Pegasus – Commander Keeler’s Study
“So, what are you people doing in my Study?” Keeler growled at TyroCommander Lear and Chief Inspector Churchill. Frankly, if it didn’t have to do with the object Ziang had given him, which Technical Core said was a data storage device of some kind, he didn’t want to know about it. For that matter, he wasn’t even sure he cared about the object.
“We’re here to discuss the security breach that occurred while we were all planet-side,” Lear explained patiently. “Three days ago I sent you a report, it was marked Maximum Importance, For Immediate Priority Review.”
“Ah, yes, the Immediate Priority, Maximum Importance Report,” Keeler poured himself a mug of hot cava, then, he poured a shot of Borealan whisky into it. “Fine piece of work, well done Executive TyroCommander.”
Lear’s left cheek twitched slightly. “Did you really read it, or did Lieutenant Alkema just give you the gist of it?”
“Exec, you’ve known me for three years. What do you think I did?” Goneril Lear sighed. “While we were on the planet Winter, an Aurelian agent slipped aboard Pegasus.”
“ Don’t we have rules against that sort of thing,” the Commander asked.
“Aye,” Lear sighed. “We believe the intruder slipped aboard with some of the crew who were returning from the Parliament Ball. You’ll recall it was Lord Brigand who insisted on sending a large delegation from Pegasus.”
“Za, I was there. I suspected something was amiss with that guy from the moment he threw the incendiaries and yelled ‘Aurelia triumphs!’”
“Apparently, the Aurelian intruder assaulted one of the Ship’s Watchmen stole a uniform and a datapad, and was able to access technical information about our ship. Subsequent debriefings with Tactical TyroCommander Redfire confirmed that the goal of the Intruder was to destroy Pegasus, or, alternately, to infiltrate the crew and betray us.”
“Dastardly!” huffed Churchill.
“The intruder proceeded through the UnderDecks. Using the Watchmen’s datapad, the intruder was able to by-pass the detection systems on those levels. Her objective was the Missile Hatcheries, where she intended to sabotage a Nemesis warhead and destroy Pegasus. ” She paused for effect.
Keeler made ‘keep going’ motions with his mug. “… and then what?”
“The intruder’s attempts to bypass the security measures in the Missile Hatchery were detected.
Anti-invasion protocols were engaged, including decompression and stun fields. Elements of the ship’s Special Watch arrived in time to take the Intruder into custody. There was minor damage to one of the warheads, but there was no breach.”
“And the Intruder?”
“She was found unconscious in the hatchery, and has been interrogated using the Truth Machines.”
“And…?”
Keeler could not tell whether Lear was disappointed or lying when she answered, “Aurelian agents apparently have a mind-wipe device implanted in their brains. When it activated, her thoughts were scrambled. She is being kept in an infirmary within Hospital Four. She cannot speak, she cannot focus for more than a few seconds on any thought. Meanwhile, the device keeps her pleasure center constantly stimulated.”
She waved a hand in the air, producing a display of the device in the Aurelian’s brain. It was a small, spider-like creature, with long, needle-shaped legs plunging deep into her cerebrum. Keeler looked at it with a mild kind of interest.
“The ship was never in any real danger,” Lear assured him. “All of our internal defenses functioned perfectly. No lives were lost.”
“Well, that’s just duck-like,” Keeler said. “So, we’ve accounted for three of the four Aurelians on board the ship we intercepted. Any idea where number four is?”
“If he is on this ship,” Lear said, smiling confidently, “we will definitely find him before he can commit any mischief.”
The Prime Commander also pardoned the Executive Commander and the Flight Commandant’s sons from disciplinary action, explaining that he just didn’t feel like it. I guess he pulled a lot of pranks himself when he was a rug monkey.
I, personally, would have whacked the kid silly. Of course, I never much cared for human children and would take any excuse to whack any of them silly. Of course, whatever Ex. TyroCommander Lear did to her whelp was probably worse.
Prudence – Hangar Bay 19
Matthew Driver looked down at his ship. Technicians had enclosed Prudence’s port side in repair scaffolding, most of her port blade had already been removed. A squad of technicians and automechanoids were in the process of restoring his ship to full operation. Driver’s eyes were narrowed and dark, as though he could feel his ship’s pain, but he seemed otherwise not too troubled.
Trajan Lear approached him from behind, dressed, for the first time ever, in a Flight Core uniform, dove gray pants and jacket with royal blue shoulders and sleeves. “Flight Cadet Trajan Lear, reporting as ordered.”
Driver did not turn around. “I understand you had your final flight examination this morning cadet.”
“Aye, sir.”
“How did you do?”
“I passed… barely,” Trajan told him. “Ninety-point-oh-one per cent proficiency.” He paused, and then asked the delicate question. “How is Prudence? ”
“Forward spars need to be replaced, port blade needs complete replacement, aft and side landing struts need reconstruction, exterior hull needs resmoothing in nine places, and the Accipiters are unsalvageable.” Matthew recited the list with less anger than Trajan would have expected. Perhaps, he was not in a punishing mood for some reason.
Trajan took a deep breath. “I apologize, sir, once again. Taking the ship without your authorization was both stupid and inexcusable. I have no right to your forgiveness, sir, but I swear by the Holy Twins, I will never dishonor you in such a way again.”
“I understand the reason you took my ship was to affect a rescue mission.”
“Aye, sir.”
“You rescued a fellow pilot in distress. How is he doing?”
“Flight Cadet Jordan was unharmed. He has, however, been expelled from flight training for one year.”
“If you had asked, I would have authorized you taking Prudence to support the rescue of a fellow pilot,” Matthew said. “You have my forgiveness.”
Trajan needed a moment for his relief to register, and some time more to actually be able to speak.
When he could speak again, he said, “Thank you, sir. Does this mean I can still come to your wedding?” Matthew turned flat. “There isn’t going to be a wedding.”
The boy was taken aback, before he could ask why not, Matthew told him why not. “She said nay.” Trajan’s incomprehension took over his face, his mouth formed an “O” and his eyebrows knitted.
“Why?”
Matthew sighed “It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Trajan was having none of it. “But … you’re the best pilot on the ship, and one of the best officers.
You’re the bravest man I’ve ever known. You’re a hero. How can she not want to be with you? Anyone would want to be with you… or be like you.”
Himself surprised by the force of the boy’s response, Matthew felt like he had to comfort him. “It isn’t her fault. And honestly, I thought it was going to be a lot harder than this. I’m sad, but not really… too sad.” Devastated was the word he was understating.
Trajan was trembling, not knowing quite what to make of this turn of events. He seemed as upset about it as Matthew had expected himself to be. “Hey,” Matthew put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right.”
“That’s good,” said Trajan finally, he tried to smile, and awkwardly clapped Matthew on the shoulder, as much to say “I’m all right,” as “I’m glad you’re all right.” Silence ensued before Trajan, staring down at the deck, summoned his courage, and laid things out for Matthew. “Once I am inducted into Flight Core, I’m supposed to be assigned to a Master Pilot, who’ll complete my training.
I was hoping… I was hoping you’d keep me on, as your Acolyte.”
“There is no way I will ever turn over Prudence to a pilot with only ninety per cent proficiency,” Matthew told him. “So, I am going to keep you around as my first officer until you get it up to at least ninety-seven.”
Trajan nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
The least interesting part of these voyages, for me, is watching the impact on personal lives. I mean, a thousand years from now, if anybody is reading about the voyages of the Pathfinder Ship Pegasus, are they going to care who was mating with whom, or whose life was getting screwed up?
Of course they will! And let’s be honest, sooner or later, Pegasus will find a colony with an intact TPT. When that happens, a certain silver and white tabby is going to find himself with either enough dirt to secure a place in eternity, or enough blackmail to live comfortably the rest of his days.
Pegasus – Independence Vivarium
Beneath peculiar trees of yellow barks and long cascades of flowery white and blue leaves, Phil Redfire and Halo Jordan bathed in warm pseudo-sunlight, trying to shake the chill of the planet still visible above the dome. They shared a bottle of wine. “How is Max?” he asked.
“Banned from flight training pending catharsis,” Jordan said levelly. “They have him in a program of Sumacian martial arts and meditation. Every other day, he gets into a simulacram and beats the rotting entrails out of Equalor and Lord Manchester… triumphing over his enemies.” Redfire nodded grimly. “Did you know what happened… on Bodicéa, I mean?” Jordan hid her eyes behind her hand. “We did know… most of it. We just didn’t have time to deal with it. Two days after we rescued Max, the Aurelians destroyed the entire town and came after our base camp. We had to break for it… we spent months fighting our way north with the Aurelians dogging us most of the way before we lost them. By the time we reached the base, we really didn’t have much concern about catharsis … and besides, Max seemed to be okay.” She sighed. “He’s very glad you didn’t kill Manchester. He’s glad you beat him up, and he’s glad Manchester is dead, but he’s mostly glad it’s not because of him.”
“He a good kid,” Redfire said, taking her hands. “A good, tough kid. I’d be honored to have him as a son… if you would take me back.”
She shook her head. “That is not going to happen. I’m sorry.”
“Neg, Halo, listen. This whole adventure just taught me that the boys need a father-figure, and I need them to anchor me. I was ready to go along with the Aurelian. I don’t know whether it was the drugs, or the deprivation, or …” Best not to mention the sex. “… or whether I thought I could trick them long enough to save the ship. When she told me I would have to prove my loyalty by killing Sam and Max… I lost it. The whole ship could have been destroyed because of me, but I didn’t care. At that moment, I just wanted to kill her.”
Jordan put down her wineglass. “On Bodicéa, I had to kill, more than once, to protect them. Do you know why Mercuria chose them, instead of me, or someone else?”
“I am not close to many in the crew,” he said regretfully.
“Because they’re children,” she answered. “Aurelians hate children. Aurelians are obsessively focused on self-gratification. When you have children, they have to come first. Aurelians don’t understand the concept of selflessness for the sake of another generation. Ultimately, it’s why we will win.” Redfire set his wine down so hard the glass cracked.
“What?” Jordan asked.
“I had a vision,” Redfire whispered.
Jordan sighed. She had put up with a lot of this in the past. “You’re not a precog. You’re not a Sumacian. You can’t see the future.”
Redfire was insistent. “I saw what would happen. If I chose to join Mercuria, the Aurelians would be defeated, but Sapphire would be destroyed.”
“And if you didn’t?”
“Pegasus is destroyed. We never reach Earth.”
“What about the Aurelians… in that case?”
Redfire shook his head. “I don’t know what happens to them. Maybe I never find out.” She caressed him lovingly. She was a much older woman now, he had to remember, and the love in her touch was almost motherly. “Phil, I know you were on a drug, and you were meditating to try to escape. Naturally, your mind created something. Do you really think the whole future of our ship, and of the Aurelian War is based on one choice? It’s your ego, Phil. Your problem is you want some big huge, altruistic, go-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory sacrifice you can make to redeem all your sins. Hardly anybody gets that chance. The best most of us can hope for is that a lifetime of small, selfless acts will add up to enough to carry us over.”
She kissed him gently on his cheek, and whispered. “You’ve never had any problem thinking big. Try thinking intimate. You’ll never have to sacrifice yourself to save the ship, but you can sacrifice part of your life to help Sam and Max grow into strong, good men. Think about that.” Eliza Jane Change’s Quarters
Eliza Jane Change rolled over in her bed.
She was not happy, and she was not sad. She still fell rotten about Matthew, and the feeling of relief that she would no longer have to pretend to be trying was not quite enough to lift her spirits.
She gathered the sheets around her, making a cocoon. Pegasus would not leave orbit for a few more days, and she firmly believed that any more time spent examining the data from the object Ziang had given Keeler would be wasted. If he asked her one more time what it meant, the answer would be the same. It was really nothing.
She felt a slap on her buttocks, rolled over to see Eddie Roebuck, naked, coffee-and-cream skin glistening, teeth as white as hospital porcelain. “Hey, beautiful, how ‘bout just a little slap and tackle, before I knock on down to the bar…” He wrapped his arms around her. “Actually, forget the bar, it’s not every day a man gets to lay around in bed with the most beautiful woman on the ship.” The third crew member we lost not as a casualty, but as a result of, in my opinion, bad personal choice.
Pegasus – Hangar Bay 11
Gotobed stood before the hatch of the Aves Leo. Leo was destined to be the last Aves to fly to and from the planet Winter from the Pathfinder Ship Pegasus. “I suppose this is goodbye, Commander.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Keeler asked.
“The Parliament Ball voted to conditionally endorse contact with Sapphire and Republic, but someone needs to serve as liaison. They have voted to accept me.” Her eyes got hard. “There also may be one loose Aurelian down there.”
“What are your plans?”
“I think it will take some adjustment. It will take fifty years for the first Phase II ships to come. I’ll have a lot of time to get to know the people.”
“Are you going to take on one of those ridiculous sobriquets the inhabitants of this planet have adopted?”
“After that, I’ve been mulling over some alternative names … What do you think of Tess Turbo, or the Countess Margarita von Firstenbed?”
“I think your existing name will fit in fine.”
“I may be exchanging it for the title of Lady Tyronius.”
This took him by surprise. “Really?”
“I have always had an attraction to powerful, confident men,” she purred. “The Deacon Blackthorn is going to perform a marriage ritual.”
“How long have you known this guy? Three weeks?”
“If I have learned anything on this planet, it’s that time is relative…a very demented relative, the kind you keep locked in the basement and don’t tell anyone about.”
Keeler nodded. “Ah, you’ve already begun losing your mind. That should help.” They shook hands and she turned toward the ship. She did not turn back. Suddenly, the voice of Shayne American came over his commlink. “Commander, I have another passenger requesting transport to the surface. We will hold Leo on the pad.”
He felt someone’s hand over his eyes. A voice whispered, “Bob Dole thinks you’re sexy.” He turned and found himself engulfed in an
all-over body hug. It was Lady Goldenrod. “And just who is this ‘Bob Dole,’ of whom you speak.”
“Figure from Old Earth mythology. Spoke of himself in the third person. Lived to be nine hundred years old and had an erection every day of his life. He’s kind of a patron saint around here.” A young man was standing next to her, his uniform entirely unkempt, his hair a mess, and smears of strange oils and potions on his face.
“Toto?” Keeler burst incredulously.
His pilot blushed and grinned, the kind of grin that a hard blow to the face with a shovel wouldn’t have wiped off. “Flight Lieutenant Blade Toto, reporting… sir.”
“Oh, Commander, your ship is incredible… and your boy… why this boy was simply magnificent, ” Goldenrod gushed. She was wearing Toto’s flight jacket… and not much else.
Keeler looked back and forth between the boy and the woman.
“Blade Toto?”
“Oh, yes,” Goldenrod gushed. “Trust me, Commander, he has been rode hard and put up wet. You don’t need to worry about this one. When Lady Goldenrod makes a man out of a boy, they stay made.”
“Indeed,” Keeler said, for the first time in days, he felt like laughing. “Toto, dear, dear Toto, I fear Lady Goldenrod has spoiled you forever.”
“How do you mean, sir?”
“Are there any women on this ship who can ever compare?”
A look of genuine concern crossed Toto’s features. Goldenrod put a hand on his chin and turned his face toward hers. “Oh, don’t you fret, honey. There aren’t.” She gave Toto one last kiss, an intense, passionate lip-lock that went on longer than a bureaucrat with a speech impediment reciting the Republic Public Service Pledge. She then pulled away, and, still turning to wave and shake herself at him, made her way into the ship. When she was on board, the hatch closed.
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