Standish

by Donald B McFarlane

  When the ship docked inside one of the cavernous hangar bays, Standish checked the time and noticed that they had spent just under thirty minutes in transit. Most of it breaking orbit on Killious, and then waiting for a landing slot at the command station. Once the skids were down, the teams disembarked and filed out of the busy deck into a long, stark white corridor with ten-metre-high ceilings, and twenty-metre-wide thoroughfare. It was the most sterile environment Standish had ever seen in space.

  As they walked around, Standish couldn’t stop looking at everything and everyone that moved by. Everything was so new, so clean, so shiny. It was like a little slice of the universe that wasn’t affected by the war, somehow. Massive Sentinels and Heavy Sentinels moved by carrying huge energy weapons. Pilots walked about in their crisp flight suits that looked like they had just been made. It was quite a change of pace from the station Standish had first been assigned to above Sandura 26G.

  When they reached the quarters they were going to be using, Standish wasn’t at all surprised when she noticed that there was a considerable amount of kit and gear prep underway. The room was huge and filled with over two hundred triple stacked beds, and as far as Standish could tell, a large percentage of them already had equipment piled all over them.

  “Damn.” She said to Mils, who was standing next to her.

  “Yeah” He replied, surveying the room. “Looks like they’re getting ready for the big show.” There was a smile on his face.

  Standish dropped her kit bag on the bottom bed of the three-stacked bunk they found empty, while Mils took the top bed.

  Systa K, who had been behind them, took the central bunk. “You don’t mind if I join you?” She asked, looking at Mils and Standish.

  “Go right ahead.” Mils replied.

  Standish didn’t say anything, sitting down on her bunk, and looked around the room. She didn’t recognise anyone from her D-O course, but she could only see a small window of the room that they were in. Bringing her legs up, Standish lay back and tried to think about the mission to come, which was somewhat hard to do considering the amount of clicking and slamming and other noises associated with military gear being checked in the room.

  Closing her eyes, she kicked her kit bag down to the bottom of the bed and tried to relax, but it wasn’t long until Cryne came around to her bunk with news.

  “Twenty minutes at the south door.” Cryne knelt down next to the bunk. “Jun wants to check all the armour and weapons.”

  Standish kept her eyes closed but waved her arm casually to indicate that she understood.

  Not long to unwind and relax.

  Taking her mind away from current environment, Standish let herself drift back to the time she had spent working on Sandura, It was her happiest time in the fleet, and there was something in the back of her mind that asked the question if the mission to Vistor III hadn’t ended in a blood-bath, whether she would have continued with her plan to join D-O or stayed on Sandura.

  It didn’t really matter. The war had come for them all.

  When the time came, Mils jumped down from his top of the bunk and joined K waiting for Standish to get up and join them before heading over to the south entrance. Jun, Cryne and the rest of the team was already waiting, and without any ceremony, the team moved along the stark white corridors of the massive space station towards an enormous hallway that had rail after rail of armour loaded on them, along with racks of weapons and other specialised equipment.

  Standish marvelled at the vibrant colours that were painted onto the hundreds of suits of armour that had been applied in a variety of patterns and themes. The black and red colour scheme of Beta One-One’s armour was one of the least flashy concoctions that were hanging up, and when Standish reached her armour, she noticed the emblazoned bird of prey from Jun’s home-world on the chest of the armour.

  “Full kit-up.” Jun said in a low voice. The hallway was empty except the team. “Once you’re in, full systems check.”

  It was the usual drill. Standish started with a visual check of all her kit. She ran her hand along the exterior and interior of all the parts, checking that there was nothing off. Once she was happy, she powered on the energy cell, then checked the data-pads. It took a few seconds for all the electronic systems to come on-line. Cycling through the modes, she moved to the helmet, the most technically sophisticated component of the armour.

  Putting the helmet on, Standish waited for the systems to come on-line, then ran through the communication systems, then the optics, and finally the life-support systems. Looking up and down the hallway, Standish picked a point in the distance and checked the magnification systems, then checked the enhanced hearing systems when looking at the rest of her teammates. Even the smallest sound was now audible.

  Pulling the helmet off, she put it back with the rest of her armour, then moved to her weapons. There might not have been any power-cells on hand, but Standish was able to run through the functions tests for her combat rifle and her pistol. Everything seemed in order. Her spider charges were still in their sleeves and also in good order.

  Stepping away from her gear, she walked across the hall, put her back to the smooth white, featureless wall, and slumped down into a sitting position on the floor. Crossing her legs, she watched as the rest of the unit went about their checks. After a few minutes of waiting by herself, Systa K walked over and sat down next to her, so close that she thought it was a little odd.

  Standish looked at the team’s primary pilot. “How’s the chest?” She asked.

  K ran her hand over her chest and looked at Standish. “It’s fine, thank you.” She scooted herself closer to Standish. “The miracles of modern medicine.”

  Standish nodded in silence. The injury that Standish had sustained at the hands of that Sentinel on the mine in the AB 79 system might have been fatal had her armour not had medical nano-bots available to provide immediate life-saving care. The additional care provided by the med-belt allowed her to heal up so quickly that she was combat-capable in almost no time at all.

  Of course, her injury wasn’t as severe as the one Systa K had suffered, a giant spear through her chest should have been fatal, but she had been lucky, and fortunate that they had jumped into a quiet system. Had things been hot, there was a good chance that her wounded body would have been dumped off to the side while the remainder of the team fought their way out of whatever shit-storm they found themselves in.

  “I know what you mean.” Standish finally said.

  “Listen.” K turned and looked at Standish. “I know we’ve never really been close. You joined the team recently, and I’ve spent most of my time with other members of the team, but I was wondering if you wanted to spend some time together before we go on the mission.”

  “Sure.” Standish said dryly.

  When they made it back to the sleeping area, things had calmed down from the full-on kit check environment that they had found when they arrived. Several data-screens by the entrance to the room had information displayed on them listing the future hard-times such as briefings and meetings. Jun knew that the station had a wide variety of rest and recreation facilities, so once he spoke with Cryne about what needed to be done for the rest of the day, it was decided to cut the six junior members of the team loose, while Jun and Cryne attended the first of many briefings to come.

  Once the team was given its leave, Standish walked over to K and got her attention. “How about we go for a swim, then a sauna.”

  K nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” A smile on her face.

  Standish nodded, then looked over at her buddy Mils. “What’s your plan, big guy?”

  Mils shrugged. “Not sure. I might go lift.”

  “You sure there is enough time to recover before we launch?”

  “We’ve got seven days.” He replied. “I also saw another operator from 242, he’s in Beta Three-Six, I thought I’d seek him out and maybe train with him.”

  Standish slapped her friend on his muscular arm. “Hav
e fun.”

  Walking back to her bunk with Mils, Standish found K already pulling out her fitness kit, which substituted as swimming kit. Standish grabbed her sports kit, and once she was ready, she and K took off, Standish carrying a small data-pad in her hands to help her navigate the massive installation they were on.

  Standish wasn’t sure what kind of sleep cycle or rotation the personnel on the station were on, but there was less activity in the hallways than when they had arrived. Like all active bases, the facility was never going to be completely quiet. There would have been shifts in rotations on the station to keep all the critical systems running, along with handling security and transportation requirements while the primary fleet staff probably operated on a set rota.

  Following the directions on the data-pad, the pair walked along large hallways, smaller hallways, up flights of stairs, and even took two turbo-lifts up several levels. The farther they got from the sleeping quarters, which were located in an interior section of the station, they seemed to be working their way up in levels, and towards the skin of the station.

  “Almost there.” Standish said, half focused on the map she was trying to follow.

  “There.” K said, pointing towards a massive domed wall that showed the brilliance of the galaxy glittering in the distance.

  The pair exited the hallway they were on onto a corridor that wrapped around the hull of the station. A giant transparent dome covering the entire length of the hall that was visible. The only indication that they were on a combat station was a series of blaster cannons that were spaced along the exterior of the hull and the visible blast shielding that was in place above the transparent material that could drop into place in an emergency.

  The swimming facilities were located twenty metres down the hall and were completely empty. Picking up a set of synthetic hand towels at the entrance, the duo walked into the pool area and found a fifty-metre long pool that was ten metres wide and open to the transparent glass overhead. The lights around the pool were set to an evening setting, and were light blue, giving the entire space a very peaceful and tranquil feeling.

  Standish walked over to a series of chairs and dropped her towel, then stripped out of the jumpsuit she had been wearing, kicking her boots off, then quickly pulled on her sports kit. She knew that they were the only two in the facility, but she wasn’t sure what the protocol was for dress, so she didn’t want to stand around naked for too long.

  Walking over to the edge of the pool, Standish crouched down and ran her fingers through the top of the water. It was comfortably warm, perhaps too warm for a pool that was used for fitness, the temperature was more like a pool utilised for relaxation, which wasn’t a bad thing. Looking over at K, Standish watched as her colleague moved over to the edge of the pool a metre away, then stepped into the water, not even bothering to test it first. There was hardly a splash as she disappeared under the water, only to pop back up seconds later, her head and shoulders out of the water.

  “Not very deep.” She said, using her hands to brush her wet hair back. “And warm.”

  Standish smiled, and pivoted herself, and dropped into the water, letting herself sink to the bottom of the pool which was one and a half metres deep. Blowing out all the air in her lungs, she settled on the bottom of the pool which was covered in smooth tiles, then tilted her hair back, and stood up, the water rushing off her face as she broke the surface.

  Taking a deep breath, Standish lay backwards, floating, and looked up towards the heavens that were shining brightly above the pool. In the almost silent environment, it was tranquil and peaceful. It reminded her of swimming in the local water hole as a child back on Nadolo Prime.

  Bringing her head up, she locked her eyes on K who was floating near the side of the pool, and with a sudden and unexpected urge, she flipped onto her stomach, and swam over to her teammate, and quickly wrapped her legs around K’s waist. There was a look of surprise and anticipation in K’s eyes as Standish put her hands behind her teammates head, then slowly pulled her mouth towards her.

  The water was the perfect environment for the pair to drift and float around. It didn’t take long for their sports kit to end up floating off to a corner of the pool as they manoeuvred themselves through the water.

  The dalliance was more than enough to allow Standish to completely drift away from any of the worries and stresses that had been building in her mind and body. The stars overhead and the gentle blue lighting around the edge of the pool allowed her to intertwine with K in a fluid stream of sensations and pleasures for a period of time that seemed to draw out.

  With every stroke and touch and kiss, her senses tingled with delight at the pleasures she was both receiving and giving, and only after wave after wave of emotion did the two finally drift apart in the water, both floating, looking up at the stars in a post-coital silence.

  Closing her eyes, Standish tried to calm her breathing, which had become quite rapid at one point and tried to relax her muscles that had become tense during their synchronised water ballet. There was a gentle slapping of the water upon the side of the pool, and in the distance, a slight hum of electricity that was surging through the station non-stop. Once the rush had died down, Standish suddenly felt a chill come over her, and she stood up in the water and scanned for her fitness kit, which she swam towards, then pulled on in the water. Looking around the pool deck, she spotted the two large sauna room doors that were five metres from the edge of the pool, and gently pushed herself in that direction.

  “K.” Standish said in a soft tone. “Sauna?” She reached the side of the pool, then in one swift motion pulled herself out of the water, landing on the pool deck in a tucked position.

  Not wanting to cool off too much, she walked over to the sauna door, pulled it open, and walked in. The chamber was large and had four tiers of wooden benches on all three walls that faced the door where the stove was billowing out heat into the room. The sudden change in temperature almost knocked Standish back, but she quickly closed the door behind her and climbed the benches until she reached the top, and hottest tier. Sitting down in her soaking wet sports kit, she let out a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  It didn’t take long for K to join her, still naked, and climb to the top of the benches to Standish’s left. Standish had watched her climb to the top, allowing herself a better look at K’s figure than she had in the water. She was rather fit, but nowhere close to as muscular as Standish was. In fact, she thought that K had a very similar figure what she had when she had first joined the fleet.

  “How did you end up here?” K asked when she had finally sat down.

  Standish closed her eyes again. “In Dynamic?”

  “No, in the fleet?”

  Standish smiled. “Only way to get off-world.”

  “I know what that’s like.” K replied. “Where I come from, there are two types of folks. City folks, and the opposite of that. If you come from the city, you can get an education, get a real profession.”

  Standish looked over at K. “You’re from Floxis, right?”

  K nodded. “I am. Joined the fleet as early as I could. The fleet taught me how to read, do numbers, everything.”

  “What speciality did you join as?”

  “Shuttle pilot.” K replied. “Thought it’d be a good trade to have when I left the service.”

  “I only ever wanted to be in D-O.”

  “It does have its appeal.” K replied.

  “You aren’t a big fan?” Standish asked.

  “I’m not like other Floxian females. Most of us are very thin, so one day I was flying a shuttle from Atyl station out to this big cruiser, and my passenger is an admiral who happens to be a Floxian, and he tells me that no Floxian female has ever made it into Dynamic, and based off my size, I should try it.”

  “So, you did.” Standish replied.

  “Yes. He arranged for me to get an interview, and once that was done, a slot at the academy for selection.” K replied.

  “
Forced it on you, sounds like.”

  K rocked her head from side to side. “He said it was my duty as a Floxian to try.”

  “Fair enough.” Standish replied.

  The pair sat in silence for a time. The intense heat of the room making them drip with sweat, the worries of the outside world fading away.

  When the duo finally left the pool and sauna centre, the giant sun that dominated the Mella system was starting to cast its light over the large planetoid that the station was in orbit over, brightening the still dimly lit halls of that section of the station. Following the directions on the data-pad that Standish had brought with them, they made their way first back to their bunks to change into fresh uniforms, then went to the dining facility to join the rest of their team.

  When Standish and K had collected their meals from the auto-dispensers, they walked over to their assigned table and found that they had a guest, another male from 242 who was sat next to Mils Cannarr, sporting a giant orange mohawk.

  “Num!” Standish almost dropped her tray when she finally realised who was sitting next to her team-mate.

  The big operator from 242 looked up from his food with a startled look on his face, which quickly broke into a broad grin when he saw who was approaching the table. “Val!” He was out of his seat and moving towards his old friend. Giving her a big hug, he lifted her off the ground, and only Standish’s quick thinking prevented her from dropping her tray.

  “How are you?” Standish asked when she was finally put down.

  Num Blaz took a step back and put his hands on his hips. “I am well. I see we both made it.”

  Standish moved to the table and put down her tray, then turned her attention back to her old friend from Rescue Tech school. “We did.” She shook her head. “Where were you when the war started?”

  Num rubbed his chin. “Aboard a pleasure ship in the Darjk System. Barely made it out of there alive. Half the crew were from the Pohjois, had to vent them, then make a run for home.”