin in public. But the boy here, Johnny-O, has made himself a good match. A very good match.”

  His eyes went back to Johnny. “It is good to see you, Johnny-O. Truly.”

  “Thank you, Commodore. It is good to be here. How is your leg?”

  Willi could hear the concern I Johnny’s voice. But the Commodore slapped his one leg and chuckled. “Well, not so good, there boy. It’ll be coming off in a couple of weeks. Just waiting for some down time, now that this order is completed.

  “Never been much of one to go planetside. Don’t even like the bases much. I’ll take zero-gee anytime. So it is not much handicap for me.”

  The Commodore saw the stricken look on Willi’s face. “Now don’t you fret girl. It has been a done deal for a long time now.” His eyes cut to Johnny, and then back to her. “’tis thanks to the lad here that I have kept it as long as I have.

  “When I lost the other, and damaged this one, Johnny-O here got me out of that fighter and into the sickbay before I could bleed out like a stuck hog. Don’t rightly know what a stuck hog is, but that is what the doc told me. Said what the boy did saved my life for sure, and the leg, at least for a while. She said it would have to come off eventually, unless something new came along that prevented it. Or I got killed first.”

  Willi’s eyes widened. But the Commodore smiled. “She was a pretty one back then. And more beautiful now. I married her, you know.” His eyes went back to Johnny. “Also thanks to this one. And she is just as feisty now as she was then.”

  “Commodore, if I can get a word in edgewise, I would like to formally introduce my fiancée.”

  “Well, carry on man. What are you waiting for?” The Commodore winked at Willi. “Always something with this one. Have to watch him like a long-range scanner.”

  Seeing him take what appeared to be a casual glance around, Willi did the same as Johnny. She checked to see if anyone else was near, besides Cherokee and the Commodore.

  “My, my,” said the Commodore. “She is a good one, isn’t she?”

  Johnny smiled and nodded. Then he made the introductions. “May I present Miss Whil… Willi McKindrick, Commodore. And Willi, this is Commodore Scanlon, also known in unofficial capacities as Wolfgang Quincannon.”

  Willi had to turn and look when she heard Cherokee’s quick intake of breath. She saw him stand tall, one foot hooked to a zero-gee stanchion, and salute the Commodore. “Sir, it is an honor to see you again! Semper Fi!” His hand went to his forehead in a smart salute.

  “Hello Gunny. Didn’t recognize you there for a minute.” The Commodore grinned. “And you obviously did not recognize me at first, either.” He gave a sharp salute, and Cherokee snapped his arm down likewise.

  “I take it there is a story here,” Willi said. And realized that it was one she might not hear, when both the men looked at Johnny.

  “Not up to me,” Johnny said.

  The Commodore and Cherokee looked at one another, and, Willi thought, seemed to have a conversation with their eyes. “I am sorry, Marilyn,” Cherokee said softly. “That is still a classified event. I cannot talk about it. I might never be able to.”

  “Likewise, Miss McKindrick,” added the Commodore. But he gave Johnny a long look, which Johnny, as usual, ignored.

  Willi nodded in understanding. It was another of the Johnny Oneshot legends that apparently was less legend and more fact. Then Johnny spoke again.

  “Commodore, I am sure you are well aware of what has happened, aside from my short communique. And so understand our need to expedite things.”

  “I do, boy, I do. And I am mighty proud of what you three, plus the others, have done to help keep the Confederation on an even keel. And applaud this… whatever this plan of yours is. I don’t suppose…”

  “Sorry, Commodore. No.”

  Willi’s eyes widened at the quick negative response. But the Commodore simply grinned. “Yes. Didn’t think so.”

  Turning, the Commodore drifted quickly through a hatch into a long corridor. Johnny followed, indicating for Willi to follow, with Cherokee behind her.

  Willi had to admit, the Commodore was fast. But the three following him had no problem keeping up with him. Even when he would make a right-angle change of direction, any direction, as they did them all, up, down, right, left, or variations there-of, depending on their orientation with the ship.

  They finally arrived at a huge open manufacturing space. Willi gasped at the sight. She even saw Cherokee’s eyes open wider. And saw the pride in the Commodore’s face. And the appreciation on Johnny’s.
/>   “Well done, Commodore. Well done. As always. I take it the others are to spec as well?”

  “Of course, Sir Guy,” the Commodore said rather formally. Willi noticed several people drifting over. Some in work coveralls, and some in supervisory clothing, with a computer display on one arm.

  “Sir Guy,” said three of them. The fourth, another woman, Willi noted with annoyance, simply eyed him, glanced at Willi, and then looked back at Johnny, to give him what Willi considered a way too familiar nod of recognition.

  “Thank you all for the speedy work,” Johnny said addressing them all equally. “I know this has been an arduous task to produce so much at such high quality in such a short time. Rest assured that I will see to it that there are bonuses all around.”

  The four, including the woman, Willi noticed, exclaimed excitedly. After a motion from the Commodore, the four each touched a nearby stanchion and drifted off.

  “You realize that you have no need to do that, Johnny,” the Commodore said softly. “The payment was more than sufficient. Scanlon will be handing out bonuses, anyway.”

  “I know, Commodore. But everyone has really gone far beyond what had to be done. Scanlon has very good people, all committed to the Confederation, just as you, yourself are. And those Earth-side that support my efforts.”

  “I know. I know,” the Commodore replied, shaking his head slightly. No need to even say it. ‘It is only money. And I have enough to handle it.’ You have said it often enough.”

  Willi and Cherokee looked out at the workspace again. “Wait a minute,” Willi suddenly said. “Do you mean you are buying these Dominators? This isn’t a military contract? These are yours?”

  “Well…” Johnny said, that sardonic grin she had not seen in a while, back. “Temporarily. I will be delivering them to the military sometime. After they are thoroughly tested.” Johnny’s face hardened. “Put through their paces, as needed.”

  Then he turned to the Commodore, and asked, “The liner ready to take everything ordered on board?”

  The Commodore tried to look affronted, but did not quite pull it off. “Of course.”