Star Man 2: Star Rise

by I. G. Roberts

  Colin said, “We won’t talk business out here, it’s too insecure. This is about the three of us taking a little time to become familiar with each other. Now, I’m sure you two have heard all about me but if you want me to clarify anything, or you just need me to tell you something about my life back home, just ask. Until you decide what you want to know, though, how about you tell me something about yourselves? Out here, we’re not working so just call me Colin, we will revert to formal address when we’re in my study. You first Suzanne, what do you feel comfortable sharing with us?”

  Commander Riley replied, “S… Colin, I’m married, with a five-year-old son. I’m working in System Defence, so I get a chance to spend time with him. My husband is a Logistics Officer working at Headquarters. I would have retired but, I knew about the Taipan and Cobra programs, and after you had come to the Federation, everyone realized we were already at war with the Peschal Alliance, it's just the war has always been so low level, at least till recently, nobody noticed what was happening. I decided to apply for a role in the Cobra program and eventually, I was given my own command. I think I have you to thank for that Colin. If not for you, I’d probably be living in the suburbs bored out of my mind. My son's name is Courtnay, and he tells me he’s going to be a Star Ship Captain one day and explore the Universe. I think he's the smartest little boy on Cambridge, but then, I’m completely aware I’m very biased.”

  “Thank you, Suzanne, it gives me a picture of who you are. Now, Umat, could you tell us about yourself?”

  Umat replied, “Yes Colin, FNS Fortitude is my first command. I’ve only recently returned to Cambridge. I’ve served as an XO on both a Cruiser and on several armed Freighters. Fortitude, though, is the most heavily armed Freighter I’ve ever seen, she’s as heavily armed as a Cruiser but marginally slower. I’m not married, but I have a fiancé here in Cambridge. I hope to be married next year.”

  After Suzanne and Umat had finished their stories, Colin decided to tell them something about his life before he came to the Federation. He told them about his wife Katherine, the children Stephanie and Harry, his home and his job on Earth. Colin told them how he came to be on FNS Destiny and the story from his side, warts and all. As Colin spoke to them, Suzanne and Umat raised other things they hadn’t said previously. At about 11:30, Colin suggested they should go into the Study then to begin planning their upcoming journey.

  Colin had bought a relatively sophisticated computer system for his home though nowhere near as powerful as the ones available in the Navy. Still, the Navy were kind enough to secure it for him, so he had access to the best charts but not the 3D display technology, which was a little too hard to get, and expensive for Colin to justify. When the charts were up on the multiple wall screens Colin had available, the three officers began working through the possible routes back to Cotoni Station. In the end, there were just three that they all thought might be viable, one of which they marked in red because it passed a little too close to the Pirate territories for Colin to feel completely comfortable. Colin knew from his conversations with some of the Pirates they captured in Conomar System that there was a big price on his head and a bounty on the Capture of FNS Destiny. Julia knocked on the door, so Colin blanked the screens before letting her in with lunch. The girl knew not to stay, she’d prepared her own lunch and would take it out onto the patio where she could enjoy the view while eating and studying. Julia was gradually gathering the qualifications to allow her to join the Navy. Colin had been very encouraging of Julia’s efforts and was always happy to advise or assist when she asked.

  After Julia had left, Colin closed the door again, and the three Officers went back to their planning, eating while they did so. Suzanne thought she was beginning to understand her Commander for this mission. If Suzanne’s understanding was correct, she concluded she would be proud to serve with him. Colin was not just issuing orders, he was leading the other two along a path, so they would be making a lot of the decisions. Suzanne had spoken to Siobhan Fraser about this enigmatic man and knew he could make decisions, but he was a big believer in developing his subordinates. It seemed like they had barely started when Julia was knocking on the door again. This time it was because Sophon Carlon, Captain of FNS Destiny and Bari Haron, Captain of FNS Shurana had arrived. Colin welcomed the two new arrivals and thanked Julia before closing the door so the five Officers could continue the planning session. When Sophon and Bari were shown the routes Colin, Suzanne, and Umat had identified, Sophon pointed to the one they followed on the way here. The Captain of FNS Destiny said they had not seen any ships on the way to Cambridge till they reached the Conomar System. The two common points all the routes had, other than Cambridge and Cotoni were FR2-955E, the intermediate System between Cambridge and Conomar, and Conomar System itself. All the routes branched off from Conomar due to it having four Jump-Points.

  The five Officers worked through the afternoon, planning their trip back to Cotoni. Colin discussed the role FNS Fortitude should be playing for the journey to Cotoni with the others, and they all concluded that she should stay with FNS Destiny and Shurana. Between the three ships, they would be presenting a formidable amount of firepower on their own, fully capable of defending themselves against three or four enemy ships. Fortitude has a similar firepower to a conventional Sandon Cruiser so she could make a very real contribution toward protecting the convoy if the need arose. The two Cobras would be much more mobile, flying dark most of the time and flanking around the rest of the convoy ready to deal with any Pirates they came across.

  Finally, the Officers reached a point where they could stop working for the evening. The Officers would have to spend a couple of hours finishing up their planning the next morning, but for now, they could all relax. A lot of work was done that day, and all of them needed a break. Julia had cooked their dinner for them, quite prepared to be the servant for the evening but Colin and the others insisted on helping her serve the food and made sure she joined them for the meal. The conversation that night was mostly about generalities and Suzanne managed to draw Julia out about her ambition to join the Federation Navy, preferably as an Officer like all the friends she’d made since coming to Cambridge. Suzanne looked thoughtful for a few minutes, then asked Julia what the delay was, why hadn’t she already joined. Julia explained about her attempt to join, but her lack of education meant the Navy wouldn’t accept her. A look of understanding dawned on Suzanne’s face. Umat chimed in to say he might be able to help Julia with gaining the qualifications she needed. Umat’s fiancée was a teacher who would often help people who needed tutoring. He promised to talk to her as soon as he left the house the next morning to see if she would be willing. He took Julia’s Comm-Code to give to his fiancée.

  The next morning, Colin and his guests rose, had breakfast, then completed their planning. As Sophon and Bari were leaving, Bari pressed something into Julia’s hand, promising it would help her with her studies, then they were gone. Suzanne and Umat waited till they were gone before asking Colin if he needed them for anything else.

  Colin considered his subordinates for a long moment, then said, “We don’t leave here for another four days. You two are to send a message to you XO’s, telling them to begin preparations for departure. When you’ve done that, you Suzanne, will go and spend the next two days with your husband and your son, it will be a while before we return. You Umat, will spend the next two days with your lady, is that understood?”

  The two Officers chorused, “Yes Sir,” then took their leave as ordered.

  After the others had left, Colin sat thinking about Conomar, worrying about the Pirate presence there. He already knew from the prisoner interrogations that the incident in Conomar was not a planned one, but their presence still bothered him. The Pirates weren’t there specifically to ambush FNS Destiny, in fact, they were planning to raid the colony, mostly for slaves, but also for anything else they could steal. The more compelling reason the Pirates were there, was to try and force Cambridge to sprea
d its forces more thinly. It was a crude attempt at the divide and conquer strategy. Unfortunately for the Peschal Alliance, the Naval hierarchy was a lot smarter than that, they were sending out patrols on a regular basis, but never weakening the defenses of Cambridge too badly. Lahoshar already had more than adequate defenses to cover it against any conceivable Pirate attack. The numbers of ships lost there by the Pirates had already exceeded any profit they could expect from raiding the System, so there wasn’t much point in continuing to try attacking in that direction. Cambridge, on the other hand, was a nice fat juicy target with nearly thirty million potential slaves, a significant hi-tech industry base and most importantly, the shipyards.

  Julia came over to Colin to show him what Bari had given her. It was a small device that she could wear. The device could interface with the house computer, and ultimately with the planetary network. Julia could wear it while she was doing things around the house, peripherally picking up the knowledge she needed. The device wasn’t quite as useful as an implant, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing. Colin wondered how involved, and how expensive it would be to arrange an implant for Julia. Here in Cambridge, Colin didn’t have very much to spend his money on. He was earning money much faster than he could spend it. This had been particularly true with the investments Colin already had, and the prize money that came in from captured Pirate ships.

  Julia went to grab a couple of beers from the refrigerator, bringing one to Colin before the two of them went outside to the patio to sit and relax. They didn’t talk for a long time till Julia admitted to Colin that she was missing Dave quite badly. The girl hadn’t mentioned this as a problem before, but Colin realized Julia had been trying very hard not to cause him to worry. When he looked in Julia’s direction, Colin realized she was looking a little nervous. Colin considered the problem for a few minutes, then decided to make a few inquiries the next day about the possibility of Dave taking some leave and spending some time with Julia.

  Rather than getting Julia’s hopes up prematurely Colin gently said, “I expect Dave will probably be given leave before too long. He’s been in training for a while so he must be nearly due. You know, if he comes here, you shouldn’t tell him about our little bolt hole. If too many people know about a secret, it very quickly ceases to be a secret. Okay?”

  Julia nodded, knowing Colin was right. As much as she loved Dave, the bolt hole, as Colin called it was Colin’s secret. Julia knew it wasn’t hers to share. This was one part of Julia’s upbringing as a slave that would work in Colin’s favour. Slaves never shared secrets, not their masters and not the secrets of other slaves. Either could result in a lot of pain or even death. Still, Julia could see Colin wasn’t upset with her for mentioning Dave. She considered Colin to be a good man, this conversation only proved it to her.

  The next day, Colin packed his duffel and prepared to leave for orbit. He needed to stop by Headquarters on the way to make a few arrangements so Julia’s salary would continue to be paid, and so someone could authorize and pay for repairs on his house if they were necessary. Thankfully, while Cambridge wasn’t completely crime free, the levels of crime such as break and enter, vandalism and such were relatively small. This was mostly because there was more than enough work for anyone who wanted to work in Cambridge, so the crime that came about because people were living in poverty was very rare. These types of property crime that might be aimed at his house were not high on Colin’s list of concerns.

  When Colin arrived at Headquarters, he went to see Henry and Sonya first. The two Commodores were busy with the transfer arrangements, so Colin didn’t waste too much of their time, just giving them the planned routes to and from Cotoni System, along with the proposed ship dispositions during the Journey. Colin also asked Henry if he could keep an eye on Julia while they were away. Henry knew what Colin meant and promised to make sure the girl remained safe. Along the way, they also discussed Dave taking some leave and spending it with Julia. Both Henry, and Sonya agreed this would be a good idea. Sonya immediately called Sarah, asking her to see if leave was legitimately possible for the young man. After Colin had finished with the Commodores, he went to the Navy support office to make all the necessary arrangements so Julia would be paid and repairs to his house could be arranged and paid for if needed. When all the business at Headquarters was completed, Colin arranged a lift to the Shuttle Station.

  Two days after Colin left to return to FNS Theseus, Julia was sitting at home on the patio, reflecting on the turn her life had taken since Dave and she were captured by the Federation. For the first time in her life, Julia felt truly safe. There was no longer the threat of someone deciding Julia was excess to requirements and killing her for no other reason than they could, with complete impunity. The Fraser family and Colin Gordon treated her with respect and tried to help Julia learn to be a free and independent woman. The doorbell rang so Julia went to answer it. When she opened the door, Julia’s knees went weak. Standing right there in front of her with a big grin plastered across his face stood Dave. The man saw Julia stumble and quickly reached out to help keep her steady. The moment passed quickly, then the two lovers stood there for several minutes, staring at each other in silence.

  Finally, Julia whispered, “Dave, are you allowed to be here? You're not going to be in trouble, are you?”

  “No Julia,” Dave replied, “I’m here legally. I’ve been given five days leave because I’ve been cooperative and behaving myself. If you’re willing, we can go somewhere for a few days away, just the two of us. The military has a resort just down the coast, I’ve booked us in there, and you can come as well, that is, if you’re willing. Julia, before they would tell me where I could find you, I had a long talk to Commodore Fraser. The Commodore said to me how far you’d come since we arrived here in Cambridge and said he didn’t want your progress impeded. I can’t order you to go with me, I don’t even want to. If I seem to be trying to boss you around, you need to tell me. Julia, I’ve missed you so much.”

  Dave didn’t get anything more out because Julia was in his arms kissing him. Some time later, they came up for air. Dave could see Julia was a very different girl to the slave he bought two years ago. While the separations squeezed his heart with longing, Dave saw Julia was doing very well, growing into an elegant young woman with a lot more self-confidence and self-reliance than he could’ve believed possible in the short time the girl had been out in the world. For the first time since their capture by Captain Gordon, Dave thanked the gods it had happened. He and his girl were both far better off here than in Alliance territory. Here the rule of law prevailed allowing people, especially women, to be able to walk outside without an armed escort.

  Finally, gazing longingly into Dave’s eyes, Julia said, “Of course I’ll come with you, Dave. I told Colin… Commander Gordon how much I was missing you only a couple of days ago. He said he’d ask if you could have a little leave.”

  “Yes, well, it appears Commander Gordon deserves my thanks, for the vacation, but especially for looking after you.”

  “Come on Dave, the Commander says this is my home as well, and I can invite friends to spend time with me. Come and sit on the patio and have a beer with me. I want to hear how life is for you in the Navy. Are you enjoying it? Does it feel like a prison sentence? Are they cruel to you?”

  When they were settled on the patio with beers in their hands, Dave replied to Julia’s questions.

  “No Julia, it does not feel at all like a prison, I’m treated no differently than any of the other recruits so I couldn’t say they’re cruel to me although the training is tough. In all honesty, I love it, everything except being separated from you. The separation part has been by far the most difficult part of being there. I understand the necessity, but I don’t like it at all. Then again, I’m not expected to like it, just endure it.”

  Julia reached over and patted Dave on the arm as she said, “Dave, I’ve missed you terribly as well. This house is the nicest place I’ve ever lived in,
I can come and go as I please, do as I wish, within the usual rules, everybody in civilized society is expected to abide by. It’s taken me a long time to come to terms with the freedom, it was quite terrifying at first in all honesty.”

  Dave looked a little uncomfortable, he had, after all, bought the girl at a slave market.

  Julia noticed his discomfort and said, “Dave, if it weren't for you, I would still be in Alliance territory, probably being raped or beaten by whoever felt like it. You took a risk and saved me from all that. You even started me along the road that allowed me to accept what everyone here has been telling me about being free. You did all that Dave, and what’s more, you did it for a slave girl you owned. It wasn’t something you were required to do, not when we were in the Alliance. Dave, no matter what happens to me, to you, to us in the future, I want you to know I will always be grateful to you for what you’ve done for me.”

  “It occurs to me Julia, I owe Commander Gordon an eternal debt of gratitude. Reading between the lines of what you’re saying, I think he has never tried to drive any kind of wedge between us. You live here in this beautiful house with him and from what you’ve told me, he has never tried to take you into his bed or even suggested it. He seems to be protecting you.”

  “Colin said I remind him of his daughter. The Commander is married you know and completely devoted to his wife, even though she isn’t here. How about I show you around the house so you can see where I live.”

  Dave agreed, and Julia showed him the house from top to bottom, pointing out her room, Colin’s room even showing him the basement, explaining how it could be turned into guest quarters if needed. Julia very carefully did not give any hint of the bolt hole to Dave, that was not her secret to share. When the tour was done, Dave followed Julia into her bedroom, and they chatted while she packed. Packing completed, Julia very carefully locked the house up and the two lovers departed for their holiday together.