by A. C. Ellas
Cai, as an Astrogator, was completely wired with neurologic circuitry. Without Synde, he could not function. He’d burn his brain to a cinder the first time he tried to fly his ship. Without Synde, there would be no Astrogation. No jumps. No space travel at anything other than a sub-light crawl. Cai’s insides had been bathed in massive doses of raw Synde before he’d even started training as an Astrogator. Now, he hardly took a moment to consider his addition. Synde was in almost everything he ate or drank. His six saw to that, of course.
The tea steadied his nerves, or time away from Nick did, but once he’d drained the glass, he felt well enough to return to his console. The XO was in his quarters already. Steele was back in his rooms, too. Cai handed the empty glass to Si-el and expressed a desire for a refill. The adjunct glided out of the room. Cai brooded before his screens, thinking about Nick Steele.
Chapter Four: The Briefing
The briefing was scheduled for seventeen hundred hours. At sixteen-forty, Nick walked into the conference room. He set the black case containing their orders on the table. Next, he picked up a handset and called Cai. “Astrogator, if you would care to join us in the forward conference room?”
“On my way, Captain. Thank you.” Cai’s voice was neutrally polite.
Nick had to admire Cai’s control even as he wished for some hint of affection from the Gator. He mentally shook his head and glanced at his assembling officers. All officers, lieutenant rank and above, were required to attend this briefing and the room already felt crowded, compared to how empty it had been earlier.
His XO had walked in a minute after he had. There was already a gaggle of lieutenants present, but neither of the sub-commanders had shown yet. According to the shipnet’s clock, it was now sixteen-fifty. They had ten minutes. Nick casually leaned against the bulkhead, arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t want to sit down as of yet—it created more of an impression on his men if he stood. The leaning wouldn’t detract from that impression.
A few more officers trickled in, followed by the two sub-commanders. Sixteen-fifty-five, the shipnet told him. All the officers were present now, except for Cai. Nick continued to stand at the front of the room silently. He would wait for the Astrogator before beginning the briefing. He just hoped Cai wasn’t late, though realistically, there was absolutely nothing Nick could do about it if he was.
A momentary wave of relief washed through him when Cai walked into the room with two whole minutes to spare. Cai nodded to him and took up position on the other side of the large screen that dominated the forward bulkhead of this room.
At seventeen hundred hours exactly, Nick stepped forward. “Thank you all for your prompt attendance. Before we get to our orders, I think introductions are in order. As you may or may not be aware, my name is Nicholas Steele. My last posting was the Scarlet Dragon, where I was forced to take command after the tragic deaths of my senior officers.” He looked at the XO next. “Commander?”
The XO, an older man with greying black hair, craggy oaken-brown features and piercing black eyes stood. “I’m Juan Cortez, the XO. I think I’m supposed to provide the perspective of age and experience to this young group. I’ll do my best. My last posting was the Dashing Fox.”
Cai spoke up. “With both the captain and I being so new to the job, I’ve no doubt that your experience will come in handy.”
Nick snorted softly but didn’t disagree. He’d no doubts that Cai was merely being polite. Commander Cortez was something of a legend, in that he was the oldest, most senior commander in Space Corps history, having been passed over for promotion to captain at least a dozen times. The commander didn’t have a bad record at all, from what Nick had already read of his file, there seemed to be no reason for the lack of advancement.
Cortez sat down and the next man, one of the sub-commanders, stood in turn. “Jack Kenison, Wing Commander and ship’s security. We won’t have any marines posted with us, but we did get a platoon of flyers.” He was a hard-looking man, probably a marine officer seconded to the Space Corps. His red-brown hair was spacer short, his jaw square, his nose—mashed by one fight or another, and his slanted eyes were cold and black.
“Thank you, Sub-Commander. I hope our orders shed some light on our lack of a marine presence,” said Nick.
The next man stood easily and grinned. “Edward Harve, your chief engineer. Last posting was the Sea Serpent.” Harve was short and wiry, his hair was black and tightly curled, his eyes a dark chocolate brown, his skin a smooth, creamy milk chocolate brown.
“I am certain we’ll be spending time together,” said Cai. “I maintain the navnet personally.”
“Excellent news, sir.” Harve inclined his head and sat down.
The lieutenants were next, followed by the medical officers and the senior noncoms. Finally, when all the introductions were over, Nick gestured to the black case on the table. “Astrogator, would you do the honors?”
“Certainly.” Cai stepped forward and opened the case, placing the lid flat on the table. Within the case, a half-spherical crystal sat nestled in foam. It was probably wasteful of neurological circuitry to do it this way, but it was certainly secure and it was traditional. Cai picked up the crystal with his left hand, turned it a little and then mated the depression in the flat base to the crystal embedded in his right palm.
Cai’s eyes first unfocused then closed and the half-sphere glowed a deep blue as it was activated. The viewscreens around them, including the large forward screen, flicked to life. The first thing Nick noticed was that Cai was able to access the shipnet without being physically connected, something he’d thought was impossible. Sure, wireless networks were commonplace on Earth but not on a Space Corps ship. Wireless networks were too easily interfered with. Hard wire was the rule on any warship.
The forward screen showed a section of the Orion Nebula, namely Barnard’s Arm. Other screens showed orders specific to the various sections of the ship, but what Nick was most interested in were the overall guiding orders. They were to return to the Tarasch system and complete the mapping begun by the new Astrogator. Admiralty wanted the system mapped out and predictable. Since Tarasch was linked to so many other systems, it made good sense, for the fleet would benefit from the time saved using a Tarasch transit.
Once the mapping was complete, they were to report to Hevetich for further deployment as needed with the Fourth Fleet. Nick nodded to himself. The orders weren’t exactly a surprise to the captain; he’d expected something along those lines for a shake-down crew. His gaze drifted back to Cai. Admiral Becher had mentioned that Laughing Owl would be overpowered with Cai as his Gator, and that was becoming less of a philosophical idea and much more a concrete fact in Nick’s mind. If Cai could access the shipnet without a physical connection, what else could he do?
“Well, that seems cut and dry to me. Any questions?”
Cortez grunted. “Nice of them to give us time to settle in before really laying us on the line.”
The glow within the crystal died and Cai set it casually back into the case. “Our orders are loaded into the shipnet. The individual operating instructions have been routed to the section stations and hard copy exists now in three places per regulations.”
“Does anyone have any questions?” Nick looked around the room expectantly, but nobody raised a hand. After a minute ticked by in silence, he said, “Very well. Settle in, see to your stations, make sure the crew assigned to you has what they need. Dismissed.”
As the officers began to file out, Nick asked Cai, “Do you plan to jump us directly to Tarasch? That’s a long jump, isn’t it?”
Cai turned and tilted his head back, studying the image of Barnard’s Arm that was still on the screen. “I think the most efficient route would be via Procyon. The Tarasch system is still being disrupted by a solar storm. I’d prefer to give it more time to settle.” Cai shrugged a shoulder.
“You’re the expert,” Nick conceded. “How complete is your mapping of
Tarasch?”
“Very. All the way to being able to predict flares and storms. This mission should not take long.” Cai closed the black case. “I will store this.”
“Of course and thank you.” Nick glanced around the room. They were alone now. “May I invite you to dinner? I have some fresh food; it won’t keep for long.”
Cai’s blue eyes bore into him, and Nick wondered if he was moving too fast again. Abruptly, the Gator asked, “Fresh food? You cook?”
“Yes, I enjoy cooking. It’s a hobby of mine.”
“What time?” Cai’s eyes unfocused for a moment. “We’re not scheduled to depart until tomorrow.”
“Oh, say, twenty hundred?”
“I’ll be there,” Cai told him. He nodded and swept out of the room.
Nick returned to his quarters to start preparing dinner. Luckily, he did have a small kitchen in his suite of rooms. It wasn’t much, but it would do. The first thing he did was prepare the bread, kneading the ingredients into a dough ball that he covered with cheesecloth and set aside to rise. Next, he worked on the meat, rubbing a spice mixture into it and setting it back in the cooler when he was done. Vegetables were washed and sliced, chopped, minced and otherwise transformed into side dishes and a salad. Nick kept an eye on the time, always the enemy of the chef. He didn’t want to disappoint Cai.
* * * *
I’m not sure this is a good idea, Cai thought as he approached Nick’s door. He’d almost called and canceled a dozen times, and a dozen times he’d talked himself back into it. He wanted to see more of Nick, not less, and the lure of real fresh food, he couldn’t say no. Reaching the captain’s quarters, he paused. He could just walk right in, as Astrogator, there was no door on the ship that he couldn’t open with a thought. But that would be rude. Each door had a scanner plate attached. Cai set his right hand on the plate. Instead of sending the open command, he sent the call command, which would alert the occupant of the room that someone was at the door.
He didn’t have to wait but a moment or two before Nick opened the door. The aroma of the food wafted out and Cai swallowed back a sudden mouthful of saliva.
“Please, come in,” Nick said, standing back. There was a definite twinkle in his eye, as if he’d noticed Cai’s reaction to the savory scents.
“Thank you,” said Cai as he stepped inside.
Nick led him through the working spaces back into the more private areas. Stopping in the living room, he offered a bottle for Cai’s inspection. “Wine?”
Cai inspected the label; it was a sweet red with Synde. The drug made a potent additive to anything alcoholic, not only enhancing taste, but also giving the user a euphoric high. Under normal circumstances, it took years and years of abuse of it to become addicted to Synde, and it wasn’t a drug one built up a tolerance to, so even if one did become addicted, it wouldn’t bankrupt a person or even adversely affect their health. As a result, it was immensely popular among civilians. “You use?”
“On rare occasion. But I know you need it, and I don’t use it to cook with.” Nick’s expression was one of understanding verging on sympathy.
“Thank you.” Cai handed the bottle back to Nick. “I’d like some.”
Nick popped the cork and set the bottle back in the ice bucket. “We’ll just let that breathe for a bit while we eat our salads.” He carried the bucket into the small dining area built onto his equally small, but functional, kitchen. He seated Cai at one of the two place settings then brought out the salad.
Cai was impressed by the salad. Crisp greens, ripe tomatoes, cool cucumbers, tangy carrots, flavorful radish shavings and all of it fresh and bursting with flavor. The croutons and salty, crumbly white cheese were the perfect additions to the vegetables, as was the herb-infused oil and vinegar dressing.
The meal got even better from there. Pan-seared steak with mushrooms, steamed broccoli drizzled with melted cheese, real mashed potatoes and, on top of it all, a perfect dinner companion. They discussed everything from their opinions on Earth politics to admiralty to the state of the galaxy. Nick was charming, funny and very proper the entire time. Dessert was sweet custard topped with berries in whipped cream. Cai would rather have had Nick for desert, but he refused to bring up their mutual attraction yet again. All it would do was cause heartache over what could not be.
Chapter Five: Departure
The crew was aboard and accounted for. The airlock was sealed. The mighty fusion-ion engines were fully warmed up. The magnetic containment fields around the ship’s singularity were thrumming a song of power through Cai’s bones. On the bridge, Captain Steele was going through the last items on the departure checklist. Finally, Steele gave Cai the green light. He picked up the handset, as if Cai didn’t have his full attention on the bridge. “Take us out, Astrogator.”
Cai pulsed the station. “Orbit Control, this is Laughing Owl, departing this time bound for Tarasch via Procyon.” His course had already been logged, but safety protocol required that he state his course and destination just in case an error had been made in logging his course.
“Laughing Owl, you are cleared for departure. No traffic inbound at this time. Good luck.”
“Control, thank you.” Cai closed the connection and released the maglocks holding the ship to the docking tube. He puffed his thrusters, pushing away from the station slowly at first, but his outward momentum built with each passing moment. He turned his bow into his projected course, and as soon as he’d cleared the minimum safe distance from the station, he canceled the motion imparted by the maneuvering thrusters and accelerated under ion power.
He piled on the power, asking the engines for everything they could give him short of redlining them. Faster and faster he went, the throbbing roar of the engines matching that of his heart. On the bridge, his officers were watching the holotank, or their screens, and Cai could hear them cheering him on. They loved the speed and power of Laughing Owl as much as he did. As soon as he reached the maximum safe cruising speed for a ship of his class, Cai released his pull on the ion engines, permitting them to wind down to their normal idle. The roaring stopped but they didn’t. The Laughing Owl continued to soar through the void at precisely half the speed of light and would continue to do so forever, unless something acted to stop it. Inertia was both friend and foe.
Cai double checked his course. At his speed, he would reach the jump marker in a day, and his course steered them clear of the outer planets, though they would fly fairly close to Saturn. The crew might enjoy that, he decided and pulsed the various nets with the best time to view the ringed giant via the many sensors and telescopes aboard.
He spent a little more time on basic housekeeping, then, with the usual regret, pulled back from his synthesis with the ship. He opened his eyes in time to see the crystal array retract into the ceiling, the panels closing to hide it from view. His six were already up and moving. They helped him out of his chair—an acceleration couch, really, even if they called it a chair—and led him from the Astrogation Chamber to the dining area. Food was laid out and Cai ate with single-minded intensity, already feeling the aftershocks of the dose of raw Synde he’d consumed.
Raw Synde was much stronger than the commercially available stuff, and it was inherently poisonous, even in small quantities. But the raw, undiluted drug was what Cai, and all Astrogators, had to have to mesh his organic brains to the inorganic crystalline matrices of the ship’s various systems. His body converted the Synde by some mechanism he didn’t know to the drug called Essence. Essence was used as a cure for Synde overdose as well as being a non-addicting drug producing a pleasant high, making it very popular, much to the chagrin of the Astrogators who produced it.
He’d had a special gland implanted into him at some point that collected the Essence his body produced—it was harmful to him because he had to maintain a certain blood level of Synde to function, and Essence would bind to and remove any Synde it came across. The gland could be expressed through his b
elly button, which would actually pop out when the gland was full. He was milked at least twice a day under normal circumstances. He found the process somewhat disturbing on a sexual level, which was why he remained grateful that the source of Essence was a secret.
One of his six attached the pump to him while he ate, and he braced himself against the peculiar sucking sensation as the machine started up. He felt his groin stirring as the fluid began to flow from him. He could feel it passing out of him at the insistent urging of the pump. It felt good. He braced himself against the table and tried to lock down on his hard-on. It was disgusting that he should be turned on by this. But his body wasn’t listening.
With a gasp, he pushed away from the table and staggered into his bedroom. There, he fell across his bed, on his back, and gave himself up to the sensation of the pump. He stroked his aching hard-on in time with the machine’s thirsty action and pictured Nick in his mind.
Nick stroked his body, dropped light kisses here and there but quickly zeroed in on his belly button. His hot mouth sealed around Cai’s belly and he sucked mightily, drawing the Essence from Cai. His hands danced on Cai’s sex, tugging on his balls, stroking his cock. Cai rolled his hips, moaning in pleasure. The hold on his shaft tightened to an exquisite squeeze and he came all over Nick’s hand and arm.
Cai slit his eyes open to see Fo-Vi pulling back, the pump in one hand and the other hand wet with Cai’s semen. He grimaced, rolled over and fell asleep. It would have been so much better if it had been Nick. But that’s impossible. Isn’t it?
* * * *
Nick studied the holotank as the Laughing Owl approached the marker. Their speed was perfect, their course dead on and the jump loomed in their imminent future. The crew had enjoyed taking a look at Saturn. That was a planet one never got tired of looking at. No matter how many times Nick had seen pictures of the ringed giant, it still entranced him with its majestic beauty.