by Chris Hechtl
The Tauren nodded slowly. “That is foreseeable,” she admitted. “They will need to upgrade their industrial plants though,” she said.
“Of course. To keep up with our sort of demand definitely. To expand on it, say, to export parts to ships or even build your own shipyard …,” Shelby spread her hands apart.
“You really think we can do something like that?” Ariadne asked softly as she turned to look out the viewport.
“We're setting the example. It is a high bar, but I know others have stepped up and are achieving it in time. I think anything is possible of your people. Of any people given the right support and incentives,” Shelby said quietly.
“Does it ever end?” the Tauren asked after a long moment.
“Why? Does it have to end?” Shelby asked curiously.
The Tauren didn't answer. After a long moment, she huffed and then straightened up. “Thank you,” the Tauren rumbled. “You've given me a lot to think about.”
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
Cynthia was practically bouncing when the shuttle docked with the ship. She'd arranged it so the cutter would dock with a docking port, not land in the rather busy boat bay. She waited impatiently for the lock to engage and the system to double-check the connections before powering up and pressurizing the airlock. While she waited, she checked her preparations carefully one last time.
The lock was the closest to her quarters. She'd arranged it so the passage would be more or less deserted for the next ten minutes. Nine, she noted, checking the time.
When the exterior lock cycled, she fought not to look. Instead she monitored him through the feed as he stepped into the interior lock carrying an overnight bag. When the door closed behind him, the interior door opened.
Cynthia practically ambushed Vlad as he stepped over the knee knocker and through the lock. He laughed as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. “Eager?” he asked.
“Damn tootin'!” That earned a fresh chuckle that she only smothered with a kiss. When it broke, she grinned at him. “I need downtime in the worst way. Getting this base and stuff set up has worn me to a nub! It took a long time to get this arranged, and I'm making the best of it!” she growled.
He chuckled as he pretended to resist just enough to make her drag him along with both hands to her quarters. When they entered, she waited until the door was closed before she started to strip him. He dropped the duffle and then kissed her, running a hand through her curls as her hands fervently worked at his shirt and pants.
“What about the light …?” his laughing protests were stifled by her ardent kisses. She had plans for her to have her wicked way with him and didn't want him to see her preparations.
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The following morning, he was heartily glad and awed about the stamina their implants allowed them. Something told him the creators of the implants hadn't quite had that performance in mind when they'd engineered them. “You are an evil, evil wicked creature,” he teased as he worked at her with his hands. He sat astride her hips with a thin sheet wrapped around her legs and his to keep them slightly warm. Not that they needed it, the sweat might be gone but he was still feeling warm in a few places.
“Yup,” she said complacently, hugging the pillow as he gave her the massage. “Keep working,” she ordered huskily, almost asleep with fatigue and his ministrations. It took a lot of willpower to remain awake. She didn't want him turning the tables on her. At least, not yet, she thought with a mental grin.
“Yes, ma’am. Are we really going through with this?” Vlad asked as he rubbed her naked back and shoulders. His fingers worked at a sore spot on the small of her back, easing the knot of muscle out expertly.
“Yes,” Cynthia purred. “Now shut up and keep working.”
He snorted softly. “Getting the kinks out,” he murmured. “I should be getting this treatment, not you after what you just put me through. I'm still sore.”
“Baby,” she mocked. “That was just a taste of pent-up lust. Wait until I've had you in my clutches for a week or more.”
“Hedonist. I shudder at the thought,” he murmured.
“You mock me now but …?” she left the threat hanging.
“I give. But were you serious? We're really …?”
“Damn tootin'. We'll do it in a moment. You are not allowed second thoughts, boy,” she growled at him, turning her head to make sure he could see she was serious before she turned back and closed her eyes.
He chuckled. She turned again, propping herself up on one elbow to look at him with an arched eyebrow. He grinned down at her. “Don't you think maybe we should get dressed first?” he asked, one hand wandering down her side until she moved her arm defensively to cut off the tickling sensation. “Maybe a shower too?” he asked teasingly. She'd definitely gotten them both rather sweaty he knew.
She looked down at her naked body then up to his own and blushed as he grinned down at her. “Point,” she growled. “Up oaf, we've got to get that shower in before the boss lady gets too busy in her day,” she said, pushing him off. “You can finish later.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said as she smirked at him. That earned him a smack from her pillow. He guffawed and fended her off as they wrestled their way to the shower.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
Shelby looked up at the sound of noise outside her door. She frowned as the lock twitched then stopped and someone knocked. “Enter,” she said flatly, setting her tablet aside just as Cynthia and Vlad came in to her office. She noted Cynthia was towing Vlad by the hand. Vlad closed the door behind him.
“What is this about?” Shelby asked, eyeing the duo.
Cynthia bounced slightly, glanced at Vlad, and then grinned. “We want you to marry us,” she said.
Shelby sat back further and studied them. Cynthia was blushing ever so slightly. Vlad rubbed the back of his head. Clearly the timing wasn't his idea. “Uh, huh. What brought this on?” Shelby finally demanded, crossing her arms before her.
“She um …,” Vlad stopped when Cynthia glowered at him. He pretended to tug on his collar and then shrugged. “We just decided it was time,” he said lamely.
“Uh, huh,” Shelby drawled, drumming her fingers on her arm.
“Are you goin' to do it or not?” Cynthia demanded.
“I'm not even sure I can, considering I'm a Commodore,” Shelby reminded her gently.
“Oh, that's right,” Cynthia said, making a sour expression.
“It's okay, maybe …,” Vlad started to turn but Cynthia wasn't going to have any of it.
“Get back here, Mister,” she growled, pointing to the spot next to her. He spun back obediently.
“Do you have any idea what I had to go through to get him here in the first place?” Cynthia demanded, eyeing the commodore as she jerked her thumb to the miscreant male in their midst.
“Hmmm …,” Shelby said.
“I should have held out for more. You know, we could go back to the bedroom … ah, I mean negotiating table, though this time without the cuffs, though I didn't mind some of the teasing …,” Vlad said innocently.
Shelby couldn't help but gurgle in surprised delight as Cynthia flushed and lowered “The Look” on Vlad. He stuttered to a stop, then grinned sheepishly at her.
“Hmm, considering he just admitted he agreed under duress …,” Shelby said with a straight face, even though the duo knew she was teasing.
“He's going to be in serious duress when I get through with him,” Cynthia growled, still eyeing her partner. Vlad chuckled. Cynthia glowered at him until he sobered and then turned back to Shelby. “Even though you are a Commodore, you are still the captain of this ship. Will you do it?” she demanded.
“As long as I don't have to be convinced like you did your fiancé, sure,” Shelby said with a shrug.
“I don't know; you might enjoy …” Vlad's statement was cut off by a well-placed elbow. His obedient “Oof,” made Cynthia and Shelby each smile slightly in different ways.
<
br /> “Okay, now, when do you want to do this?” Shelby asked.
“Now!” Cynthia said, bouncing. “Before he tries to play hard to get again! I don't mind going through that again later,” she blushed. “But later,” she said, shooting a look to Vlad.
“Um ….” It was his turn to blush.
“Okay, now,” Shelby said. “Sure you don't want to go all out? White dress, do it up right …” Cynthia shook her head firmly. “Okay, then. You know some people are going to be put out over not being on the guest list. Besides, we don't have a witness,” she said.
“Really?” Cynthia challenged. She looked up. “Prometheus, get in here,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am,” the A.I. replied, appearing on the captain's desk.
“Any more excuses, ma'am?” Cynthia asked with a grin.
“Well, to be honest I've never done this before but …,” Shelby keyed a search for the procedure in her tablet. “Okay,” she said rising to her feet. “You better have rings because I'm not stopping once I start,” she warned.
“The great thing about being an engineer is, I had them made and sized,” Vlad admitted.
Cynthia turned to him in surprise. “You did? Since when?”
“I've had this in mind for a while too you know.”
“Then why did you take so long …?” Cynthia demanded, hands on her hips.
He spread his hands apart. “I wanted to. It was fun,” he said with a grin.
She glared at him for a moment. He just smirked at her. “You are so going to get it later,” she huffed as he fished the rings out of his breast pocket.
“As long as it's later and elsewhere, I'm fine with it. For the record, as your commanding officer I approve this marriage. Now, shall we begin?” Shelby asked. The duo smiled and nodded. “Lieutenant Prometheus, you've been asked here to serve as a witness.”
“Understood, ma'am,” the A.I. replied. “You know technically the regs say you aren't supposed to do this?”
“Yes. I'm doing it anyway as ranking officer of the expedition,” Shelby replied.
“Very well, ma'am,” the A.I. replied. “You two are both in accordance with this?” Both officers affirmed it. “Very well. For the record this is a legally binding social contract. You can begin when ready, ma'am,” he said.
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Shelby said dryly. “Very well,” Shelby said, settling herself as she uploaded the file she was supposed to read to her HUD. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of these two souls in …”
Chapter 34
The Kill Force and hospital tagalongs jumped into the Tau-1929 star system, making good speed in the high octaves of Gamma band without the fleet train to drag them down. They passed through the binary star system quickly on a short course for the Lebynthos jump point. When they got to the jump point three days later, they had slowed down just enough to jump.
The seven ships moved fast, disdaining a stop in favor of speed. When they exited hyperspace in Lebynthos space, they picked up the ion trail of a familiar ship that had recently approached the jump point zone they were exiting. A check of the messenger buoy in the star system recorded the recent passage of the courier ship Dancer.
“I'm glad she's back. That's good news … I hope,” newly promoted Lieutenant JG V'll'n mused from her seat at the tactical station.
“I am too. If our intel on the enemy capital ship is right, I don't want to tangle with it,” Captain Loggins said.
“Aw, come on, Skipper! Where's your sense of adventure?” the Veraxin teased.
“Right where I left it in situations like that. At home. That's not adventure; that's suicide. There is an old saying about playing with a bear when you are buck ass naked. Someone's going to get hurt, and it won't be the bear,” he said with a shake of his head.
“That is … off, Skipper,” Ensign Apulia said.
“Sorry,” the captain chuckled, turning a brief sidelong look to the holographic avatar of the ship's A.I. “Something my dad told me when I got into a fight when I was a kid and got my ass whooped.”
“Teaching you to not bite off more than you can chew?” Lieutenant V'll'n asked.
“Something like that,” the captain drawled, enjoying the banter.
“Well, I do want to point out that Admiral Irons managed to take on and defeat a pirate task force led by a BC. And all he had was a single Arboth, a couple light ships, and the late arrival of Firefly,” the Veraxin pointed out.
“That was the admiral. He might have been biting off more than he could chew too … but he also had his A.I. in the mix. I remember reading the after-engagement reports. The A.I. were what kept his ships alive. And he did lose one of them,” the captain reminded the lieutenant.
“Yes, sir, there is that,” she said, bobbing a nod.
“The flagship is transmitting to the planet,” the comm rating reported, breaking in to their idle conversation.
“Another hi, bye!” Captain Loggins said with a snort.
“With all due respect, sir, the pirates have enough of a lead. We can stop and have tea later,” Lieutenant V'll'n said.
“Well, there is that,” the captain replied with a nod of agreement.
]][#]]]{OO}===}==>
“Here we go,” Doctor Gusterson murmured, watching the feed as the two forces split up. The cruiser Kill Force was headed off to their own jump point while the hospital ship's group were parting ways to head to the Tau-23IX22 jump point. If the Asterion IX had no signs of the plague, they were going to continue on to the next stop, check, and then keep going.
He stood near the head of the table, watching the stragglers come in to the “bunker” for their weekly meeting. No one bitched about a dogma after their last planetary crisis.
“We're receiving a transmission from the Strike in the Dark,” a rating said over the intercom. The staff paused to look up to listen.
“Open the channel,” the captain ordered.
“To Mahoney and her escorts, good luck and safe sailing.”
“To you as well and good hunting,” Captain V'z'xx replied and then the intercom went off.
The doctor nodded and then turned to his staff. “You heard them. We need a bit more preparation to go with the luck however,” he said firmly. “Most likely Asterion IX doesn't have the plague but we can't go off wishful thinking. We need to pull the census data ONI assembled and tailor a program for them just in case. Run it past our inventory to see where we have holes that need to be filled in,” he ordered. Gone were the nervousness he'd felt when the journey had begun. His baptism of fire in treating the plague had burned away any lingering doubts he had in taking charge in a crisis.
“If they are fine and so is Rolling Meadows, then we can focus on preparing for the Platte cluster,” the Neogreyhound doctor said. “We've got a few new staff so we need to handle drills on how to handle each species, how to diagnose them, and how to handle them if they go code blue or become gray, then we need to work on that,” he said firmly. “Some of us can disarm with our charm, but some patients require more direct measures if they become combative. I know a few might be relatives of the patient who do not like that they aren't getting priority. We'll be taking additional classes on hand-to-hand to deal with things if they go south.” His long ears flicked. He could see a few of the nurses and SBAs groan but one or two others looked relieved. Usually those were the ones with mass issues. Considering they were going to be dealing with Tauren patients, it was inevitable that they would be out massed and would need tricks to disable an opponent other than with a trank.
“Be on the lookout for frequent fliers. Remember, anxiety is going to be very high, and they can't help it. Also, Gomers are going to need to be shifted out to long-term care once they are stabilized.”
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Tau-1252
The courier ship Dancer arrived in Tau-1252 in a minor explosion of energy. She signaled her IFF to the picket then downloaded a map of the star system. A few
minutes after entering the star system she was en route to the inner system and the second gas giant where the capital was being built.
The arrival of the courier was a relief for Shelby. The little ship transmitted some of its news as she transited the star system, along with the heartfelt request for some downtime for her crew.
While she waited for the ship to arrive with the full news, she scanned the headlines, starting with those most relevant to her. She was gratified to see that the Admiralty had taken the plague seriously and were sending her support. She worried a bit about having enough warship coverage for the ships however.
Shelby knew her people were eager for the news. She scanned the headers and then released some of the information to the various crews to devour. She read up on changes and news from Rho, but her focus was on what would impact her command at the moment.
A search by Boni found an entry that the Beta convoy had jumped from Airea 3, the time code, and was therefore on track. She had sent Dasher through the jump line with the steps on how to cure the various versions of the plague several months ago. When the courier got the data to the Trajin cluster, the hospital ships coming in from Rho would be able to start there and then work their way forward.
She wasn't certain of the timing though; that information hadn't been in the download. She bit her lip and then decided to send Blitzen to carry the news to Mahoney to let them know about the ships coming in to Trajin cluster. It was a pity that Dasher had missed the hospital ship's group in transit in her last two stops. She also hadn't updated the messenger buoys with the news of the incoming hospital ships either according to the logs she accessed. That sucked, but she'd deal with it.
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Tau-4526W
Three weeks after leaving the Tau-1183 star system, Strike from the Dark led her consorts into the outer edge of the Tau-4526W star system in an explosion of silent but bright energy. They entered the star system warily, on the outer edge of the jump zone from the star system to be wary of possible ships nearby. Fortunately, none presented themselves immediately.